Culture

James Cameron Is Copping A Boatload Of Hate For His ‘Wonder Woman’ Takedown

News from Noted Feminist Icon James Cameron.

by Matilda Dixon-Smith  25 August 2017
James Cameron

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James Cameron, decorated auteur of some of film’s biggest blockbusters, must have felt a bit of heat coming off box office wildifre Wonder Woman, cos he is lashing out big time.

The director has sounded off about what he considers to be the overrated success of Wonder Woman in a recent interview with The Guardian. “All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided,” he told journo Hayley Freedman.

Oh u think so huh?

“She’s an objectified icon,” Cameron continued, “and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing!” James Cameron, a bonafide member of Male Hollywood, is the person who said this.

James Cameron created Sarah Connor, the heroine from Terminator, who is also The Only Feminist Character Ever To Appear In Films Ok Didn’t U Know. So he would know a few things about how to create feminist icons for the screen. And, according to James Cameron, a Male Feminist Of Course, Wonder Woman is not one.

Respect For Women On Film(TM)

“I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards,” said James Cameron, who is such a feminist that Sarah Connor herself has described being married to him as a “terrible on every level“.

He is pretty annoyed that Wonder Woman is getting so much praise, when he already did it better (as men are wont to do). “Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon,” he explained to us dumb-dumbs. “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!”

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Also, James Cameron is tired of having to point out to us how to write a Strong Female Character(TM). “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,” Feminist Ally James Cameron said. “Because how many times do I have to demonstrate the same thing over again? I feel like I’m shouting in a wind tunnel!”

Of course, Wonder Woman is a pretty beloved movie by now, so the internet is having none of Cameron’s sass. People are clapping back in a big way.

Thankfully Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman‘s director, had the best comeback of all to Cameron’s shit-stirring. “If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven’t come very far have we.”

She went on, “I believe women can and should be EVERYTHING just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman.”

Of course, Jenkins is right. The way that men translate “strong women” to “unfeminine, like a man” etc. is fiercely problematic and hecka boring, not to mention as bad for representations of women as the over feminised damsel in distress, or the whoreish femme fatale. Essentially: Women are not your handy stereotypes, male directors. We are multifaceted and complex! 

You can read Jenkins’ full statement below.

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Matilda Dixon-Smith is Junkee’s Staff Writer. She tweets at @mdixonsmith.