_Plays at 7 p.m. at Windsor Auditorium at Stephens College._
Rarely will you ever taken notice of female comic book heroes. Besides the fact that there are maybe two superheroines that I can even think of. BatMAN, Spider-MAN, SuperMAN, as their names imply, simply dominate comic book and movie culture.
Filmmaker Kristy Guevara-Flanagan stresses in “Wonder Women,” that as a result of this, women don’t really have that many butt-kicking superheroine role models. Women traditionally have filled in as the soft counterparts, the sweet Lois Lane to Superman’s brawn, the fragile Mary Jane desperate for Spidey to rescue her from dark alleys and the helpless Rachel relying on Batman to save her when she falls off things. The extent of the dominance of male heroes is such that Microsoft Word won’t even accept the term “superheroine” without an angry red underscore and spelling suggestions.
Guevara-Flanagan makes the case for the necessity of women superheroes by exploring the effects of a country obsessed with masculine heroes, and the success of the sole heroine that could save herself. The film follows Wonder Woman’s development as a direct result of what society wanted from her, starting with her purposeful birth in the 1940s, her collapses into physical and psychological bondage, her over-sexualization and suppression, and eventually her strength and prowess as the symbol of the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1970s. The documentary boasts fascinating truths about a patriarchal society, frank interviews with Gloria Steinem and disarming testimonials from real life “wonder women.” “Wonder Woman” won’t disappoint, with fantastically well-done graphics and editing contributing to her triumph as she gives four and a half sucker punches out of five.