There's something a little disconcerting about the article. I found the decidedly strange take on the costumes a bit odd. They want them to be authentic and real, but not like the males? Interesting, the armor definitely keeps a semi-Grecian vibe, but also looks a little like Viking gear.
The issue isn't with the clothes, it's with the heels. Why? I can see for the cinematic quality it would be ok to a point for the clothing- but why have the fucking high heels?!? I've bitched about the issue for years, if a person takes action in any combat capacity- do not use heels! I even raged at the idea of Nolan's version of Catwoman and her idiotic heels. A cat burglar needs to be stealthy, quiet, and agile, not clacky-sounding as hell and totally impractical for any sort of evasive maneuvering for breaking in and out of places. Where is this idea of needing heels from? At least on some boots it serves as a control for stirrups, but here they are useless.
“To me, they shouldn’t be dressed in armor like men,” Jenkins says of the women’s battle wear. “It should be different. It should be authentic and real – and appealing to women.” Jenkins and her costume designer, Lindy Hemming (The Dark Knight), crafted a look that showed off the women’s ripped shoulders and toned legs, in outfits that looked practical but that still featured the tropes of the comic book, in particular the braces on their wrists and, yes, even the high heels.
Jenkins defends the impractical footwear. “It’s total wish-fulfillment,” she says, adding that the warriors have flats for heavy fighting. “I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.”All right, I've written about this topic over and over and over and over and over again. From a male's perspective, we don't want Superman to look like he's one of those preposterously huge muscle heads, we want someone to look like what they are doing is something they actually could do. I'd recommend you read the much lengthier post here, but in it I can sum up the image thing with this snippet from it:
Body types do mean something in these films. I'm not talking about breast size. I couldn't care less about that. This is about a fighter's physique. There's a reason no one would think of casting DJ Qualls in the role of Batman. No one would consider hiring a hundred pound actor for Superman. If Snyder is trying to keep with his own, new versions of these characters- grounded in reality, more gritty and realistic, then she needs to look the part of a hand-to-hand combat warrior. Think of Lucy Lawless in Xena: Warrior Princess. Would she have had the same impact if she was a twig? Not even close.
Think about it- would anyone hire Mackenzie Crook as Batman? No. He would, however, make a wonderful Scarecrow. Why is that? It's the image. It's because appearance is important, they are archetypal for some roles- most notably in globally recognizable iconic ones at that. Nobody is going to believe a scrawny Batman will get the job done now. Michael Keaton worked well back in the late 80's, but now? He wouldn't work. If we require the males to be buff and ripped to look their respective roles, so should the ladies.Image does mean something, and the high heel came into fashion long after the Greek culture Themyscira is based off of is set in. I do think the armor looks great, I don't really have an issue with that. It's the heels, they look quite out of place. Even for the non-heavy fighting it's just plain stupid. If there's any fighting, there should be no heels. Seriously, I can suspend disbelief in most of the powers, and even that the twiggy-sized Gadot can be Wonder Woman, but those god-damned heels are ridiculous. It's almost worse than the Jurassic World high-heel fiasco- if a T Rex could run at roughly 18mph, there is no way she'd outrun one, let alone outrunning one in a pair of high heels. It was easily the most outrageous moment in the film.
On the other hand I must say the fact that Director Patty Jenkins wants "as a woman, Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time." I really hope this will dispel the notion that beautiful or attractive superheroines are merely a male fantasy. No male looks at an ugly character, such as Toad from the X-Men comics, and thinks they want to be that dude. No men are lining up to be morbidly obese Blob either. This is exactly what I was saying with the snippets I took from my old posts- Mackenzie Crook or DJ Qualls would never fly as Batman because they aren't considered attractive male lead material.
It just seems like a double standard, that somehow males want fantasized muscular men and attractive women, but for some reason women don't? Attractive heroes, regardless of gender, will always be appreciated over those that are not (how many women went to see Deadpool simply because of Ryan Reynolds?), and it is so damn refreshing to hear a woman admit that she wants a capable and hot heroine.
Besides, it's about fucking time there's a bad ass superheroine film. It's been long overdue. There's a lot riding on this movie, and hopefully it does well enough to start getting some other female lead hero stuff in the mix. I mean, it's been 5 years since Iron Man 2, and Black Widow hasn't gotten an awesome espionage film yet and Captain Marvel isn't set to release until 2019.
If you've made it this far I wonder if I should make the joke about Achilles' Heel being a 6 inch stiletto. But then again, it's only slightly less absurd than seeing it on all the Greek warrior women.
Wonder Woman is set to hit theaters on June 23rd, 2017.
Source [ Entertainment Weekly ] via [ Comic Book Resources ]
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