Given that he’s just kicked off principal photography on his four Avatar sequels, you’d be forgiven for thinking that James Cameron would be solely focussed on his latest visit to the world of Pandora. However, it seems that’s not fully the case, as the filmmaker has been chatting to THR about his earlier criticisms of Warner Bros.’ blockbuster superhero movie Wonder Woman, where he’d described it as a “step backwards” for the portrayal of women in films.
“Yes, I’ll stand by that,” said Cameron. “I mean, she was Miss Israel, and she was wearing a kind of bustier costume that was very form-fitting. She’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. To me, that’s not breaking ground. They had Raquel Welch doing stuff like that in the ’60s. It was all in a context of talking about why Sarah Connor — what Linda Hamilton created in 1991 — was, if not ahead of its time, at least a breakthrough in its time. I don’t think it was really ahead of its time because we’re still not [giving women these types of roles].”
“Linda looked great,” he continued. “She just wasn’t treated as a sex object. There was nothing sexual about her character. It was about angst, it was about will, it was about determination. She was crazy, she was complicated. … She wasn’t there to be liked or ogled, but she was central, and the audience loved her by the end of the film. So as much as I applaud Patty Jenkins directing the film and Hollywood, uh, ‘letting’ a woman direct a major action franchise, I didn’t think there was anything groundbreaking in Wonder Woman. I thought it was a good film. Period.”
Cameron also went on to state that he was actually surprised by the reaction to his originally comments, stating that: “I was certainly shocked that [my comment] was a controversial statement. It was pretty obvious in my mind. I just think Hollywood doesn’t get it about women in commercial franchises. Drama, they’ve got that cracked, but the second they start to make a big commercial action film, they think they have to appeal to 18-year-old males or 14-year-old males, whatever it is. Look, it was probably a little bit of a simplistic remark on my part, and I’m not walking it back, but I will add a little detail to it, which is: I like the fact that, sexually, she had the upper hand with the male character, which I thought was fun.”
Let us know what you make of Cameron’s latest comments and whether you agree with his viewpoint, or you think he’s wide of the mark…
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.
Originally published September 28, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
