Wonder Woman (2017): Thoughts! Questions!
Behold: Ares, the mustachioed bureaucrat
Lucy Davis as Etta steals every single one of her scenes. I’ll take no further questions.
Anyway, hello, welcome, and thank you for stopping by. For new visitors, here’s what this situation is all about:
With Savor the View, we’ll watch, think, and talk about movies and the things that matter. A special welcome and thanks to our regular crew!
Each Monday, I share brief, spoiler-free remarks and questions to frame viewing a movie on our own.
Each Thursday, I share post-viewing questions to poke at the issues, ideas, quandaries, inspirations...whatever...that movie might have summoned (spoilers, ahoy!).
Paid subscribers can talk it all out in a weekly Discussion Thread.
General thoughts?
The universal/general
Generalizations abound about war, peace, truth, right, wrong, good guys, bad guys, etc. etc. How well do any of these generalizations hold up within the movie itself? That is, can the nature of any of these things be painted in broad strokes?
The specific/unique
Why do we spend so much time at the beginning in the land of the Amazons? What world is created for this film by starting with a focus on a community of fierce middle-aged women?
What does it mean to be “safe” in this world? Is it possible? At what cost or risk?
What does Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) offer the “world of men?” Does she receive or learn anything as well?
The viewer is always present
Ares/Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis) is introduced as a mild-mannered peace advocate. Even when revealed as the god of war Ares, he at first continues to appear as a mustachioed bureaucrat. Why this choice? Why not just immediately transform him into something all-powerful, violent, and supernatural?
Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) talk lots about what people deserve. What do you think, as someone who is, yourself, a person – what do we deserve?
In the end, love saves the world. Does this resolution work for you? Why or why not?
Worthwhile Reads
https://freebeacon.com/culture/wonder-woman-review/
https://slate.com/culture/2017/06/wonder-woman-starring-gal-gadot-reviewed.html
Next Week’s Movie?
For August – the month of “Genre Grab-Bag” – Mary Magdalene (2018)
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