Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Wonder Woman. Like the old Sesame Street song, one of these things is not like the other. In a world dominated by male characters, Wonder Woman stands apart. Not only in genitalia but in history. Introduced in a time where women were required to leave the home to take over jobs left vacant by fighting soldiers, Wonder Woman represented the strength that a woman possessed, no matter if she had a man to stand by or not. When the GI Joes came back? Wonder Woman comics became a love story. Can you even imagine if there was a series of Batman comic books centered on Batman asking a girl to a dance? Probably not.
Even without the somewhat ridiculous story lines, Wonder Woman stands alone as the most recognizable female comic book superhero there is. While diehard fans know of Black Canary and Ms. Marvel, almost everyone knows about Wonder Woman. Of course, made even more popular by the 1970’s TV show starring Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman remains to this day a fan favorite. But what effect does she and other female superheroines have when it comes to influencing the young women of the world today?
Director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan set out to answer that question.
Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Superheroines is a look at feminism through the comic book lens. Interviews with noted feminist Gloria Steinem, Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, and young girls come together to paint a picture of what female comic book characters mean to the world, both in ages past and today. Maybe this documentary will be the push Hollywood needs to finally put Wonder Woman on the big screen. I think we can all agree, the dude superheroes have had their day and it’s time to move over a bit and let a girl have the spotlight for a moment. Here’s hoping!
Airing on April 15th on PBS, Wonder Women will hopefully incite conversation amongst men and women alike, comic book fans or not. I know I’ll be watching, Lasso of Truth at the ready.
Gloria Steinem in Wonder WomenLynda Carter in Wonder WomenWonder Women director, Kristy Guevara-FlanaganKatie Pineda in Wonder Women
Check out a clip from the documentary Wonder Women:
March 5th, 2013 might just go down in history as the day the internet experienced a schism. The line has been drawn in the sand and the people of the internet have taken sides. In one corner, the fans of whiny “my daddy paid a lot of money and now I’m a star and deserve to win all the prizes” Taylor Swift, and in the other corner, the incredibly talented and witty and good looking fans of two women who possess similar qualities, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
What has prompted this bad blood between the factions? Well, let’s head back a few months to the night that the aforementioned Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the Golden Globes.
In case you needed a reminder, Taylor Swift lost to Adele and wasn’t too thrilled about it. See, Ms. Swift is not used to not winning and it took her a minute to process this new sensation. Not only that but she was the butt of a joke. Did you catch that? She, Taylor Swift musical princess, was the butt of a joke. So, you can sympathize that she had a rough night. There have been many times I’ve been the butt of a joke that I’ve had to take to my bed for days so the fact that sweet Taylor was able to sit there, fighting through the pain like a brave soldier, is inspiring.
The joke? Tina Fey and Amy Poehler had the audacity to comment on Taylor’s very public dating life. Here’s the thing, the image put out (that word choice will be funnier in a minute) by Swift and her people is that Taylor’s a bit of a ho. Okay, maybe not a ho ho, maybe the Disney princess version of a ho, but she does seem to get around. Weirdly, she seems to have a thing for Nickelodeon boy band types, and she’s gone through her fair share of them.
Now, before everyone gets all up in arms about how “I DON’T KNOW HER LYFE!!1!!”, you are right. I don’t, and neither does Tina Fey or Amy Poehler, but a big part of the whole celebrity thing is, the public only has what you put out to go off of and that is what Fey and Poehler made a joke about.
So joke is made, two months pass, Adele wins an Oscar, all is forgotten. Except it isn’t. Apparently, Taylor Swift has some inside knowledge on the afterlives of our favorite funny girls. Brace yourself, for this is some deep stuff right here.
[quote]“You know, Katie Couric is one of my favorite people,” Taylor Swift tells Vanity Fair contributing editor Nancy Jo Sales on the subject of mean girls in general and in response to an incident at this year’s Golden Globes, where Amy Poehler and Tina Fey mocked her highly scrutinized love life. “Because she said to me she had heard a quote that she loved, that said, ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.’” –VF Daily[/quote]
I missed the press release but apparently Taylor Swift is now the voice of today’s feminists. Our new anthem is now one of many of Taylor Swift’s empowering songs about either a.) wanting to date a boy b.) being broken hearted because said boy has left or c.) wishing all types of ill will upon boy’s new girlfriend.
Yes, this is exactly who should lead a new generation of women. This is the voice they should be following.
Or… and I’m just spitballing here, they could turn instead to someone like Amy Poehler whose YouTube channel, Smart Girls at the Party, is filled with empowering things for young women as opposed to pining over a boy.
That’s right, Amy Poehler has an entire YouTube channel geared towards advice for girls that goes beyond how to properly cry over a “lost love”. Not only that, when she heard about where she will spend all eternity?
[quote]”Aw, I feel bad if she was upset. I am a feminist, and she is a young and talented girl. That being said, I do agree I am going to hell. But for other reasons. Mostly boring tax stuff. ” –THR[/quote]
That is how you respond to someone saying something badly about you. Tina Fey? The same Tina Fey who has been very active in women’s rights issues? Who wrote an entire movie about bullying? She pretty much said what everyone else is thinking.
[quote]”If anyone was going to get mad at us, I thought it would be James Cameron, I did not see that one coming. It was a joke. It was a lighthearted joke.” –ET[/quote]
A joke. Of course there are some who thinks it’s hypocritical for Fey to make Mean Girls and then joke about Taylor Swift. Does this new Taylor Swift version of feminism mean that we aren’t allowed to make comments about another women ever? In addition to the joke about Michael J. Fox’s son, they also said that maybe Swift take some time to focus on herself, advice pretty much every 23 year old needs to hear. Especially a 23 year old that still has an “I’m Rick James bitch!” attitude.
I think we can go ahead and call this internet battle over. It has been won. Surely there’s a Harry Potter vs. Twilight argument out there that hasn’t been hashed out yet.
Credit to: PeachyApricot
Best part of the entire situation? Somewhere Katie Couric is sitting at a desk wondering, “how the hell did I get roped into all this?”
If you care to get a glimpse of what the “other side” is saying, check out this collection of tweets Uproxx put together after the Golden Globes. A preview of the eloquence:
Grizzly Bomb 