Coming soon, to a device near you: Podcast #4: Wondering about Wonder Woman

So after a year of tantalising trailers, the Wonder Woman movie is finally out.  Not surprisingly, as it’s a film based on an active female protagonist (gasp!), it has drawn a mixed reaction.

If you want my thoughts, here they are. Whilst the finished product is a cut above the usual superhero fare, and it is ground breaking in that it is directed by a woman (gasp!), personally I think it still doesn’t live up to the historical promise of the Wonder Woman character, or the film’s own promotional expectations. It was ok, but it could have been so much better.

I had conversations with a number of people about the film and generally my friends think it’s great, particularly because they felt it had a strong feminist message. This got me thinking, I probably needed to think through why I was disappointed and maybe have a more in depth chat about Wonder Woman; a figure I know relatively little about.

So I’m just in the process of arranging said podcast and my guests will include Dr. Rayna Denison, editor of Super Heroes on World Screens and lecturer in film studies at UEA and Melanie Adams, Wonder Woman aficionado and pin-up artist.We are scheduled to record the podcast next week, and the finished thing will be available for you to listen to here a couple of days later.

In the meantime…

…here’s a history of Wonder Woman as cover girl – the changing faces of Wonder Woman, across 75 years of depictions, evolutions, appropriations, adaptations, exports, reinterpretations and reboots.  I’d love to hear which ones excite or enrage, reassure or surprise you – and why. Please comment below…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Podcast available now!