Hollywood is bending over backward to make sure women get noticed this year. Perhaps it’s only right, seeing as how one of the largest virtue signal platforms in the world finally had to come forward and admit it harbored sexual predators of every variety around almost every corner.
But despite its current strategy of figuratively placing its lips squarely on the collective rump of female talent in Hollywood — hopefully, this time with consent — one movie featuring a powerful woman is noticeably absent from the current crop of Oscar nominations despite its success and approval.
Wonder Woman was a shining light in an age where superhero movies are a dime a dozen. Directed by female director Patty Jenkins, and starring the beautiful and talented Gal Gadot as its lead, Wonder Woman ended up surpassing 2002’s Spider Man as the number one grossing origin movie for a superhero in the world. If anything, it’s a spectacular example of the ability of women in Hollywood to stand on their own and make something that can blow us all away.
And yet, Hollywood snubbed it for Oscar nominations. Why?
For all intents and purposes, it should be counted among Oscar nods left and right despite the fact that it’s a superhero movie. It fits all the criteria necessary for Hollywood love…or so you would think. Wonder Woman ran into too many political troubles to be considered safe for an Oscar nomination. Hollywood, being the left wing haven that it is, couldn’t stomach a few of Wonder Woman’s glaring politically incorrect flaws.
For one, feminists didn’t seem to think Wonder Woman was suitable as a rep for their narrative. She was too sexy and too beautiful. She was constantly being gawked at by her male companions in the movie, which only made feminists put Wonder Woman in the “for the male gaze” column. What’s more, Diana, Wonder Woman’s real name, was reduced to mush at the site of a baby. Even worse, she learns the value of men, and even falls in love with one! The nerve!
James Cameron may have summed up how Hollywood views Wonder Woman’s lack of feminism by calling the movie a step backward for women.
“All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing!” said Cameron. “I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!”
Then there was the problem of Gal Gadot’s past. For many, the fact that a Jewish Israeli woman, who served in the Israeli military and supports Israel openly was too much. They lashed out at Gadot for any pro-Israeli posts she made. This caused conservative Americans to come to her aid, and further distance the left from Gadot who was clearly supported by what Hollywood considers the untouchables.
So a very successful film directed by a woman will get no recognition at the Oscars because it starred the wrong woman, sporting the wrong values, having the wrong looks, and promoting the wrong behaviors. For Hollywood, Wonder Woman was just too…well, American.
This is incredibly sad, as in a world that was being very honest with itself would admit that Wonder Woman is a triumph on many levels. For Hollywood, it was the wrong kind of triumph.
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