James Cameron Says ‘Wonder Woman’ Is ‘A Step Backwards’ From ‘Terminator’s Sarah Connor
It just wouldn’t be Hollywood without directors of massively successful movies talking jive about other directors’ massively successful movies. James Cameron is the latest offender, offering up some boiling hot takes about Patty Jenkins’ summer hit Wonder Woman. Apparently, it wasn’t feminist enough for ol’ James.
While speaking to The Guardian about his new 3D re-release of Terminator 2, he couldn’t help but say a few choice words about this summer’s extremely lucrative runaway hit.
All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing!
Okay, sure, Wonder Woman does have a lot of shots of Gal Gadot’s body, though one could argue that this is because, a) she is the main character, and b) she is not an unattractive lady. And she looks awesome! I mean, you could argue the same thing about Marvel’s incredibly obvious Every Male Hero Must Be Shirtless At Least Once In The Movie footnote on their contracts.
I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!
Obviously, Cameron hasn’t yet heard the Don’t Pit Women Against Each Other clause of the feminist’s handbook, or he wouldn’t have started with this nonsense. Cameron’s female heroines are often dressed in baggy pants and are allowed to have messy hair and to sweat, which women often don’t do in action movies, so, sure, props to him. But Wonder Woman isn’t a James Cameron movie, she’s not a James Cameron heroine, so she doesn’t have to look like one! Jenkins’ movie worked with the DCEU’s stylized slow-mo hyper-reality, and it looks great too!
There are many women in power in Hollywood and they do get to guide and shape what films get made. I think — no, I can’t account for it. Because how many times do I have to demonstrate the same thing over again? I feel like I’m shouting in a wind tunnel!
Cameron, clearly, is a man who prides himself on his strong female characters. Which is great! He should keep doing that! But he doesn’t have to drag others down to make his ladies look better. That’s, like, feminism 101.