Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Filmmaker Kristy Guevara-Flanagan uses Wonder Woman as a jumping-off point for this engaging survey of superheroines in comic books, films, and TV shows. Although she wasn't the only animated female hero to emerge in the 1940s, Diana “Wonder Woman” Prince of Paradise Island wielded the most power and became the most notable. Ms. magazine founder Gloria Steinem, who put Wonder Woman on the cover in the 1970s, remembers the DC Comics character as "the only game in town." Aside from her strength, speakers describe the character as independent, patriotic, and compassionate. Interestingly, her creator, Dr. William Moulton Marston, also contributed to the technology behind the lie detector (as one observer notes, Wonder Woman's golden lasso operated under the same principle by compelling villains to spill their guts). In the post-war era, however, conservative critics took issue with the very qualities that made her popular, and she became more conventionally feminine, along with Catwoman, Lois Lane, and other can-do female characters. But the superheroine would return to her roots in the 1970s, which led to hit shows such as Wonder Woman with Lynda Carter, and The Bionic Woman with Lindsay Wagner (both are covered in the documentary), which would eventually propel tough gal films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Aliens and Thelma & Louise. The filmmaker also interviews musician and activist Kathleen Hanna, a fourth-grade fan who attends comic conventions dressed as her icon, and a book store proprietor who raises funds for domestic abuse prevention through an annual Wonder Woman Day event. An entertaining and informative film, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)