Found these quotes from Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman director) to be very interesting:
“I feel like one of the most ironically sexist things that happened to women heroes for so long was that they had universal storytelling taken away from them. So, male superheroes could have Lois Lane. They can have love, they can have vulnerability, they can have complexity. But women superheroes or strong women characters had to be, ‘I don’t need anyone, I’m the toughest person in the world.’ That’s not fair to anybody. No human being is an island like that.
“Chris Pine was a rare and special casting. We wanted a man who was a true parallel to Diana. A giant spirit who is the kind of man one aspires to be, but isn’t afraid to be complex and leave room for and even compliment another. He’s the kind of man women want to believe is out there. He’s also one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with.”
The bolded part above is why I think Wonder Woman is such a great movie, why Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman character is so charismatic and endearing in the film, and why I think Patty Jenkins is such a great director. She gets it. I think ultimately where many feminist ideals fall short is that "I don't need anyone, I'm the toughest person in the world" mentality and thought pattern when life, women, and men are much more complex than that. In fact, the strongest people out there I see find their strength through their complex interactions with everyone around them, and its those people that tell the most compelling stories. Men aren't that simple, and neither are women, and both have their innate strengths that make them great and special which shouldn't be downplayed.
