Reviews for "Wonder Woman" have come in and they're all incredibly positive. While I'm happy for this, as this is the first "Wonder Woman" movie ever, despite her being around for as long as Superman and Batman, there is something holding me back. That is, the star of the movie, Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman herself, is a Zionist.
Zionism isn't something that's talked about widely in the mainstream, but it should be because some of the world's favorite stars are Zionist, including Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. For those unfamiliar with the term, Zionism refers to a movement of the Jewish people to support the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in a territory, which is believed to be the historic Land of Israel, where Palestine currently lies. They believe that the best way to reclaim their land is to force their way into Palestine through bombings and take control of it. The conflict between Israel and Palestine, in the simplest of terms, is because of this movement and the Palestine's own organization, Hamas, against it.
However, I am in no way an expert on the conflict. If you want to understand it better I would suggest this article as a starting point since it's pretty hard to find unbiased articles regarding the conflict.
Why exactly is this a problem, especially in regards to Gadot's support of Zionism? After all, she herself is an Israeli citizen and served in their military for two years, she's just showing her patriotism. In Israel, every citizen is automatically recruited to the military at 18 years old, so she didn't really have a choice in that, and neither do any other Israelis. But they do have a choice in supporting their country in the unnecessary killings and bombings of another country.
Some people have argued that we only think Gadot is Zionist because of her years serving in the military. However, back in 2014 Gadot posted a picture on Instagram, with a caption boasting of her support for Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
As an outsider, it is hard to come in and give my opinion on who is right and who is wrong. My point is that before we go blindly supporting Gadot just because she's Wonder Woman we should know all of the facts. There are a lot of good points about her, such as the fact that she's a woman of color playing a superhero and her support of Wonder Woman's bisexuality. She also claims to be a feminist, but in my opinion, it's hard to be a feminist when you want to deny certain people of their lives and rights.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't go see "Wonder Woman". I'm going to see it, and I know it's going to be an amazing movie. I also think we need to tell big studios that we want to see more women in roles like this by supporting "Wonder Woman". What I think you should take away from this is that you should be critical of your heroes and know all the facts about them. Since not enough people know this about Gadot, I felt it important to give you the facts.
