Originally published August 25, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Wonder Woman has been an enormous critical and commercial success for Warner Bros., the DC Extended Universe, superhero movies, and indeed female-led movies in general. However, one person who hasn’t been enamoured by its reception is James Cameron, with the filmmaker calling it a “step backwards” for the portrayal of females in film.
“All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided,” said Cameron in an interview with The Guardian. “She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! 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!”
Following Cameron’s comments, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins took to Twitter, posting a response which stated that: “James Cameron’s inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for, to women all over the world is unsurprising as, though, he is a great filmmaker, he is not a woman.”
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) August 25, 2017
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.
Wonder Woman sees Patty Jenkins (Monster) directing a cast that includes Gal Gadot (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Connie Nielsen (Gladiator), Robin Wright (House of Cards), Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), David Thewlis (The Theory of Everything), Ewen Bremner (Snowpiercer), Said Taghmaoui (American Hustle), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In), Lisa Loven Kongsli (Force Majeure), Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead) and Ann Wolf.
