‘Wonder Woman’ director Patty Jenkins has responded to director James Cameron, after he accused the film of “objectifying” its leading character and being “a step backwards” for women in cinema.
James faced a huge backlash online over comments he made in an interview with The Guardian on Friday (25 August), in which he said he’d grown tired of the “self-congratulatory back-patting” he’d seen in Hollywood in the wake of the superhero film’s success.
He claimed: “[Wonder Woman] is an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards.”
As his comments attracted more and more controversy, Patty spoke out about the critique in a statement on her Twitter page, where she thanked James for his past praise of her film ‘Monster’, but lamented that women could only be perceived as “strong” in certain settings.
She wrote: “James Cameron’s inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for, to women all over the world is unsurprising as, though he is a great filmmaker, he is not a woman.
“Strong women are great. His praise of my film ‘Monster’, and our portrayal of a strong yet damaged woman was so appreciated.
“But if women always have to be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven’t come very far have we?”
Patty concluded: “I believe women can and should be EVERYTHING just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman. And the massive female audience who made the film a hit it is, can surely choose and judge their icons of progress [sic].”
‘Wonder Woman’, which had Gal Gadot in its lead role, won hugely positive reviews upon its release earlier in the summer, and was recently named the highest-grossing live action film by a female director, as well as the second-highest of 2017 overall, behind only Disney’s ‘Beauty And The Beast’.
A sequel has been announced, and is currently slated for release in December 2019, with Patty Jenkins once again set to direct.