James Cameron has been promoting the 3D re-release of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which is still one of the best action movies of the 1990s. Its special effects still hold up even today. In an interview with The Guardian, Cameron gave his thoughts on Wonder Woman, and they weren’t particularly glowing.
All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards.
We’ve had some thinkpieces on Wonder Woman here, including thoughts on what the movie might mean to little girls and women in general, and discussions on the quality vs. the importance of the film. While opinions abut Wonder Woman vary among Flixist staff, none of us felt it was a step backwards for women in Hollywood or representation on screen.
So what’s an example of a step forward for Hollywood? Why, of course, it’s Sarah Connor in Cameron’s own T2, which you can now see in 3D.
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!
…[on why Hollywood is bad at depicting strong women] I don’t–I don’t know. There are many women in power in Hollywood and they do get to guide and shape what films get made. I think– no, I can’t account for it. Because how many times do I have to demonstrate the same thing over again? I feel like I’m shouting in a wind tunnel!
Gosh. What a bunch self-congratulatory back-patting. Way to make this all about you and how only you can do right in this fallen world.
James Cameron is such a James Cameron sometimes.
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins issued a reply to Cameron on Twitter late last night.
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) August 25, 2017
Lasso of truth: Men shouldn’t define for women what it means to be a woman, nor should men be able to control or limit the definition of a woman to one mode of womanhood.
The Guardian interview notes that while Cameron has earned a reputation for writing strong female characters (outside of Ripley and Sarah Connor, it’s an inflated reputation, in my opinion), he’s had some troubled real-life relationships with his strong female spouses. Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor and was married to Cameron from 1997 to 1999, is quoted in the piece regarding their relationship. In a 2009 interview, Hamilton said, “The very first night [I moved in with James Cameron], I realized I made a mistake. He was the controlling director. The person I’d seen on set came back to life–we’re in his environment, and I didn’t have much of a say-so.”
Cameron laughed about his at times contentious relationships. He told The Guardian, “Being attracted to strong independent women has the downside that they’re strong independent women–they inherently don’t need you!”
And that, James Cameron, is why Wonder Woman doesn’t need you.
[via The Guardian]
