The world fell in love with Diana Prince (again) with the release of Wonder Woman this summer, breaking box office records and inspiring a new generation of young girls to be strong, compassionate, and heroic. However, Avatar director James Cameron was not a fan, calling Gal Gadot’s superhero “an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards.”
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was quick to dismiss Cameron’s comments as “misguided,” but Cameron doubled down, standing by his remarks, saying “I mean, [Gal Gadot] was Miss Israel, and she was wearing a kind of bustier costume that was very form-fitting. She’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. To me, that’s not breaking ground.”
In the light of Cameron’s latest batch of criticisms, the original Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter decided to weight in, referring to his comments as “thuggish” in a Facebook post.
“To James Cameron -STOP dissing WW: You poor soul. Perhaps you do not understand the character. I most certainly do. Like all women–we are more than the sum of our parts. Your thuggish jabs at a brilliant director, Patty Jenkins, are ill advised. This movie was spot on. Gal Gadot was great. I know, Mr. Cameron–because I have embodied this character for more than 40 years. So–STOP IT.”
The Queen has spoken. Of course Wonder Woman had its issues (the third act villain twist continues a bad DC trend) because all films do, but overall it was enjoyable, revolutionary, and gave women and girls the representation that they’ve been craving in a blockbuster for a long time. Just let it go, dude.
(Via Lynda Carter’s Facebook)