Since the beginning of cinema the role of women on film continues to dramatically shift. In our society where media consumption plays a central role in our everyday lives, much of what comes to be claimed as important is based all too often on the stories created and spread by media institutions. The media rely heavily on stereotypes, genres and conventions.
According to the Critical Media Project, an audience tends to see the same images and representation over and over again. In doing so not only do they become familiar they also become perceived as natural (Critical Media Project). The question is whether the media itself is responsible for producing these ideologies or rather does it reflect what is already happening in society. “Regardless of where these ideologies originate, the media plays a key role in conveying ideas and giving them weight or power (Critical Media Project).” Representations in the media are not impartial or unbiased. These representations are constructed and therefore play an important role in imparting certain beliefs.
There has been an increase in the discussion of gender equality in today’s every-day communications, but it has been a long journey to get to the level of representation in the media and film that women have reached today, and when it comes to women of color it is severely lacking in many regards. Feminism has helped women advocate for equality in the workplace, and in the film industry feminism has taken many forms throughout the years. Wonder Woman accomplishes a significant milestone for representation of women on the big screen. The blockbuster premiered more than 75 years after the character of Wonder Woman was created. Wonder Woman proves to be one of the most recognizable superheroes, and let’s be honest, a female superhero leading her own film was long overdue. This made the success of Wonder Woman instrumental to an industry that all too often rejects women.
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Not only did Wonder Woman’s opening weekend earn more than $100 million in revenue, it also became the highest-grossing opening weekend for a woman director. I myself was overcome with emotion while watching Wonder Woman, seeing a reflection of myself in Diana Prince, who is unwaveringly optimistic in the face of adversity. Wonder Woman was a token to female empowerment and feminism. So it become very important to deconstruct this supposedly “feminist” film due to the fact that mainstream feminism has a lack of inclusion, and women of color often take the backseat to gender equality. In Wonder Woman, the story of Diana Prince is told, who is the daughter of Hippolyta and grows up on the Amazon island of Themyscira. After the American pilot and spy, Steve Trevor, crashes offshore of the island and is rescued by Diana, he tells the Amazons about the ongoing World War.
Diana, thinking the war is caused by an old enemy of the Amazons, then leaves her home in order to end the conflict (Wikipedia). In the film, only a handful of Amazons on Themyscira are played by women of color. The first we are introduced to is actually Diana’s caretaker, a Black woman who raised and looked after Diana her entire life. This character has no autonomy and independence of her own, in fact her sole purpose is to represent a token of comfort by insinuating that she did her work out of love, not by necessity. She is a hurtful stereotype; one which Black women have been trying to distance themselves from.
As for the other Amazons, they are only present the first 20 minutes of the film as the story quickly moves away from Themyscira. Any representation of women of color is simply in the form of a background extra. Their physical strength is marveled at as it is with the other Amazons on the island, but Wonder Woman puts emphasis solely on their strength and little else to the point that they only have a handful of speaking roles and are barely even named. Later on in the film, an offhand joke between Diana and Steve Trevor’s secretary, Etta, alludes to race. When Etta describes her everyday job, Diana responds, “Where I come from, we call that slavery.” This implies that a person would never choose slavery and comes across as tone-deaf while disregarding intersectionality within its feminism. Even with self claimed feminism films such as Wonder Woman, the reality is that these films embrace feminism for a very specific community. Usually for the few women of color in Wonder Woman, humanization is never fully actualized. Wonder Woman offers the chance for white women to be portrayed as nuanced, multifaceted and humanized. The complexities of Queen Hippolyta are explored in her need for Diana to be raised as a strong, kind woman.
Diana herself embodies the White Savior trope in her naivety and drive to save mankind from itself. She is solid in her resolve that mankind is flawed and in need of her help, in however way she wishes to give it. Despite her imperfections we are meant to love her. For the other women of color that pop up every now and again throughout Wonder Woman, their own personal narratives pale in comparison when placed beside the complex characterization of Diana and the other white characters. The film industries lack of representation of women of color and missteps on race send the message that straight, cis, able-bodied, white women are prioritized above all else. But it is important that this fact is not ignored, because true feminism simply cannot exist without intersectionality. Key facets of identity like gender, class, age, sexuality, race and ethnicity play several important roles in determining how we understand and experience the world while also shaping the types of opportunities and challenges we face (Critical Media Project).
When media is only expressed through a feminist white women narrative while failing to acknowledge forms of oppression presented by ethnic minority women, this contributes to the scarcity of intersectional perspectives in all types of work. The media plays a significant role in creating meaning, shaping our values, defining who we are, and establishing social norms. These values seem natural and give the sense that this is how it should be which in turn shapes the way we perceive and understand the people and institutions in our lives. In her TED Talk, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie makes the point that “It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power.” In this case, she says “Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person (TED Talk).” Consumer tastes are often seen as the driving force behind which films are made, but film industry insiders are ultimately the ones who decide which stories get to be told on screen as well as which get the full support of the powerful marketing strategies that push them into the consciousness of paying audiences.
The lack of money and faith that Hollywood directs into film promotion of women of color narratives results in people all over the world not being encouraged to view, empathize and understand the stories about women of color. And that is dangerous (Critical Media Project). There is a consequence that comes with the telling of a single, dominant narrative: it takes away a person’s dignity. When the attention is focused on all the ways someone is different rather than similar it makes the recognition of their humanity difficult. American history is incredibly rich, and it is only right that it should reflect the depth and diversity of its people. Narratives about women of color will inspire women and minorities by challenging stereotypes. Thirty-six percent of the U.S. moviegoers are people of color. With the media’s lack of support, funding, and advocating for projects that show a diverse narrative, particularly those of women of color, ends up creating a culture vacuum that shows a very unauthentic picture of humanity. At the same time, stories create community which enables us to see through the eyes of other people.
Telling stories is the best hope of reflecting the kind of world we want to live in and gives us the encouragement to create it. We learn our own identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organization, institutions, media and other connections we make in our everyday life. Popular culture continues to play a larger role in our society and with it comes a huge influence on its audiences in regards to their value (Critical Media Project). The good news is things are changing. In the last decade we have seen a gigantic shift in the balance of storytelling. The Internet and introductions of new technology continue to put storytelling tools in the hands of more people, and social media is providing a platform in the disruption of dominant narratives while promoting diverse stories that connect rather than divide us. Yes, Wonder Woman is an entertaining and beautifully directed film and will remain significant for women-led media. However, it is not perfect, and this superhero still has a lot of work to do.
