They're ready to go!!
by *Hallpen
Love at first theory of quantum physics…
GOD OK THESE ARE SO CUTE
TAKING PARENTAL ADVICE FROM BRUCE WAYNE IS LIKE READING A BOOK ON ORANGES TO UNDERSTAND HOW APPLES TASTE.
And then Artemis proceeds to castrate him and throw him in the ocean to be eaten by giant sharks for talking to her girlfriend that way
I may have imagined that last part
But I feel it’s what should have happened…
Ughhh WHY WAS HE IN THIS MOVIE?!
Didn’t he try to get her drunk? And HE’S the love interest here?!
WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS MOVIE RE: MEN WHY DOES ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH DIANA HAVE TO INCLUDE MEN
WHY CAN’T WE JUST HAVE ONE THING
GODDAMN IT
Because DC are tragically determined to try and play pretend that Diana is heterosexual and so they insist on giving her these tedious male love interests to waste valuable screentime/panel time on their utterly boring heterosexual ‘romance’ in the stories
I was SO glad when George Perez retconned away the relationship between Diana and Steve Trevor…and SO dissapointed that they included it in this film and that it’s canon again thanks to that Justice League nonsense in the new 52
Given that it’s blatantly obvious even to people who’ve never read the comics that Wonder Woman is a lesbian, DC try to convince us she likes guys by giving her these mind numbingly tedious straight love stories in a pitiful effort to play pretend that she’s straight.
Sadly, we’re probably going to be stuck with nonsense like this until DC finally actually has the guts to admit that Diana is a lesbian and have her get herself the awesome girlfriend she deserves to have and so very clearly should be with, instead of these pathetic straight romances they insist on wasting her (And our) time with
Personally, I just hope that DC finally have get out of the closet already and hook up with another woman in the comics soon, because that’s the only kind of relationship I have any interest in reading about Diana being in. She doesn’t need to be wasting her time with some guy, she needs a fierce, smart, utterly fabulous girlfriend <3
Okay, it’s obvious that you don’t like Steve Trevor. And that’s fine! You don’t have to like Steve Trevor! Certainly, in this movie, he’s about as far from likable as you can get. It’s also totally cool that you interpret Diana as a lesbian. There’s even plenty of canon evidence for it! You may well be right.
But with all that said, there are still some things I want to comment on here.
First of all: “it’s blatantly obvious even to people who’ve never read the comics that Wonder Woman is a lesbian.”
Are… you sure about that?
The majority of the people I know aren’t into comics. If I asked them about Wonder Woman, they wouldn’t be able to tell me much of anything beyond that she wears a patriotic “bathing suit” and has a lasso. Oh, and they’d probably say something stupid like that she’s a “girl version of Superman”. The average non-comic reader isn’t terribly knowledgeable about Wonder Woman, to say the least.
If I asked them about her love life, they’d probably think she’s a couple with Superman or - especially if they’ve seen Justice League Unlimited (in which case, of course, they’ll be a bit more knowledgeable than your average non-comic reader) - Batman. Or they wouldn’t be able to tell you anything at all.
And if you asked the average non-comic reader which superheroes are obviously gay, I’m betting 99% of them would name Batman and Robin.
But more to the point: Why are we submitting what non-comic readers think they know as proof of anything? Most non-comic readers think it’s blatantly obvious that Lois Lane is an idiot who can’t see past a pair of glasses. Most non-comic readers think it’s blatantly obvious that Robin is a dumb sidekick who does nothing but make stupid puns. Most non-comic readers, to be perfectly blunt, don’t know a quarter of what they think they do.
And, most importantly, most of what they do think they know is founded on half-truths, outdated concepts, and blatantly idiotic reasoning. Assuming most non-comic readers did think Diana was obviously a lesbian (which I have never found to be the case), they’d probably be basing it on inane reasoning like “She was raised on an island without men” (by that logic, Tarzan would’ve been into bestiality), or “She’s a feminist and stuff”. After all, what else would they be basing it on, if they’ve never read the comics themselves? The fact that they heard it from a friend whose sister has a cousin who might’ve picked up a comic once?
Among those of us who do read the comics, you’ll find a variety of opinions, but at least ours are based on actual knowledge of the character and her history.
You are acting like it’s some sort of truth universally acknowledged that Diana is a lesbian, but that is clearly not the case. There are comic fans who will tell you absolutely that she is straight. There are comic fans who will tell you absolutely that she’s a lesbian. Personally? I think the canon pretty clearly indicates that Diana is neither lesbian nor straight, but bisexual. Now, you could argue that the evidence of her attraction to men is purely contrived because of homophobia on DC’s part, but that’s not necessarily so. Certainly, I do think DC would be too homophobic, at this time, to openly depict Diana in a same-sex relationship, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that the only reason for her to be canonically attracted to men as well as women is homophobia, or that depicting her in a relationship with a man is necessarily a pathetic waste of time.
Which brings me to Steve Trevor: I will grant you, right away, that this Steve Trevor you’re looking at right here is an utter jerk of a human being and nothing like what any love interest of Diana’s should be. If this were how Steve Trevor were always characterized, I’d be right there with you arguing that he’s a terrible choice for Diana and contributes nothing positive to her mythos.
However, the way Steve Trevor is characterized in this movie is not at all the way he’s characterized in significant portions of the comics, including the New 52. Beyond some internalized sexism in some Silver Age comics (which is something all comic characters suffered from at that time - for goodness’ sake, look at how Clark and Lois were written during that era!) Steve Trevor has never been portrayed as a sexist or anti-feminist character. On the contrary, Marston stressed from the earliest days that he had the highest respect for Diana and her abilities, and was openly admiring, rather than intimidated, by the ways in which she was obviously superior to him.
He was also portrayed as a highly principled, ethical character, and certainly not the kind of man who would try to get a woman drunk the way he does to Diana in this movie.
The thing is… when written well (which, obviously, he is NOT in this movie), Steve Trevor is actually an incredibly brilliant, feminist concept for a character. And here’s why:
Wonder Woman is all about subverting gender stereotypes. It’s been an essential aspect of her character from the beginning, and it’s always going to be a big part of her narrative. And the way Steve was originally written, as her love interest, reflects that.
Think for a minute about major comic-book couples. If you give it a bit of thought, you’ll realize that many of the most committed, loving couples portrayed in superhero comics consist of a superhero guy and a non-powered “ordinary civilian” woman: Lois and Clark, Barry and Iris, Wally and Linda, Ralph and Sue Dibny, Buddy and Ellen Baker.
What’s great about these couples is that, when written well, these women are portrayed as incredibly strong, heroic characters who are every bit the equal of their husbands without needing a costume or superpowers. It sends a really powerful message that there are different kinds of heroism in the world, and equality is based on a lot more than physical strength.
Ever notice that you hardly ever see the reverse?
Off the top of my head, I can think of few significant relationships between superheroines and non-powered civilian love interests. There’s Jason Bard, ex-fiance of Barbara Gordon, but he was pretty much ditched in the 90’s in favor of the two Ds (Dick and Dinah). There’s Terry Long, who was married to Donna Troy back in the days of New Teen Titans, but he was unceremoniously killed off along with their son in 1997. (He also seems to be one of the most hated love interests in the history of comics, but to be fair to fandom, that seems to have as much to do with his bad facial hair and the age difference between him and Donna as it does with his lack of powers.)
But overall? It’s really, really rare to find a superheroine whose main love interest is just a “regular guy”. When you do see it (as with Diana and Steve), you’ll often hear a lot of complaints about how the man in question is “lame” and “not worthy of her”.
Why? Because gender stereotypes tell us that the man needs to be physically stronger than the woman. The man needs to be more powerful and more conventionally heroic. The man needs to be the one saving the day. And if he isn’t, then he’s just not worthy. The implication being that all women desire to be dominated by a stronger man, and all men’s worthiness is defined solely by their physical strength and conventional masculinity.
Now, there are a few (a very few) superhero couples where the woman is physically stronger and more powerful than the man, who defy gender stereotypes. Barda and Scott Free being the best example:
And, of course, back in the day, Dick and Kory:
But even in those cases, you’ll notice: The guy is still a superhero. Yes, the women in these relationships are the more aggressive, powerful, and physically strong ones (which is expressed even in the relative heights of the couples), but the disparity in power is only allowed to go so far. Depicting a superheroine in a relationship with a completely “normal” guy is still very taboo, because that would just defy gender stereotypes too much.
But Diana and Steve completely turn these gender norms on their heads. Steve is intelligent, brave, and capable - and yet compared with Diana’s formidable powers and military skill, he is by far the “weaker” of the two. Diana is the hero. Diana is the one going out to save the day, and Diana is the one who saves him, over and over. And instead of being emasculated or threatened by this, Steve thinks it’s completely awesome. He is in awe of her and her strength and her power, and it’s largely what makes her so desirable in his eyes.
And for Diana’s part? Diana wasn’t raised to see relationship dynamics according to our accepted gender norms. It doesn’t occur to her that she needs a man who’s more physically powerful than she is, and it doesn’t occur to her that she should be defining Steve solely according to his physical strength. All she sees is that he’s a good man with qualities she can respect and admire, and he gives her his unconditional loyalty and support, and he’s attractive to her. It doesn’t matter that he’s not a superhero or that he can’t match her in physical strength. She sees what makes him a worthy person in less stereotypical ways.
In other words, what attracts Diana to Steve is not so different from what attracts Clark to Lois. Narrow-minded people might like to argue that a “regular” love interest isn’t “worthy” or “cool” enough, but the heroes in question see deeper than that. The difference is, when you switch the genders around, the dynamic is suddenly considered a lot more controversial, because it’s expected that the man will be the stronger, more dominant one in any relationship.
Many of the ideas I’ve sketched out here owe a lot to tumblr user ragnell, who I give total credit for making me see Steve Trevor in an entirely new light - in particular, I recommend reading this essay, “What Does She See in That Man?”
The point being… obviously, it would be groundbreaking to depict Diana in a homosexual relationship. And it would absolutely have a basis in prior canon. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that Steve Trevor is a useless character or that depicting Diana in a relationship with him serves no purpose but heteronormativity. It may still not be your cup of tea, and that’s fine. If you’ve got your heart set on lesbian romance, nothing can convince you otherwise. But as I think I’ve demonstrated, there’s actually a lot about Diana and Steve’s relationship which would be different and important and feminist, and there’s a lot about their dynamic which fundamentally supports the feminism of Diana’s narrative.
You may not like it, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing good or substantive about it.
All bow before the mighty and awesome Luanna and bask in the glow of her awesomeness.
(Seriously though, what is UP with how bad Steve sucks in that movie? Gail Simone co-wrote it for pete’s sake! Lauren Montgomery directed it. I’m betting studio overreach…)
Luanna255 definitely knows what’s up! The animated Wonder Woman film was, for sure, the worst portrayal of Steve Trevor. And considering that Gail Simone is a well-known feminist comic writer, it’s very odd that this characterization tweak made the final cut. Instead, I really do wish that they had went along the same vein as Justice League the animated series, where Steve Trevor was at least more respectable towards Wonder Woman. But with less lead female animators/writers/directors/executives at the top of the animation food chain, we girl geeks can’t always have nice things… at least for now.
Man of Steel: Lois and Clark [x]
Mike and I received an advance copy of the first Korra art book from Dark Horse today! Looks great. There’s Ryu flipping through the pages, walking down memory lane. It is breaking my heart that this won’t be available until something like *one week* after this year’s San Diego Comic Con. ARGH!
A zombie-bitten father tries to save his infant daughter in this bittersweet short film
So you’ve been bitten by a zombie. So long, conscious brain activity, hello craving for human meat. But the protagonist of the short film Cargo has bigger problems than his impending demise: he has to find a way to save his infant daughter, even if he has to die first to do it.
Directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, Cargo was a finalist in Tropfest Australia 2013. It’s also a rather clever take on zombie genre tropes, with a story that isn’t about the survival of self, but the survival of another.
OH THIS SHORT FILM IS JUST AMAZING AND MAKES ME CRY EVERY SINGLE TIME
It’s a work of art, lemme tell you! GO WATCH IT NOW.
This is not ok
(Source: io9.com)

