The Critical Drinker saw this coming, and the release confirmed it: WW84 is trash.
This is what happens when corporate filmmaking goes wrong.
And I think we can fix a large portion of the blame on one of the principles: Kristen Whig.
Drinker states that the film tries to put forth that you have to work for what you want. "Tries" is being generous; it's not the actual narrative at all. Remember who the film's target audience is: future SJW RadFems (i.e. girls).
Jenkins may have had creative control, but she's not immune to influence. Whig does know how to write, has influence, and isn't afraid to use it. All of the SJW signals in this film are to the benefit of her character and her espoused political beliefs, including the message of "There is no true consequence for taking the short cut; it's no different than having your appendix removed."
Further, all of the detrimental effects upon Diana are directly tied to her anti-SJW desire to be with a man. This is a direct association of eu-social norms with weakness, dependency, and eventual helplessness (i.e. where Whig's character was pre-wish).
The men are either unattainable fantasies (Chris Pine's Steve Trevor) or Gamma Male wastes of skin (Pedro Pascal's Max Lord), which further associates seeking love and unity with a man with being a failure of a woman.
And then there is the real undermining: the SJW stand-in (Whig's Cheetah) only loses because another woman who ought to know better (Diana) betrays the sisterhood to restore the status quo anti. Had that not happened, the SJW would have soon fully achieved her full innate awesomeness that her oppressors stole from her.
Make no mistake, that's the real message: "You don't need a man. You don't need to do anything to realize your real power, it is as easy as making a wish. Don't let traitors and oppressors get in your way."
And that message does not resonate. That's why this film is a trashfire, and trashfires are best left to burn themselves out. Alas, a third film got greenlit (further showing that there no longer a firm association of commercial success with continued employement), so we'll see down the road if this trend continues or not.
Everything wrong with the film seemed to me to come from its comic book nature and the fact that everything would have to reset at the end. I am still not convinced Cheetah actually renounced her gift so how did WW win? Either Max or WW removing should have been enough but the movie plays it like everyone must renounce their wish but I can't believe everyone would and definently not Cheetah.
ReplyDelete