The Legend of Korra: Antagonists, Anomie and Authority

 The Legend of Korra  an animated continuation of the very popular animated series Avatar: the last Airbender, tackled more adult themes than the previous series and grappled with greater and more complex social commentary with the inclusion of “anarchic” and totalitarian groups in the show’s final two seasons. Each of these groups in their own way embody different sociological ideas of Durkheimian anomic structures, Weberian authority and the formation of social revolutions.

BACKGROUND 

Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series The Legend of Korra is set in an ancient world heavily influenced by Chinese Mythology.  In this world the earth is divided into four different nation based upon the four natural elements (water, earth, fire and air). There is the Northern and Southern Water tribes, The Earth Kingdoms of Ba Singh Se and Omashu, The Fire Nation and The Air Nomads.  Each of these nations have a culture and rituals that is influenced by their totemic element. Additionally, some members of these nations are often born with the ability to manipulate their respective element. This behavior is called "bending".

        The titular "Avatar" is a single person in the whole world who can "bend" and master all four elements. Having a life cycle of 170 years, the Avatar acts as a spiritual leader, guide and general force for peace in the world (i.e. The Dali Lama). At the end of an Avatar's life they are reincarnated into the next nation in the “Avatar Cycle" (see above).This not only allows the Avatar to live on throughout history, the cycle of reincarnation allows the Avatar the ability to tap into the power of all her/his past lives at a single moment. This is called "The Avatar State".  

The show The Legend of Korra picks up 70 years after the end of the Airbender series with the training of the next Avatar in the cycle, a female water-bender named Korra. During the shows first two seasons there were questions about identity, and the use of identity politics to divide people. The second season balances out the Avatar’s role in the world as a bridge between the human and the spirit world. Just as in the first season where Korra quelled the tensions between benders (people who could manipulate the elements) and non-benders and then opened up the world to a greater spiritual change[1] by keeping the spirit portals open (after her battle with Unalaq and Vaatu) which allowed a chance for spirits and people to live together in harmony. Unfortunately, this action also directly lead to the unintentional release of dangerous criminals and their zealous leader, who in season three, creates such a disruption that it paves the way for a military dictatorship to take hold in its fourth and final season. Thus, it is the development and portrayal of the “villains/antagonists of The Legend of Korra that provides a lucrative allegory for social revolution.    

THE READ LOTUS: ANARCHY OR ANOMIE

 In the show’s opening we learn that Korra has been isolated from the world by a once secret society called “The Order of the White Lotus”. Originally, The Order of the White Lotus was a collection of fan favorite old masters in the original series who, by series end, had revealed themselves. In the finale, the order helped the previous avatar, Avatar Aang, in defeating Firelord Ozai and ending the 100 years’ war. Since that time, The White Lotus came out of hiding and openly supported the Avatar and when he was reincarnated into Korra, they were instrumental in her training and protection. It wasn’t until season three that we learn that there were some in the order that did not agree with the overall decision to expose themselves to the world. This division eventually led to the creation of a splinter group that called themselves “The Red Lotus”

The original leader of The Red Lotus was a White Lotus member by the name of Xai Bau. The original intention of the Red Lotus was to create balance between humans and spirits. To achieve that end, prior to the beginning of Korra, The Red Lotus attempted to kidnap Korra when she was a baby with the supposed intention to train her with each member of the Red Lotus being her masters and get her to release the dark spirit Vaatu [2] Having failed in this attempt, four members of the Red Lotus were captured and detained in specialized prisons for 13 years. During the time between seasons 2 and 3 the leader of this group Zaheer able to unlock air-bending abilities due to the energy released during harmonic convergence. Once he frees himself and his compatriots he sets in motion a plan to dismantle the four nations by assassination and ending the “Avatar Cycle” by murdering the Avatar while in the Avatar State.

 “The idea of having nations and governments is as foolish as keeping the human and spirit realms separate.”- Zaheer

Many who have analyzed the actions of The Red Lotus during the events of season three are often quick to label this group not only as terrorists[3] but as anarchists. While this is technically true, The Red Lotus does seek a world without the systematic structure of various types of authority (the aforementioned four elemental nations’ governments and the Avatar); the show, and additional reading material available, often implies the term “chaos” to summarize the desires of the order.

Sociologically speaking, this is a conflation of terms between anarchy and Durkheim’s idea of anomie. The disorder that is created from a toppling of governments through the assassination of world leaders and religious icons does fit into the basic definition of anarchy. However, the description of that disorder as “chaos” does not fit. This is because, as Durkheim points out in his seminal text The Division of Labor in Society,  the lack of governments (and order) does not create complete chaos because there are still the unwritten social rules and norms that we learn, through the process of socialization, to abide by. Through this social learning process, we guide individuals into internalizing certain moral values and behaviors that make a society/social order possible. Therefore, it is feasible (and supported through historical evidence) that societies and its people can survive the death of authorities, ruling classes, and many other various changes to different social structures.  Yet, if the social norms were to also be disrupted, and there was no socially agreed upon set of rules/ behaviors along with no structure to help keep the peace; then that would be anomie. Anomie is a period of normlessness within a society causing a lack of social norms to governing behavior; thereby devolving into “chaos”. Since this is not their intention, they are not chaotic, but they are still anarchistic.

KUVIRA: WEBERIAN DICTATORSHIP

            It is through the uncertainty created by The Read Lotus in both the successful and attempted assassinations of political and religious leaders (the earth queen and Korra respectively) that allowed for the rise of an imperial dictatorship during the 3 year gap between Korra’s third and fourth seasons. During that time, Kuvira, an officer in the metal-bending army of Zao Fu was charged by the Republic City council to stabilize the Earth Kingdom from bandits and oversee the distribution of resources until a new ruler can be elected. However, throughout the season we quickly learn that rather than keep the peace, Kuvira has usurped power by strong arming independent states in order to unify the Earth Kingdom under her own solitary rule. The major conflict arises when Kuvira sets her sights on her home of Zao Fu and the Independent Republic City[4] which she views as occupied Earth Kingdom territory.

            Kuvira’s actions can be viewed sociologically through the work of Max Weber, particularly his work titled Economy and Society in which Weber discussed the issues of authorities. Weber points out that a certain type of authority will develop into a specific type of social structure. In the text, Weber outlines three types of authority that will develop into three different social structures.

Those three types of Authority are:

•  Traditional Authority that is derived from bloodline, birth order or religion
• Charismatic Authority that is derived from the power given to a particular person due to their ability to manipulate the populace and get them to relinquish their power
• Bureaucratic/ Rational a type of authority that treats everyone the same (usually as mindless drones) and gives people access to power (even though that access is usually through some labyrinthine complex process more meant to confuse than help.

Traditional types of authority will lead to the development of a monarchy whereas a bureaucratic rational authority will lead to a bureaucracy. In line with these types, Kuvira in season four is identified as a Charismatic leader that, according to Weber, will create a dictatorship. In fact, many of her actions, organizations, and methods of control are modeled after several types of historic and contemporary dictatorships[5] However, Weber also mentions that many of these types of authority can also exist within other social structures without being the catalyst for a type of specific social structure. Many charismatic leaders have also existed without the development of a dictatorship because in a monarchy, republic, democracy or bureaucracy limits are put in place to curtail the potential power of solitary rulers. However, in Korra it was the power vacuum created by The Red Lotus that allowed Kuvira to amass power and thus change the social structure from a Monarchy to a Dictatorship.

ANTAGONISTS OF KORRA DESIRE REVOLUTION

            Revolutionary scholar Jack Goldstone in his book Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction identifies five conditions that make a society ripe for revolution

Those five conditions are:

-          Economic and fiscal strain

-          Alienation and opposition among the elites

-          Widespread anger and injustice

-          A persuasive shared narrative of resistance

-          Normal social mechanism are unlikely to work

Goldstone notes that is unlikely to have each one of these conditions happen at the same time. This is because a social structure is not a passive thing, it is actively influenced and manipulated by those in power or those who seek power. While these conditions may not cause a revolution, they create a state of what Goldstone calls unstable equilibrium. This is where a society is functioning due to various social conditions (see above), but one small disturbance leads to an even larger departure from the status quo. Gladstone mentions that the mechanism that causes this instability may not be a single event, instead it may be more gradual; happening over months or even years.

According to Goldstone, once this equilibrium is upset there are several structural causes of revolutions:

·         Demographic Change- when population grows rapidly the institutional social order can suffer in their (inability) to deal with resource distribution and structural social change

·         War- can weaken state authorities and empower groups within society

·         Rapid Unequal Technological Advancement – can be used against a populace and maintain control

·         New periods of exclusion, discrimination and inequality

·         The entrenchment of elected leaders or heads of Military regimes

These components are often the causes of frayed social relationships that may cause individuals to turn against the state and for state structures to crumble 

The overall plot of the The Legend of Korra can act as an illustration of these revolutionary themes put forth by Goldstone. If one was to look at the series as a whole, it was the unstable equilibrium created by Korra being the first Avatar that did not travel the world (and to all of the different nations) in order to learn to manipulate all of the elements. Instead, Korra was isolated and only trained by the White Lotus allowing them to shape her as they saw fit. The shift out of this unstable equilibrium happened when Korra decided to leave the South Pole and live in Republic City; setting off the events of the series and the several structural causes of revolution:

·         New periods of exclusion and discrimination

This aspect of Goldstone’s roadmap to revolution began in season 1 of Korra where Amon a revolutionary leader of a group known as the “Equalists” stoked tensions and discrimination between Benders and non-benders. In this season,  Korra, even though she is the ultimate apex bender, understands that she represents all people, bender and non-bender alike.

·         War

Korra is another illustration of Goldstone’s ideas through the Civil War arc between the Northern and Southern Water Tribe. This occupation and conflict continued throughout the latter half of season 2.[6] This splits loyalties and not only causes various amounts of disruption that disruption is felt on the physical and spiritual plain

·         Demographic Change

The demographic change that could lead to revolution as Goldstone mentions is the reemergence of air benders[7] and their attempt to be considered a nation during Season 3 of Korra. All of a sudden one of the main characters (Tenzin) becomes the defacto leader of group of people who may have airbending skills but are not enculturated to the nomadic existence of airbender culture. Additionally, the reemergence of the air benders included the unintended consequence of granting Zaheer, the leader of The Red Lotus Airbending a change that the authority of The White Lotus was not expecting which gave Zaheer an edge, contributing to his escape and the release of the other Red Lotus members.

·         The Entrenchment of Heads of Military regimes This is embodied in Kuvira and her actions throughout season 4, especially during the coronation of Prince Wu.

·         Rapid Unequal Technological Advancement This takes place when Kuvira invades Zao Fu  to steal their platinum in order to create a “unbendable” giant machine that she can control from the inside; tipping the technological balance in her favor. 

Thus, these are the very clear examples of how the antagonists of legend of Korra, and the development of Korra as a series is a meditation on the nature and creation of Revolutions; and what happens after; once the dust settles.

CONCLUSION

The Legend of Korra and its predecessor Avatar: The Last Airbender are socially conscious, feminist, environmentally friendly pieces of pop culture that are rich in sociological data and worthy of sociological analysis from many different perspectives. If you are interested in sociological ideas, or you are a sociologist yourself (I mean who else would read this blog if you aren’t at least sociology adjacent), I recommend the series whole heartedly and hope that other sociologists will write on the impact and brilliance of these shows. Remember the Sociology mantra: “Data is everywhere, and it is glorious.”

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[1] Certainly, anyone focusing on the sociology of religion (not my particular specialty) could do a whooper of an article on the Interesting religious implications of Season 2 and the allegory of the importance of becoming more spiritually open as a person, especially as we age and question the things we were taught when we were young

[2] The Spirit Vaatu was a main antagonist in Season 2. During season 3 it is revealed that Korra’s uncle was a Red Lotus member who had joined the order so he would be able to set his plan in motion to become a “Dark Avatar”

[3] This term is only partially correct as it is unclear that the way that The Red Lotus uses violence or the threat of it is in order to create fear.  However, it seems one of their goals in to create intense social disruption which is in line with the basic definition of terrorism.

[4] which became independent of the Earth Kingdom during the time of Avatar Aang and a place where all people of all nations could live

[5] North Korea for example

[6] It is also important to note that the leader of the occupation and the start of the civil war was a former member of the Red L:otus

[7] Due to Korra’s choice to keep the portals open

The Dojo’s Top 10 Sociological Films of 2018

Author’s Note: This list is a list of the most sociologically interesting films I have seen this year so far. It is not a list of my favorite films (though the higher the film is on the list the more overlap there will be) but of films that sparked sociological analysis in my head and/or had wide cultural impact.

 This list will have three sections 1) The Top Ten in descending order.

      2) Honorable mentions (Great film’s that just didn’t make the cut)

      3) The films yet to be released in 2018 that I am looking

          forward to.

THE TOP TEN

10) Black Panther

           

            The film that recently caused the debate to have a popular film Oscar at the 2019 ceremony, Black Panther was a film that had a largely black cast and crew (which in 2018 is shamefully still a novelty) which allowed the central plot and the conflict between the protagonist (Chadwick Boseman’s T’Chala) and antagonist (Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger) to be steeped in the issues black people of color face. One of the interesting impacts of this film was due to the long global history of slavery many black people of color do not know where their ancestry is from, thus once this film came out many of those without a country adopted Black Panther’s Wakanda as their ancestral home. 

9) You Were Never Really Here

            Written and directed by Scottish Film Director Lynne Ramsey You Were Never Really Here is a modern day Taxi Driver. Joaquin Phoenix plays a hitman that is assigned to recover a young girl from a human trafficking ring. As he continues the investigation he uncovers the seedy underbelly of bureaucracy and white men of power.  Powerful, tightly written with zero “fat”, this film is a lean social commentary about wealth and power.

8) Revenge

            A French Produced Gore revenge fantasy, Revenge is a gonzo Grindhouse-style film that literally ran out of blood by the end of the shoot.  The film does fall into certain sexist tropes (in the way that the female body is framed and the perpetration of sexual violence upon the protagonist) but once the titular “revenge” begins to take place, the squeals of obliterated toxic masculinity are enough to make up for how the film got there.

7) BlacKkKlansman

            Spike Lee directs the true story of Ron Stallworth a black Colorado Springs detective, who in the 1970’s infiltrated the Klu Klux Klan. The brilliance of this film is in the way that Spike Lee runs a historical thread from the 1970’s to the very issues of racism, oppression and murder people of color face today. From police brutality to subtle racism Spike lee shows us that the problems that we had in the past are still an issue today; going so far as to conclude the film with the protests in Charlottesville in 2017 concluding with the death of counter protester Heather Heyer.   

6) Eighth Grade

             Written and directed by comedian Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade is a window into female adolescence in the new millennium. There are moments in the film that everyone who went through that awkward stage as an early teenager can relate to, but there are also scenes that exclusively tackles the social issues that young girls face in our current culture. For those who think that white men can not accurately, or fully capture stories about girls and women should see this movie. Burnham is able to achieve an emotionally moving level of authenticity.   

5) Hereditary

            Brilliantly shot by Pawel Pogorzalski, Ari Aster’s Psychological and supernatural horror film Hereditary is a masterful treatise on mental illness and the strain of trauma upon a family. Grounded by a stellar performance by Toni Collette, this film is a spiritual companion to Luca Guadagnino’ s remake of Suspiria; however, if you watch them back to back, you may need to watch with all of the lights on and sing cheery Holiday carols after... or chase it with number 4 on the list.

4) Won’t You Be My Neighbor

            Strategically placed as a palate cleanser before we get to the top three, Won’t you be my Neighbor the documentary of Fred Rodgers and the program “Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood.” captures the audience with nostalgia ( because the program spanned 30+ years ) and reveals the subtle radical social resistance of one man from Pittsburgh. The documentary shows us a less divisive and more inclusive look at social and political compromise. The film also emphasizes that Fred Rodgers was a religious conservative that treated all people with humanity, something that the film suggests we have lost sight of. Have a box of tissues at the ready.  

3) Annihilation

            A Sci-Fi Thriller by Alex Garland This film is noteworthy for the majority of its principle cast being female. The film spends time showing us the diversity of femininity in each character and how they deal with a situation that gets progressively worse. Focusing on how we deal with grief and the way that psychological trauma motivates us and shapes our perception. The Bear sequence is a marvel, and terrifying.

2) Suspiria

            Witches, Feminism and Male Panic; Luca Guadagnino’s remake is brilliant. Reinforcing the power of femininity and the power women have as a collective to challenge the patriarchal world, is amazing. Read my full review of Suspiria.

1) Mandy

            Anyone who has read my earlier review for Mandy should not be surprised by its placement on my list. Panos Costmatos’ film is full of Cheddar Goblins, Demon Bikers, and Hippie Cults, “ripped shirts” and “crazy evil” all anchored by the best performance Nicolas Cage has ever given.  Watch it, Buy it, give it to a friend…may not be for everyone.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

·         The Old Man and the Gun

·         Searching

·         Blindspotting

·         The Wife

·         Can You Ever Forgive Me

MOST ANTICIPATED YET TO COME IN 2018

Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse (Dec 14^th)

Vice (Dec 25^th)

On the Basis of Sex (Dec 25^th)

Anna and the Apocalypse (Dec 30^th)- US (wide)

Destroyer (Dec 30^th)

The Distilled and Sterilized Feminism of Wonder Woman

Spoilers Ahead!!!!

INTRODUCTION

Coming out of the Wonder Woman screening I was conflicted. I had opposing thoughts, as I tried to process my feelings about the film.  I felt let down by the film, that it promised one thing, and did not even deliver on that promise. Choosing, instead to give me a watered down version of what I had expected. However, I knew how much the success of Wonder Woman would mean for female lead superhero films in general. So, on some level, I wanted it to succeed, if only to have more female lead heroes on screen. Additionally, I was working with a handicap, I am a white Heterosexual Male, so I was unclear, at least at the outset, if I did not like the film because the film wasn’t for me. I was cautious because I did not want to hate on a film just for not being its target audience/demographic.  Therefore, I struggled with even writing this review because I did not want to come off as a “Mansplaining Asshole” (which I still might) given that many of the other negative reviews of the film (also written by men) have been peppered with thinly veiled sexism producing pieces of misogynistic crap. In an attempt to temper this feeling, I relied on a few negative reviews from a feminist perspective (one author I greatly respect) whom are in the obvious minority; I was also motivated by my wife’s unbridled hatred of this film to complete this review even if it is a dissenting opinion.   

A “REQUIRED” SUCCESS

With our current socio-political reality that has seen a small hand genital grabbing narcissistic man-baby become president, and his actions criminalizing being a woman; it seemed the success of Diana of Thymyscira’s first major film was in question. Would this be a continuation of most recent anti-female rhetoric and sexist political policies, or would it be a breath of fresh air? This was further complicated by the fact that the character of Wonder Woman, the literal poster child for second wave feminism, had to be incorporated into Zack Snyder’s sexist “Douche-Canoe” Universe. Yet, these red-flags, such as Zack Snyder’s involvement (he was given a story credit on this film that was also written by all men) were ignored due to the near dehydration felt by the lack of Wonder Woman content over the last 75 years. We are so thirsty for Wonder Woman content that we see the mediocre as extraordinary; as the saying goes, “Hunger is the best spice.” We are willing to feast on this second rate Wonder Woman because unlike her peers in the Trinity (Batman and Superman), her story has seen limited adaptations and expansions. Yet, as Wonder Woman rides on the cultural novelty of treating a woman as a person, it was the focal point of socio-cultural pressure that made the success of Wonder Woman inevitable or bust.

            From its inception (and many false starts, hang ups and various delays) the new Wonder Woman film was put upon by unfair pressure. Because we live in a patriarchal society that values men over women in a false egalitarian democratic meritocracy, the future of women in leading roles in a film genre dominated by men, was biasedly riding on the success of this one film. Whereas many films directed, written, and staring men have allowed to be sub-par to “god awful” in terms of quality with only marginal financial success in order to get a sequel. This is the quiniessential example of a gendered double standard. This is an industry (like other larger social institutions) that see men as complex and different, with different attitudes and tastes and women as a single solitary group and a “niche” market. Thus, by seeing all women the same way, and that formula of previous female lead superhero films having been less than successful, resulted in the stalled overall production of female led superhero films because they “failed” in the eyes of a male driven studio (EX: Electra, Catwoman etc.) thus setting back the development of such films for a decade or so.  Therefore, when Wonder Woman went into production it needed to be a success because if it wasn’t, as history has shown us, it would have been an excuse to, yet again, shelve any attempt to have women break the glass ceiling of successful superhero films.  With so much riding on it, all of a sudden, Wonder Woman became too big to fail and on that road to inevitable success the character becomes sanitized in her own story, manipulated into being a shell of herself (as she is written in the comics). 2017’s Wonder Woman’s Diana is a facsimile of feminism; a representation of mainstream “Marketplace feminism” used as a tool to sell a product rather than what she could be: A beacon of egalitarian female empowerment that challenges the very sadistic misogyny of our culture.

A WATERED DOWN HEROINE

            Forgive the cliché, but Wonder Woman and the character of Diana of Themyscira could have been the perfect heroine for our time. A strong, queer identified, feminist badass that is ruled by her compassion and love for all people. This is what I was hoping for as I sat in the theater and the lights dimmed. As the film began, I was instantly brought to tears as I gazed upon Themyscira and watched as a society that showcased (albeit briefly) women in all social and societal roles beyond any kind of gender stratified socialization. I was overcome with joy as I watched young Diana mimic fighting techniques and desired to be as powerful as her “sisters”. Yet, that joy was slowly eroded away as the story continued and I realized, to my grave disappointment that by story’s end it did not understand the character of Diana at all. At least the one I have come to know and love through the work of writers such as Gail Simone and Greg Rucka. 

            The most egregious of these errors is the film’s misinterpretation of Diana’s core motivation.. In the comics, each of DC’s holy trinity has a single driving force. Superman is driven by Truth (he is an honest, good moral person) Batman is motivated by Will (he will sacrifice and overcome any obstacle) Wonder Woman is motivated by Compassion, for everyone…especially her enemies.  One of the reasons the above quote (that introduces this section) is so salient is because as Diana fosters love and compassion in other people, it leaches out the very masculine desire for war and violence.

While the film flirts with the importance of Diana’s compassion though passing glances and flippant facial expressions by star Gal Gadot, this notion is completely undermined by films end when, being motivated by the love and loss of Steve Trevor, Diana declares (in a direct heavy handed way) that she is motivated by love and compassion and will not kill Dr. Poison. However, this declaration does not stop her from violently killing Ares that results in the ending of the war.  The overall message of this action is: That violence can be solved by violence: This is not only historically inaccurate, but it undermines the character of Wonder Woman herself, and her core motivation from the comics. Instead, this Wonder Woman expresses her emotional complexity through violence; a typically masculine trait.

In our society, women are often chastised for being aggressive and angry while being allowed to have more emotional flexibility than men, who conversely are socialized to embrace only the aggressive emotions of hate and anger. Therefore, men are often taught to filter all of their complex emotions of love, and fear through acts of violence. Thus, the core problem of Wonder Woman as a film is that it resolves itself through a masculine interpretation of Love and Compassion instead of a feminine one.

            What would have a more novel approach[1] was to have Diana use her love and compassion for people to motivate an end to the war through diplomacy.  The armistice that she would have brokered would have weakened Ares (who is fueled by war and discord) to the point where he could be subdued and locked away in Tartarus… because Wonder Woman only kills as a last resort, with great reservation and guilt. But I guess in a Zack Snyder Universe where both Batman and Superman are uncompassionate murderers, we shouldn’t be surprised that the Wonder Woman of this universe is less than ideal.  This is not the feminist Wonder Woman I wanted, it is the male interpretation of Wonder Woman, feminism through the male gaze, feigning progressiveness while reinforcing regressive ideals.

A Frustrating Facsimile

                In the comics, as in the film, Diana of Themyscira is depicted as a beautiful woman; said to be blessed with the beauty of Aphrodite herself. This beauty in the comics, which is also mirrored in the film, is consistent with the typical male gaze. A woman who is thin, conventionally attractive symmetry of face and depicted as constantly wearing make-up. Thus the film does its part, like so many film before it, to reinforce problematic beauty and body norms that have plagued women since forever.

            This is again another missed opportunity for the film to subvert convention. Wonder Woman on screen could have been a chance to increase the visibility of women with different body shapes and sizes; promoting their diversity and normalizing their existence. Given that Wonder Woman is an Amazon she could have been portrayed as a towering giant with a certain level of muscle definition. Unfortunately, the film coward away from such a prospect[2], and instead, doubled down on Diana’s adherence to western beauty standards. While I will concede that it is nice to see Wonder Woman depicted as a woman of color (Gal Gadot is from Israel); she is still depicted as a white woman (with white parents), when in the comics, she is of Greek heritage with Olive colored skin. While the film does not make Diana’s beauty a defining characteristic, it also seems to go out of its way to comment on Diana’s attractiveness and desirability to other men; in almost every scene that she is in. This reinforces the tired gender stereotype that girls learn early on: that their value is in their body. A stereotype that asserts that girls and women can be strong, and empowered, courageous and violent…as long as they maintain societal beauty standards and be sexual attractiveness to heterosexual men. This stereotype also warps the perception of a woman’s access to power. Girls and women are taught though such stereotypes that power is obtained through their bodies.  But that power, and to some extent their body, is not theirs. Their body is a mechanism, a form of currency women are trained to use to glean power from men; instead of having power themselves. While these specific messages aren’t directly found in Wonder Woman, the film’s unwillingness to challenge the status quo indirectly supports it.

 A perfect example of this capitulation is Diana’s Naiveté a product of her proverbial “fish out of water” story.  While some reviews incorrectly identify her ignorance for stupidity, the lack of understanding social cues and cultural mores does hamstrings Diana’s righteousness and outrage against the sexist Patriarchy that she should have dismantled in. every. scene. A typical response as to why this didn’t happen would be the origin story excuse. A producer might say “Oh, our Diana isn’t fully formed yet, she hasn’t “become Wonder Woman until the end of the film.”  Given your level of origin story fatigue is the litmus test on whether not this comment would incite violent rage or a mild annoyance. To me, as in the comics, Diana is a fully formed Wonder Woman when she leaves home. She just requires a brief adjustment period to get used to “man’s world” Yet in this film, and the 2009 animated film of the same name, Diana’s experiences change her, away from the feminist icon and closer to a woman that could blend in; which is code for a woman that is non-threaten to men and their fragile masculinity.  This is not what we need.

In fact, 2017’s Wonder Woman takes this even further by making Steve Trevor Diana’s motivational, mansplaining guru of the rest of “man’s world”.  He is the one that explains the evils of humanity and human nature (but don’t worry, #notallmen). Yet, in these scenes especially, she is there to react to him. His desires, and his mission are driving the story. His needs, and his accomplishments are important; she is just the secret weapon along for the ride.  Unlike his female counterparts in other films, Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor has his own completed story arc. Yes, his death is used as a form of motivation for the Titular heroine that her love and loss of Him propels her to greater insight at the end of the film. However, the important difference is that he is not violently “fridged” like so many women are whom are in the same position. Steve has a “glorious moment of masculine triumph” though violent self-sacrifice.   

            Another opportunity the film squandered was the possibility of a queer narrative. From the first pages of Wonder Woman’s origin stemming from an all-female island that comes from the Greek myth of the Amazon warriors of Lesbos (root of the word lesbian), the Wonder Woman story is steeped in queerness. Even with the fight and general acceptance of multifaceted queer identities today, especially among millennials, Hollywood still depicts Dina as being heterosexual; when nothing about her existence even remotely suggests that she would be strictly heterosexual; considering that she has already reached sexual maturity by the time she meets her first man. At the very least, I would have like to see her at least identify as bisexual or some other form of fluid sexual identity that is afforded by Diana’s backstory.  All we get is a line about the lack of importance of men to female sexual pleasure; which is played more for laughs and as an emasculating “mic drop” moment, than as a salient plot point or character beat.

Additionally, here again the film, failed to meet my expectation of possibly showing an intimate relationship between a man and a woman that did not rely on romance. They had every opportunity to have Steve and Diana love and care for one another without it ending in sex. Furthermore, the scene that sets up the implied sexual intercourse off screen between Steve and Diana did not have any inclusion of active sexual consent by either party.  She looks at him, and he steps inside her room and shuts the door. Considering the staggering statistics of female survivors of rape and sexual violence, and that Wonder Woman is an icon of Feminism, I expected at the very least a verbal “Yes” from each of them. Instead, all we got were looks and assumptions of implied consent that are more likely to continue the problematic practices of non-consent that leads to the reproduction of the Rape Culture.

That praise is not praise

            One of Many points of praise I have read in the plethora of glowing reviews for this film is the positive female representation in the film.  Yet, this is another instance where, what seems progressive on the surface to mainstream audiences, tumbles like a house of cards when up against any strict critical analysis. The only true moments of the film that have such equal and consistently positive representations of women is on Themyscira. There women are generals, politicians, artisans, laborers, warriors, and clerics. Seeing this in the opening scenes gave me visions of Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s Herland and it is truly wonderful. Yet, this representation all falls to pieces the minute they leave the island. Moreover, since the island scene are in the first 30-45min of a 2 hrs. and 21 minute film, that means that the majority of film takes place off the island…where there are only three named female characters Diana included. Given Wonder Woman being a feminist icon, the writers of this film could have easily added a lot more female characters throughout the rest of the film by doing a simple internet search on women in World War 1. They would have learned about the vast extent that women participated and even fought on the front lines during the war. Imagine a Wonder Woman film where she meets and fights alongside other women in the trenches. The simple possibility of that subplot is far better than the transparency of scenes like Diana stepping out into the DMZ of WW1. There is a lack of subtlety in both the set up and execution. Just after Steve Trevor says “No man’s land is where No man survives.” we see Wonder Woman stride across “the No man’s land” and incite victory. She was able to do it because she’s a woman. Get it? She is literally “No man”. (*eye roll).  While this was pretty heavy handed, we were blissfully spared the cringe worthy dialogue of “I am no man!!!”[3] (I.e. Return of the King). But as she steps out onto the battlefield that phrase is screaming in our heads. This scene is the perfect example of what this film encapsulates, a prepackaged, boiled down, mass market, faux feminism that does not challenge the patriarchal system and is non-threatening to heterosexual men.        

CONCLUSION

  Wonder Woman as advertising

This Wonder Woman drapes herself in the trappings of Feminism, but when it comes to the actual Feminist work she falls short.  Wonder Woman is an example of what Andi Zeisler calls “Marketplace Feminism” in her recent book We were Feminist Once. In the book she explains that in this new era of brand identity and identity politics where young people are told to “rebrand themselves”, or to “stay on brand” Feminism has just become another tool to sell products, and it has opened up a whole new market. Advertisers and corporations use feminist ideals and rhetoric to sell their products without any emphasis on feminist work or the constant struggle that the fight for gender equity requires. To them, feminism is something you can buy, achieved through your capitalistic purchasing power, not something that you actively have to work towards.  The difference between “marketplace feminism” and actual feminism is the work involved. It is easy to put on a t-shirt and watch a movie and call yourself a feminist, it is more difficult to work, sacrifice, circumvent and sometimes usurp authority in order to keep the revolution of gender equality ever moving forward.

Solidarity towards (potential) greatness

            However, the need for forward momentum of a movement is a complex issue that comes with compromise. It is easy for me to say, that real feminism is in the work, when much of the inspiration to be an activist is often found in examples of “Marketplace Feminism”. Millions of children and adults across the gendered spectrum are motivated into activism because of the empowerment that they feel from of a song, movie TV show or book. We can be surprised by the things that end up motivating us to do great things, to better ourselves, those around us, to help with our community, fight tranny and challenge the authority. As Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman rockets past 300 million worldwide in its second weekend of release,  its success needs to be praised and supported. Because even though this film is not perfect, and this representation of Wonder Woman is a hollow shell of what she could be; we are not sure how many girls and women she, and this film will inspire to greatness. And finally, the more merchandise the character sells creates corporate confidence in female lead stories; so that eventually there will be so much female lead pop culture that we won’t have to comment on it anymore; it will just be the norm.  And that would be a true “Wonder” to behold.

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[1] And one that I was expecting due to this film’s hype and high praised reviews I read before going into my screening

[2] marginally giving women of different color and shape tertiary background status among the other Amazons

[3] Apparently this scene was also going to be cut