As Wonder Woman hits its fifth week, the film has pulled in $708 million dollars worldwide, and counting. Make no mistake about it, this film is breaking records. Each week, there’s a new record being broken. Whether it’s a drop of just 43% in its second week of release or on track to become the highest-grossing live-action film directed by a woman — a record previously held by Phyllida Lloyd in 2008 with Mamma Mia!
Wonder Woman is the film so nay of us need right now, and yes, it’s brilliant. I’ve already seen it twice, and each time it has left a huge smile on my face. More importantly, it has left me with a feeling of empowerment.
You see, Diana does what’s right. Whether it’s leaving her home of Themyscira or fighting across the deadly No Man’s Land. She doesn’t think twice. She just does. Women, little girls, men and little men are rejoicing in this superhero that we’ve all been yearning for.
You only need to read through Jenkins’ Twitter feed to see the praise and impact Wonder Woman is having around the globe.
She shared this post from a Kindergarten teacher:
My producer just sent me this… ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! This makes every hard day worth it. Thank you to whomever wrote it!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/3DzIaMueIh
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) June 11, 2017
Reaching fans online to find out what watching Wonder Woman means them, Vic Fennell said, “Wonder Woman focuses on Diana’s fight to conquer evil and opens the audience up to the emotions and struggles of her character rather than exploiting her beauty and sexuality. Patty Jenkins was keen to give some history to Diana’s character, to show the audience that Wonder Woman is so much more than a pretty face.”
Rain Perry said, “I’m inspired by the fighting! Badass women fighting in a strong, womanly way. And the women exude confidence and sexiness but it’s for themselves, not on display for anyone else.”
While Jesabel Ray said, “I am completely enamored with the inception of Patty Jenkins’ incredibly beautiful film ‘Wonder Woman’, the very first live action adaptation for the iconic titular character. While I have always been an unapologetic advocate for Zack Snyder’s grittier interpretations of Superman and Batman, Jenkins has created a character on screen that deals with facing the horrors of warfare and the complexities of mankind with nothing but love, virtue, peace, and equality. I have so much to say about this film but I will wrap it up and just state that ‘Wonder Woman’ means the absolute world to me. It gives me such unprecedented hope for a better future, not only for women’s powerful voice, but for an idealistic unification.”
Gina Vaynshteyn wrote what Wonder Woman means to her as a Jewish woman on her Hello Giggles blog. “ Wonder Woman is already the antidote to all things terrible in 2017, but the film serves as a special kind of empowerment to me, someone who, for so many years, internalized our culture’s narrow beauty standards and never thought in a million years I could be both sexy and strong.” She continues, “Not with my Semitic features, my frizzy hair, my long nose, my glasses, my neurosis. While it’s a problem on a greater level that I am deeply affected (at least subconsciously) by the problematic and damaging ideals we project onto women, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Finally. A gorgeous Jewish woman who is saving the planet. Fuck. Yes.”
There was this tweet from Meg Sauce that went viral:
NO WONDER WHITE MEN ARE SO OBSCENELY CONFIDENT ALL THE TIME I SAW ONE WOMAN HERO MOVIE AND I’M READY TO FIGHT A THOUSAND DUDES BAREHANDED
— meg s.s. (@megsauce) June 4, 2017
Each Summer, Hollywood gives us no shortage of action hero films where men are taking front and center stage, saving the world. This summer, Hollywood gave us something different, a female superhero.
Wonder Woman gave women everywhere a sense of empowerment, and celebrities were more than happy to show how on board they were for Wonder Woman. Jessica Chastain took to Instagram and posted the following:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU2gpClB8rl/
Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo took to her social media to say:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU066yrDE-Q/
The riveting and emotionally intense No Man’s Land sequence is enough to move viewers to tears for so many reasons. As Rupert Gregson-Williams score cuts through, Diana has already witnessed what war does to people. She’s seen the casualties and the injured soldiers. It’s all horrifically foreign to her and though she’s appalled, she’s undaunted. But she’s told to hold back, to accept it, that there is no hope to save anyone. This is war.
Diana as Wonder Woman rises up and marches full speed ahead through No Man’s Land. In doing what she believes as her duty, she’s doing what she knows to be right.
The score, the cinematography, Gal Gadot (pregnant) while shooting this scene in her Wonder Woman outfit, deflecting bullets and gunfire, is out there on point, ready and able to rescue the village and its people.
It’s a scene that overwhelms with such overwhelming emotion. Despite the violence all around her, she sees mankind’s capacity as humans for love, she believes that love is a more powerful force, and chooses that path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ise1XcxOidQ
(Listen to No Man’s Land by Gregson-Williams and feel the power of the scene).
Meredith Woerner in her LA Times article wrote “Witnessing a woman hold the field, and the camera, for that long blew open an arguably monotonous genre. We didn’t need a computer-generated tree or a sassy raccoon to change the superhero game; what we needed was a woman.”
@GenesisCinema Took my Daughter to the AMC in Manchester yesterday to see #WonderWoman we loved it pic.twitter.com/5HKEC3mCCb
— Carl. (@Cam_1971b) June 2, 2017
@MiamiChick85 Gm Queen even my daughter gave #WonderWoman a 👍🏾up lol pic.twitter.com/ZPhlwKV5Vo
— Blue (@Cofe6370) June 2, 2017
Beyond dressing up as Wonder Woman, #WWgotyourback took off and set the internet alight as women were inspired to stick prop swords down the back of their dresses like Diana does in the film.
A little late but #WWgotyourback pic.twitter.com/tCKkyt0qNe
— Amanda Deibert🏳️🌈 (@amandadeibert) June 16, 2017
Lovely acts of kindness have stemmed from the film. In June, The Legion of Women’s Writers wanted to send 70 high-school girls from Girls Inc. of NYC to see the film, they turned to gofundme, and it only took 27 days for them to reach their goal of $10,000.
As Wonder Woman and Patty Jenkins continues to break records, it’s clear that this is the film we needed in our lives in these treacherous times. Wonder Woman has always been a hero for the ages, but perhaps especially for today — because she knows that even though humans can be hateful, greedy and prone to violence, love conquers evil. She thus sets an example by making the choice to not stand idly by. She chose to do something, and in doing so she inspires the hero waiting to be unleashed in each of us.
In discovering the right way to harness her own power, Wonder Woman can empower audiences worldwide. She is the superhero we need for ourselves and an inspiration to our friends, our sisters, our aunts, and our children, bring all our latent power together.
There are countless other scenes that make fill us with bliss, thrills, and empowerment throughout Wonder Woman’s runtime. [Share with us in the comments, your own favorite highlights.]
