Wonder Woman Analysis

“Do you really know the real reason behind Wonder Woman?” The Secret History of Wonder Woman was written by American historian Jill Lepore. The book was published in 2014 by the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. The type of book is a biography that focuses on the life of William Moulton Marston and his companions, as well as feminism and birth control. The book briefly summarizes women’s struggles as they act against mankind for what they stand for, with the contribution of developing the super heroine, Wonder Woman. In Jill Lepore’s compelling work, Wonder Woman’s story is the missing link in the struggle for women’s rights, starting with the women’s suffrage campaigns of the early 1900s and concludes with the problematic setting of

Superheroes can be defined in many ways by many experts. Clare Pitkethly’s academic background consists of comparative literature, culture and communication as she also speaks and writes comic books and superhero, defines a superhero to be different. In Pitkethly’s article “Straddling a Boundary: The Superhero and the Incorporation of Difference,” talks about

The chapter, From Rosie to Lucy, by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle, is about how the feminine mystique changed drastically from the era of WWII to the era of the baby boom. The shift was attributed to men’s influence on the women through fashion trends, magazines, and TV shows. The main purpose of the chapter is to show that the propaganda through TV and society affected individuals, and more specifically the feminine mystique.

The representation of diverse people and experiences in comics is important to expand the thoughts and minds of readers. Yang and Wilson, the minds behind American Born Chinese and Ms. Marvel, use the medium of comic books and graphic novels to help bring a new sense of belonging and acceptance to marginalized people. They do this by applying a “millennial mindset” to their respective stories. What this means is that the characters they have created, whether they are based off real people or are fiction, address the problems of race, religion, or sexuality that we are facing today. These characters also act to threaten the current atmosphere of the comic book industry. Typical comic book characters and superheroes, before now, were mostly white and from a typical American background. Heroes that were women were generally over-sexualized and unrealistic. These two authors hope to challenge the current status quo of the comic book industry by creating characters whose background is much different than previous superheroes.

The Wonder Woman character went through different changes from different authors who kept creating her journey. In the beginning Wonder Woman was written by William Marston but after his death in 1947, the Wonder Woman went through a change due to a different writer taking over. As Steinem states, “She became sexier-looking and more submissive, violent episodes increased, more of her adversaries were female, and Wonder Woman herself required more help from men in order to triumph.” (271) This change made Wonder Woman a different character than what readers fell in love with in the beginning. As

The character is a heroine and possesses many super-human abilities that seem to change based on the writer or situation Wonder Woman finds herself in. Most notably she has super human strength, speed, intellectual and mental abilities. Additionally she has displayed the abilities to communicate

It should be noted that Marston had been considered as a feminist. He found that world would be been more peaceful if female values were cherished and if men were willing to accept women as equals . The creation of Wonder Woman was to counter what Marston perceived as an overly masculine-dominated world . She served as a role model for not only little girls but for adults as well. According to DiPaolo’s book, War, Politics and Superheroes:

Who doesn’t love a good superhero? The perfect figure, the spandex suit, the flowing cape, flawless looks, and the powers we can only dream of having. Superheroes have been around for ages now, leaving an everlasting imprint on our hearts. It is no secret that males dominate the superhero industry; both the heroes themselves and those who create them. Superman, Batman, Ironman, and Spiderman have become the top heroes of all time; there is nothing wrong with them holding the spotlight, but female heroes are underrepresented. There are notable female heroes, but they tend to be drawn with a busty figure that few women are naturally blessed with, and show little emotional rational in fights. Take Black Widow (Marvel) for example, anyone would love for her figure and kick-ass moves. Wonder Woman is our hero of the hour, she has made her way onto the big screen; casting her into the spotlight more than ever. She screams fights for love, promotes peace, is a beacon of hope, and screams feminism. What’s not to love? The new movie released on June 2, 2017, has called more attention to the American-spirited, Amazonian woman than ever before. The movie is the first fully female directed movie, Patty Jenkins brings a great female to the big screen. Although the movie is great and supports feminism, is the movie the depiction of Wonder Woman that should be idealized?

For example, Superman, one of the most popular comic book characters, is often depicted wearing a skin-tight suit through which every muscle and bulge is clearly visible. However, his outfit does not draw attention away from his ideas or actions, nor does it make people question the seriousness of the character. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and fellow heroes are constantly criticized for being too revealing, and the unusual standard of beauty and sexuality which they are forced to adhere to diminishes the individuality of female characters.

Image one is made to appeal to the young female population more so than in the past. Since young boys are not the only ones reading comic books anymore, and society is changing, the traditional image of Wonder Women has to change as well. It showcases women in a position of power and strength, she is standing on top of this mountain ready to lunge into action at any moment. This is appealing to women who want to be seen as powerful in every aspect of life. Image two on the other hand is geared more towards men. Although image two portrays a female who does look powerful, she does not look ready to jump into action. The artist seemed to be more focused on her looking sexy and less powerful. She also looks ready to deem someone orders instead of saving the

In a society dominated by male superheroes, it is not that often that a female character is able to step forward and defend the world. There have been quite a few female superheroes throughout the ages of popular culture, including the Canadian Marvel super-heroine, Aurora ("Marvel"), and DC Comic's character, Black Canary (Kanigher, and Infantino). Yet for every one female superhero that is encountered, there are at least a dozen more male superheroes to stand around—and often in front of—her. Even more frustratingly, the female superheroes are often merely there to be the gendered counterpart to the much more powerful, dominant male superheroes. There have been few women who have stood out as being independent, admirable sources of

To some, wonder woman is regarded as a feminist icon. However, O’Reilly does not believe so because of the submissive themes that her creator included in the comics.

“Wonder Woman is a walking- and sometimes flying- paradox of attributions and images. She is, at once, a female sex symbol and feminist icon: physically vulnerable, morally virtuous, financially independent, self-determining, and, in tune with her womanly ways, self-sacrificing” (Wright 6). Wonder Woman was created by William Marston in order to show and achieve women empowerment. At the time that Wonder Woman was assembled, there were no women superheroes. The only superheroes that were created at the time were powerful, strong, fully-clothed, white, males. Even though Wonder Woman is just as powerful and important as other male superheroes, she is often easily centered out from other superheroes because of her physique, lack of clothes,

I saw Wonder Woman at the Museum of Modern Art near. The film was made in June 2017 and was directed by Patty Jenkins. The movie of Wonder Woman provides a backstory of Princess Diana prior to her appearance in Batman vs. Superman. Story takes place during World War I where she is on a quest to defeat Aries after believing he is the reason the war is taking place and has the intentions of ending the war. Women empowerment was a major theme that emerged from the narrative. The style of this movie is the Classical Hollywood Style. With the Classical Hollywood Style, the format follows a linear narrative with a cause and effect

Can one person create or stop the war? Wonder woman, directed by Petty Jenkin is a superhero origin movie where the main character Diana, the princess of Themyscira (Gal Gadot) is conflicted with this question. She believed that killing the God of war, Ares would stop the war. She is naïve and is unaware of the way of the society. The movie is set in the time of World War I which is favorable as it was a changing time of the history. The movie has a clear and simple plot. The performances of the actors were solid, the action scenes are well-constructed and the special effects have shown the different situations in the movie with a beautiful soundtrack giving it a life. The film showed the development of Diana as a person and shedding of her childhood innocence as she witnessed the horror of wars and ultimately learns that evil is not manifested in one single person.