Reviews for Wonder Woman 1984 are out now, and from the early access reviews, it has become clear that women of color have not been given the same access to see and review the film as their white counterparts—which seems very much like a mistake.
Film criticism is still a very male-dominated industry, but when a film comes out featuring a female director, a sequel to one of the most successful female-led superhero movies of all time, starring a Latino man as the lead antagonist, maybe—just maybe—the studio should work to make sure women, and especially women of color, have a place in the review circuit, especially considering one of the big issues with the first film was that there were so few women of color with names in the film.
Plus they, like the rest of the Amazons, they were gone once we left the beautiful, lush Themyscira for Man’s World, a.k.a. London. For me, the Wonder Woman movie was not the version of the character I enjoyed, but I can and do still appreciate how meaningful seeing Diana Prince onscreen, and done well, was to so many people. Wonder Woman was one of my mother’s favorites growing up, so there is no doubt there is a place for everyone in the character.
Yet, the reviews are not reflecting that, and therefore, an important perspective is missing out. Because it does matter, for instance, if Natasha Rothwell, who was announced to be playing a character in 84, gets just a cameo or a fully fleshed-out character in a series that has already sidelined WOC.
One of the few Black women I’ve seen who was able to review Wonder Woman 1984 is Vulture‘s who said the film captured the “utter hollowness of representation” on a corporate level. But we also have Angie Han delivering a much more optimistic look at the film for Mashable. WOC can have multiple, differing opinions about a film, and that is a variety that deserves to be seen, as one of the biggest films of the year is about to be beaming into the homes of anyone who even as a free trial for HBO Max.
It matters that the people who are promoting Diana as a symbol of feminism and love and progress are showing those same ideals in who they give access to.
Personally, I didn’t want to review Wonder Woman 1984; I didn’t love the first one, and I didn’t want to bring all my biases into the film when there are plenty of people who loved it here who could write a thoughtful review. But I know that when I finally do watch it, my opinion will be different than that of my white coworkers, or that of another one of my Black coworkers. That is the beauty of having multiple perspectives about a film: There will always be someone who saw what someone else didn’t.
If any movie should get the benefit of those varying perspectives, it is Wonder Woman 1984.
And if, this latest movie doesn’t feature any diversity when it comes to women of color, what it is going to feel like to those who were already asked to wait until last to be seated at the table? To not be included in the film or as part of the reviewing experience? Sounds like a bad idea to me.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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