Female audiences are the least respected when it comes to Hollywood circulating all sorts of meetings; leading up to debacles that spit tropes the likes of ‘I am not like most girls’, and simmers down material adaptations to a confused genre of ‘dark, edgy but still soft and gullible’ (Riverdale, You...etc.). With that said, I believe that the material for Wonder Woman (2017) did not emerge from, nor was developed in the shadows or guise of such themes/tropes. In simpler terms, women… received the opportunity to witness Wonder Woman and strong female warriors, actually fight with vigor and overcome an antagonist clearly defined and acceptable within the terrains of fictional and non-fictional grounds. All the while depicting ‘Ms. Diana of Themyscira’ approach problems with an authentic feminine mindset, which didn’t betray her sex at the cost of appealing to impressionable demographics. In even more simpler terms, the movie had some serious fiction along with minute imperfections (symbolism behind the church tower sniper scene) which still worked astoundingly well and successfully evoked all the right emotions among audiences.
The first Wonder Woman
movie was everything I had anticipated and dramatically, and eagerly wanted to
lap-up just gift wrapped and handed to me. I appreciated it. I embraced it. I
respected it. Although, little did we know the disappointment that would follow
which is WW84. So, what’s wrong with WW84?
A lot. While the issues of continuity, bad writing (especially Wonder Woman’s
little speech upon hijacking Maxwell Lorde’s transmission), rushed pacing (Diana’s
underdeveloped mastery of the invisible arts), meaningless ‘jugglation’ of
2 powerful antagonists can be determined as creative choices, I am not fond of
them. But those are not my biggest problems. The issues for me are the disguised
harmful tropes and the fact that her knees don’t bend when she runs. I am
kidding with the last one… or am I?
In all seriousness, WW84 fueled the moronic and half-baked propagation of Muslims in general. The only trope I would like to discuss today. Power ravenous (surrounded by his army 24 hours) and wealthy oil baron ‘Emir Said Bin Abydos’ was definitely not oversexed (thank the lord), but definitely inferior in comparison to the Western antagonist (who possess all the same generalities as Emir), an imbecile who could threaten the solitude of his own home and the West given the chance- and speaks extremely western dialogue, “heathens who dare trod upon it…”? sure…Said…sure. All themes that have notoriously defined Muslim leaders in Western films and TV shows dating as far back as the 60’s. So do tell, how does reviving an age old, shallow and racist concept add to the allure of the 80’s? Or shield young impressionable audiences in 2020 from perceiving the inapt Arab/Muslim on screen to be anything but in real-life?
With that said, this antagonist added no creative value, was undefined and abandoned, allowing room to perpetuate an ancient narrative that continues to hurt millions of people and marginalized groups- in a style we have witnessed over and over again. Emir’s character projection did not corroborate with lived-experiences nor the realities Muslims were facing in the 80’s thanks to oil and power narratives. However, Maxwell Lorde's actions definitely corroborated with the nightmare origins of Islamophobia. The colonialism and imperialism which granted wishes at a hefty price, only to later devalue the wish in manifestation (nationalism under the concept of self-determination of nations in the 30's). This is followed by the silly and unthreatened children who casually played ball in the middle of the street, their parents or guardians just 3ft away overlooking the bizarre situation (depicting uncivilized qualities, aloof parenting and mindset which fails to perceive potential threats… quite the opposite of reality) only to later encounter the ‘Western Savior’.
In the meantime, I’d like Steve Trevor to pick up the hanging car pendant with the names of our God and Prophet embedded- which he so passionately thwacked to save Diana (a pattern proceeding from the first film which demolishes religious/sacred ornaments or heritage as the means to alleviate Diana, the ‘God Killer’). It’s truly the implicit details imparted and engrained in our mindset which innately dictate how we perceive the world. It always has been the case since the inception of propaganda and media. If this weren’t true, Maxwell Lord himself wouldn’t have deemed satellites as the most efficient weapon at his disposal.
I don’t want to be a bum and attack a character that I hold so dear to my heart, solely for this trope. I understand that considering the time, resource and effort invested, WW84 is no small feat. Moreover, there were so many scenes I genuinely cherished even though I had set higher expectations for such an excellent character. Because those scenes possessed the true essence of the character, and those creative choices made me fall in love with the idea of Wonder Woman once again. But I am not stupid. I call out the blatant disrespect which ultimately establishes the fact that is; Wonder Woman from WW84, is not ‘my’ hero.
No comments:
Post a Comment