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Friday, April 29, 2005
I hate Wonder Woman
Why? She has inherent flaws in her origins and her mission in comparison to those of Batman and Superman.
Batman represents passion, and vengance. He is true determination, willingness to overcome the odds through acquired skill and ability. Superman is the opposite end of the spectrum. He is power, he is truth. He represents the power man has been given over his world, and his self-imposed duty to protect it.
Both of their missions are self-imposed. Arguably they fight the same fight, but in the grand scheme of things one is a vigilante and the other is fighting for an ideal more than a specific law. There is a divergence there between man's desire to pursue his own interests and man's responsibility to pursue the greater good. And where is Wonder Woman in this? She is the third member of DC Comics's "holy trinity."
Diana, Wonder Woman, was formed of clay by her mother and blessed with life by the gods. Her skills were gained through training and conditioning, imposed by the harsh rule of her Amazon society. All in the goal of serving the gods.
Her supernatural abilities and magical tools, the lasso and the gauntlets, were gifts from the gods themselves to better help her complete her mission. And what is Wonder Woman's mission? She acts as ambassador between the god's will, and "Man's World." Diana is a divine agent, whereas both Superman and Batman are serving purely human desires. And this, in and of itself, seperates her from nearly every other comic book superhero.
Wonder Woman sexist? No way!
More importantly, her reliance on the gods for her abilities and her mission plays into the belief that women are inferior to man. Batman and Superman's abilities are inherent, or earned. Wonder Woman, the female, is given her powers. As such, Wonder Woman as a character is flawed on the most basic levels.
Her roots tie into the pagan gods, and an even more archaic view of women.
This is old world-style thinking and directly contrasting with your other male heroes. Spider-Man is driven by conciense and guilt, Superman driven by responsibility, and Batman by vengance.
Wonder Woman's most direct analogue is Captain America, whose sense of duty to an outdated belief system is similar to her own. But Captain America's origin is tied very specifically to World War 2. He stands as a tribute to that era, containing all of the positive qualities we associate with it and none of the obvious problems society faced during that time. Wonder Woman is in no way a tribute to the belief system she attempts to spread. Although she may be idealized, the blatant sexism and warlike nature of the Greek era shine through in her.
For these reasons and more, she fails as a positive role model. The strongest and most iconic of female heroines is arguably the worst of them all.
I hate Wonder Woman.
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