If there's anything James Cameron knows, it's doubling down on something he believes is right. You can see it in his filmmaking, his franchise planning, and even his views on current events. And just as predicted, Cameron did just that with recent remarks about Wonder Woman. He maintained actress Gal Gadot was just too beautiful in the role, and now Lynda Carter has some choice words for the director. Here's what the OG Amazonian princess had to say:
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.
Before we even evaluate James Cameron's comments, we have to run through the credentials of Lynda Carter herself. While she wasn't the first Wonder Woman, she is the most well known, and carried the banner for the character during her run in the TV series between 1975 and 1979. Her reputation with the character is so iconic that she was naturally offered a cameo in this summer's film adaptation, but she declined due to scheduling conflicts. So while Carter is very much attached to the series, she's not personally vested in the film's success. So she's probably in a good position to evaluate the Titanic director's rather harsh words.
Originally, James Cameron's comments against the DCEU's bonafide hit was that instead of being a win for equality, Wonder Woman was still a very objectified film figure. And his recent clarifications once again focused on Gal Gadot's beauty and costume design, citing that Linda Hamilton's character in Terminator is more groundbreaking. And while pieces of his reasoning may hold up, the overall slam on the vital success that is Wonder Woman hasn't been met well by the public.
But between both sides of this argument lies the neutral truth: Wonder Woman, while being an excellent film, is far from the first film with a strong female character. But it is the first major studio adaptation of a major comic franchise that has a female director, as well as being the first Wonder Woman movie overall. One can certainly argue that the film broke some ground, and film's work speaks louder than any of the credentials it may have. And if you didn't believe it before, then allow Lynda Carter's words on Facebook to help convince you otherwise.
James Cameron is no doubt focus on the upcoming Avatar sequels that have just gone into production. After all, wielding $1 billion of studio capital kind of needs more than a casual eye to detail, and detail happens to be one of Cameron's strong suits. In the meantime, Wonder Woman is available on Digital HD, UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD now.
