With a month until release, DC and Warner Bros.’ upcoming superhero film Wonder Woman is already navigating choppy waters. Last October, the United Nations bestowed the Amazonian comic book character with the title of Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. Simultaneously, October 21st was declared Wonder Woman Day. A star-studded ceremony was held with past Wonder Woman Lynda Carter and the current incarnation of the character, played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot in attendance.
Unfortunately, the warmth and empowerment was short-lived. A petition soon circulated demanding Wonder Woman be stripped of her title due to the character’s “current iteration…of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmering, thigh-baring body suit.” The 40,000 signatures was enough for the U.N. to rescind the honor. Recently, Carter – who starred in the Wonder Woman TV series for three seasons in the late 1970s – vented her frustrations in an interview for The Daily Telegraph, exasperatedly saying, “Well, excuse me, women have breasts!”
Carter also took umbrage against the character being labeled as white. Carter herself is half-Latina, born Lynda Cordova Carter to a mother with Mexican, Spanish and French ancestry. She chalks up much of the hate against the character to good, old-fashioned sexism. “Superman has got a big pouch in his crotch…it’s the ultimate sexism to say because she [Wonder Woman] has big breasts and a costume on, that is what you think represents her and who she is.”
This comes in the wake of continued irritation from fans of the upcoming comic book movie who believe the film’s being under-advertised in comparison to previous male-driven superhero films. You can support Wonder Woman when it hits theaters on June 2, 2017.
[h/t: ComicBook.com]
