Wonder Woman takes the driver's seat

482

Super heroine Wonder Woman took center stage Monday evening as curious DePauw students overflowed Watson Forum.
Director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan aired the film "Wonder Women," which stresses the importance of Wonder Woman in popular culture as a model for young women. The documentary also demonstrates how superheroines have played a role in the advancement of feminism and shaping of gender roles in the U.S. since the 1940s.
"It seems like a great era for superhero films," said Guevara-Flanagan. "I felt like there was an absence of women superheroes, though, and Wonder Woman seems like the natural go-to to make a blockbuster film starring a woman, and I was just curious why that hadn't happened."
Guevara-Flanagan believes that people are so used to the implications male superheroes leave on society, so she wanted to see how the public would react to females taking lead roles.
The film features interviews with Wonder Woman scholars, comic book writers and fans, all who view Wonder Woman as a role model and influential icon for females across the country. One of Guevara-Flanagan's goals in making this film was to use Wonder Woman and female superheroes to portray women as symbols of success.
"We are used to seeing women as eye candy and decorative," Guevara-Flanagan said. "Culturally we know that they are capable of more than that, yet it persists and is still out there. It's troubling and contradicting."
When choosing from the hundreds of other superheroines and important female figures in pop culture to represent a film like this one, Guevara-Flanagan felt Wonder Woman was simply the best option.
"She has the name recognition. If you're going to be a female superhero for Halloween, it's going to be Wonder Woman," Guevara-Flanagan said. "Also, if you look at her literal history in comic books, there have been many changes and evolutions to her in her career, and part of that is because she has been around for so long. So I thought it was interesting to look at her because as women's roles in society have evolved, her roles have shifted too."
Guevara-Flanagan uses all of these features to give women the proper recognition and to acknowledge them beyond just the stereotypes society has labeled onto them.
"We want all those important woman in history to be remembered and written in the text books that will be read from in colleges years from now," she said.
Catherine Fruhan, professor of art history and documentary films, organized this event as a result of seeing the film at the Cleveland International Film Festival. She believed it was a very well crafted film with a lot of incredibly witty content.
"It had an interesting impact on a lot of levels," Fruhan said. "It's a really fun film that's also really smart and informative. Even if you're not in to comic books and superheroines, which I'm not either one, there is just a lot there that's important to think about and like."