Following a day of social media backlash against James Cameron’s critical comments about the blockbuster hit Wonder Woman, director Patty Jenkins took to Twitter tonight to weigh in – strongly.
While philosophical of sorts about Cameron’s inability to appreciate Wonder Woman, Jenkins poignantly noted that, “though he is a great filmmaker, he is not a woman.” Jenkins went on to write on the social media platform that Cameron’s praise for her previous feature, 2003’s Monster, which centered on a troubled woman, should not be at the expense of a female heroine like Wonder Woman‘s Amazonian Diana.
“There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman,” the Wonder Woman filmmaker said, bringing up the Gal Gadot starring movie’s enormous box office success, driven by female audience, as evidence that her movie’s heroine has been embraced as a role model for young women.
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) August 25, 2017
Jenkins’ comments were in response to remarks Cameron had made in an interview with The Guardian on Thursday during a promotional tour for Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 3D.
“All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided,” the Oscar winner told the UK paper. “She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing,” the Avatar and Titanic filmmaker added. “I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie, but to me, it’s a step backwards. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female.”
The comments were all the more surprising, coming from Cameron, a filmmaker who was one of the first to empower a lead female on the big screen in the action genre with Terminator‘s Sarah Conn0r (played by Linda Hamilton) in 1984.
Since its release in early June, Wonder Woman has grossed over $800 million at the box office globally. With a sequel a no-brainer for Warner Bros, Jenkins is also back behind the camera in a deal that would see the Emmy nominee and DGA Award winner the highest paid female director in Hollywood – making what a man would be getting after a similar success.
In the meantime, with Gadot returning as the Amazon for the December 2019 scheduled sequel and joining a few other costumed pals beforehand in the November 17 debuting Justice League, Wonder Woman is back on the big screen tomorrow – the really big screen.
She’s back! This Friday, #WonderWoman returns to select IMAX theatres. Find what’s playing near you: https://t.co/M8F7oLmGZX pic.twitter.com/S87B39vPRL
— IMAX (@IMAX) August 22, 2017
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