‘Wonder Woman’: The one scene no one is talking enough about

Clay Enos/ TM & © DC Comics/ Acquired WB Media / Wonder Woman

‘Wonder Woman’ gave us a lot of poignant and amazing moments. But one scene in particular speaks right to the expectations of female-lead films and smashes those expectations without ever looking back.

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It’s a little over 24 hours since I stepped outside the theater after seeing Wonder Woman. Still drying my tears, I shielded my red and puffy eyes behind mirrored rose gold sunglasses. I know this sounds like it’s going to be some kind of metaphor for suddenly seeing the world in some idyllic rose-tinged hue but it’s not. I took a picture with the Wonder Woman poster outside. Struck the iconic cross-armed pose but due to the sun’s glare had to stand slightly sideways. The result is me, posing while looking irreverently at the poster. Perhaps it’s not as poignant as a child dressed up, staring in awe or even as momentous as the celebratory smiles of the many women who have waited decades upon decades for this movie. Still, it’s a powerful image (and not just because the poster says so), but because it speaks to everything Wonder Woman is and the concentrated effort by director Patty Jenkins and the entire cast and crew.

Acquired WB Press Media, Clay Enos/ TM & © DC Comics

As much as I would love to turn this into a full-on fangirl love letter to Patty, I fear that might just sound like white noise at this point as I’m not sure I couldn’t be nearly as articulate as what’s already been said by many. Though, if by some chance Patty does see this, I don’t think thank you can be said enough!

Leading up to my own viewing of the movie I read a lot about what critics were saying. I was instantly relieved to see all the praise. A friend who caught an early screening described it as a beautiful film but kept tight-lipped on the truly nuanced narrative. And when I sat down to sort through my thoughts about what to write, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say anymore. It was a combination of speechlessness and feeling like everything I felt had been described already. But, beneath that chaos, one thing stuck out in my mind.

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Most of the criticism of the movie comes down at the romance plot line between Diana (Gal Gadot) and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). I’m not quite sure what movie some of these people saw, but it’s an intriguing point. If Wonder Woman had nixed a romance plot altogether that would have said a lot about the ability for a female-lead superhero movie and the sacrifices needed to gain credibility. All the male-lead superhero films have some kind of romantic moment and it’s rarely a problem. I suppose the argument could be that it isn’t the whole plot but it wasn’t Wonder Woman‘s either.

The romance was needed to show that you can have both (even if the conclusion is that in terms of pleasure men are decidedly unnecessary). That a woman like Diana can exist in a space where love is a central figure to the plot as her greatest strength. This is almost no different to Superman’s message of inspiring hope.

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In any case, I’m not trying to criticize the critics who didn’t like the movie. That’s fine. I mean, they’re wrong and I don’t trust them, but I forgive them. The thing is, all they saw is a romance and I think they missed an important scene that literally crushed that idea under a foot assuming a fighting position.

A ton has already been said about the exquisite and breathtaking No Man’s Land scene. And while I am sure the analyses will keep coming, it’s a smaller moment leading up to that I have in mind. And as much as I want to talk about the fact that the sex scene, which wasn’t cut-away so much in the interest of maintaining the integrity of a family friendly film, but because sex on-screen is often a power play that objectifies at least one party involved (though I could write a dissertation on the virginity myth using just this movie too!) that too is only made great by what precedes it. I could comment on the employment of the female-gaze and the gratuitous and slight objectification of Steve Trevor earlier in the movie (or the fact that I’m convinced they used Chris Pine’s eye color as inspiration for the pools in Themyscira). In fact I have a lot to say about Steve Trevor and the subversion of the romantic lead but I don’t need to because I’m not trying to prove any kind of point. The point has been proven. What I’m getting at is that Patty Jenkins saw your criticism when she was hired and she knew exactly how she would deflect it.

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It’s a simple scene, but when I look at Wonder Woman as a whole and say it has everything, I mean, it has everything!  Including an outfit changing montage straight out of a romantic comedy. It’s a scene that feels overlooked because on one hand “of course” a female-lead superhero movie with a gorgeous lead would have a scene that focuses on her outfit. But in an attempt to make Diana look less conspicuous, Steve puts glasses on her. Etta (Lucy Davis) even comments that putting glasses on the pretty girl doesn’t change anything. And she’s right, which is why in the next moment when Diana and Steve find themselves facing off against some bad guys in an alleyway, the glasses are tossed off and unceremoniously smashed in the ensuing fight.

The interpretation is fairly obvious, literally smashing the “nerd girl” turned “pretty girl” trope (also probably a little dig at a one Clark Kent who somehow is never even vaguely recognized as Superman). Diana isn’t less of anything when she’s not in her battle armor. And yet the scene is forgotten shortly after that. But it’s the crux of every expectation and negative press that was lobbed in Wonder Woman‘s direction before filming even got underway. Yes, this is a female-lead superhero movie. But it’s also just a superhero movie and it wasn’t trying to be anything less than that.

Critics who see Diana as shoe-horned into a romantic subplot, missed the part where she was never restrained by the romance to begin with. She spends the whole movie learning exactly what she’s fighting for. The only thing she doesn’t fight are her feelings. It’s so organic that the declaration during the big climax catches you completely off-guard. Which is why I don’t need to see anything about Wonder Woman through rose-colored glasses (okay I lied it was a metaphor). It succeeded on its own merits. And smashing a pair of tiny spectacles was just the start as the movie continues to smash all kinds of records (and glass ceilings).

Wonder Woman addresses those who go in only seeing one thing and miss everything else in its core message: “It’s not about deserving, it’s about what you believe. And I believe in love.”

Wonder Woman is currently in theaters.