You’re A Wonder, Wonder Woman!

So I’ve been watching the classic Wonder Woman TV Series starring Lynda Carter. It’s aged surprisingly well and is actually really enjoyable.

The Wonder Woman TV Series is definitely on the fun side of live action superhero stuff. There’s no dark grittiness and if that’s what you look for in superheroes then this just isn’t your thing. I’m no expert on the vast Wonder Woman mythology but from what I gather the TV Series did a good job at portraying Wonder Woman’s WWII origins.

Some parts – like the special effects – have aged like you’d expect. Though that said there’s something very endearing about the effects for things like the Invisible Plane. The stories will sometimes stretch credulity – seriously how does no one figure out that Diana Prince is Wonder Woman! – but they are entertaining, often madcap and fun to watch.

One of the real strengths of the series is Lynda Carter. I’d say her role is probably one of the most iconic portrayals of a superhero ever. And there’s good reason for that. Lynda Carter does a good job at capturing both Wonder Woman and her alter ego Diana Prince and making the two different enough but both compelling. Somehow Lynda Carter managed to make it look convincing when she’s fighting the bad guys whilst her theme song plays (seriously the play the theme song over all the fight scenes!) But Lynda Carter also did a good job at conveying Wonder Woman’s empathy - which I feel is an important trait of the character but something the more warrior focused depictions of the character forget about.

On the part of both the writers and Lynda Carter I like that the ‘warrior princess from another civilisation’ trope is not over played. Yes Wonder Woman is curious about things and doesn’t always get our ways or our slang – as she should be given she arrives from Paradise Island straight to 1940s America, it would obviously take her time to adapt. But it is never shown in a way that could have so easily infantilised the character.

Also in terms of representation of women in a male dominated genre it’s actually held up pretty well. Sure Wonder Woman’s outfit is far from practical for fighting crime in and Steve Trevor does sometimes make very cringey remarks about women. But female solidarity is a key theme in multiple episodes. Diana Prince has a strong friendship with Etta Candy, generally there’s at least one Bechdel Test passing conversation between them per episode. Multiple times Wonder Women is underestimated because of her gender which leads to the downfall of the villain of the week. Speaking of the villains of the week – there’s a pretty even split between male and female villains. Whilst the attitudes shown towards women is a product of its time there’s also enough that as a feminist viewer in 2016 I don’t feel guilty about enjoying the series.

I hope the (long awaited) Wonder Woman movie that is (finally) released next year manages to capture the spirit of the original series. From the look of the trailers I think it might.