Wonder Woman 2019: Woman [dis]Empowerment
Each Person will have a different reaction to what They watch and the weight of the Impression that [an Actress' performance] leaves on each Person will also vary.
I wrote this Essay for this was My reaction and the Impression [a fictional Heroine can commit quite the crime and that's not what any Hero should be given a pass on] that stuck to Me caused Me to both ponder about what was the Creators' intentions and the consequences linked to their actions. And I made this essay as an Effect of that.
In my opinion: "Wonder Woman" the movie, starring Gal Gadot, is DC's best live-action motion picture after the Nolans' "Dark Knight Trilogy". You cannot change my mind.
"Wonder Woman 1984" is the worst Motion Picture that DC has ever made the mistake to make. Don't even defend that.
The film had many flaws but the One that takes the Cake [and boy, did Zack Snyder eat it too] was how a Superheroine, not a Male hero, decided that it was acceptable to go beyond a person's consent and have His [nameless character performed by Kristoffer Polaha] body possessed by her "ghost of kaboom! past" for the One most bizarre 3P(?) rape party to ever meet the big screen - Change my mind, try it. As a Person, I still question if this was the right Choice, considering the context for any Society and at any Time, to make this call as a Director, Actress and Studio.
And so, I'm more focused on the third movie because I can't wait to see how they'll clean that up. If they so dare say that they never did portray rape by Hero, regardless of sex or gender and claim that no one took the profits made from the "in poor taste" film - I can only pray for them that the clap back, will be "gentle".
TO BE CLEAR. I do not condone violence and abuse of any form, and my writing is in no way, shape or form, a manifesto or hypnotic command to spread harm onto others. I speak of only my Opinions and Imaginations until stated otherwise and with cited Sources. All Persons are responsible for their Own actions and No one else can shoulder that for them. Back to the story.
The third movie should be the accumulated Effect of its preceding Films. The war against the Gods who used the World War as their proxy War against the Human race. And the war against Mythos and their poorly-discarded Artifacts that warp the Human will. Like wishing to be the bottle of the Genie, and not the Genie (My brain broke there). So I would introduce a surprise Guest.
Aphrodite: the Goddess of Love and Sex. But far more than that. If you do a little digging, or just watch a Youtuber who loves to do a little digging [shoutout to "Overly Sarcastic Productions”!] turns out that before Aphrodite was worshiped by Athenians of Ancient Greece, she was worshiped by Spartans as the female Goddess of Love, Sex AND War and counterpart to Ares, male God of War. Just that, well, there's no sweeter way to put this: the patriarchal Men of the Athenian society did not want a Goddess of Sex, Romance AND the Brutality of war being worshiped [and also in the eyes of their oppressed Wives, Mothers and Daughters] and so decided that removing the “War goddess” part would do.
Imagine: even the Gods can be oppressed by socio-politics. Sad as that fact may be, we now have a Subplot character to Diana Prince! In the Red suit, we have the recently bashed Wonder Woman. And in the Blue, we have the disempowered but headstrong, Aphrodite-sama~! “Rapist of Men so that makes it not rape because its not the same thing” (don't ever think that kids! okay!) versus “the actual Muscle Girl that made Muscle girl a sex symbol”. It's the fight of all ages, and especially of all sexes.
Before you ask me about why Aphrodite is alive when Ares killed all the Gods, I'll let you in on a little (open) secret. They were hooking up. A lot. And they weren't married. She married his brother, Hephaestus. And they liked the arrangement - Ares and Aphrodite did. It was well known that Hephaestus was having none of it.
So having killed all the gods except his "buddy", Ares and Aphrodite would go on to rule as Gods, together, and "control" the conflicts of man until the World reached "Mutually Assured Destruction", to which a Diana Prince appears (gasp) to save the day, kill Ares and lose her own squeeze, Steve. Aphrodite would be in the shadows but both women walked away a Loner that day.
Aphrodite, alone, now only has Diana and she can't face her - not because of the “kill all Humans!” bit but the fact that the World War blew Diana's boyfriend to “itty bits” bit. Would she watch over Diana, with her immortal lifespan and resources amassed over the millennia? In good faith? Without even a little trouble - because Aphrodite was known to be the center of trouble. Read the Iliad or watch a Youtuber go on about the Iliad. [OSP is doing a lot of deep diving! Please look them up!]
Maybe She had a hand in "1984". Maybe it was with good Intention. Maybe She gave the Humans the Monkey palm to get a good laugh out of the whole debacle. Honestly, the Aphrodite in my head is doing all that and I'd still say it's within character. Maybe I'm just that bad a Writer, haha.
Now, the Main reason (not the only One) for why Aphrodite wants to fight Diana: it's because She's entertained by the idea of War. And she was entertained by Diana, who fought Ares and won. Who fought Cheetah, and won. Who fought Steppenwolf. And won. Would it really surprise Anyone that the Goddess of War wanted to fight the greatest female Warrior, who's name is known across the Stars?
Diana, War has come for You. And for Her: all's fair.
Here's My sources:
"How Wonder Woman 1984 Should Have Ended" by YouTuber, How It Should Have Ended
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG20xxWt4nU
"Wonder Woman 1984 - What Went Wrong?" by Youtuber, Wisecrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpZ7F3B2yas
To read the actual Short Story, follow the link below:
https://www.royalroad.com/profile/263239/fictions
Please wait as there are technicalities being handled with Royal Road.
