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You can tell a lot about a person based on what makes them cry. I don’t mean crying when you get hurt, or when someone you love dies. Everyone cries then. I mean when something happens, and for some reason you may not even be able to explain, you start to tear up.
A number of years ago, I began noticing and paying attention to this. These teary moments are clues into our hearts.
So that’s why, when I found myself weeping in the theater watching Wonder Woman, I knew something was up.
Why the Tears?
I also was infinitely glad that my husband didn’t look over at me, because, “What is wrong with you?” would have been a fair question. After all, its wasn’t during the sad moments that tears were streaming down my face. It was the Amazonian women fighting sequences.
The tears started in the early scene in which a young Diana is mimicking the warriors. By the time the battle on the beach was over, tears were dripping off my chin. When Diana charges onto the battlefield later in the movie…waterworks again.
If you haven’t seen it, let me tell you…these scenes are beautifully shot. They are graceful and fierce at once. And as I thought about what was eliciting such emotion in me, I realized: I want to be strong like that.
Look, I’m a 44 year old suburban mom who has been overweight my entire life. I have no notions of flying through the air like a warrior dove. (Although I can kick surprisingly high…a skill my kids have yet to appreciate). But I can remember times in my life when I’ve felt strong. Wonder Woman inspires me to want that again.
So while I’ve not begun training with battle coaches, I have started walking more, getting up and moving more, and eating foods that make me strong not just full.
Interestingly, I’ve had the Wonder Woman theme song as my ringtone since Batman vs. Superman came out. Now, it’s my walking anthem. And yes, as a matter of fact I do sometimes envision myself flying through the air with a bow and blocking bullets with my magic bracelets.
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What about Wonder Woman inspires you?
I feel I have to add one caveat here. As much as I loved the movie and would recommend it to any teen or adult, there are a couple of things that made me sad. *Spoiler* There is one scene in which a conversation about sex is had that may make you uncomfortable, and in my opinion, is inappropriate for younger viewers. Also, although nothing is shown, it is implied that Diana and the male lead have sex. It saddened us that they worked so hard to portray Diana’s character as wholesome and noble, and yet having sex outside of marriage is apparently no big deal.
We were pleased, however, that they chose not to make her outfit more revealing than it was. While I wouldn’t call it a modest thing to walk around in on a daily basis, it is (in my opinion) appropriate for the movie. I mean, Cinderella showed a lot more cleavage than Wonder Woman, to be honest.
As with all movies, be intentional in what your family watches. You decide what you feel is appropriate for your kids. Here are a couple of resources we use to check content before watching anything:
I loved it SO much and cried like you at the same parts– it was so incredibly inspiring & empowering. (And I also thought the implied intimacy was TOTALLY unnecessary, but was at least grateful they didn’t include a gratuitous, steamy love scene in its place. Small victory, I suppose?)
Yes! And you know what’s kind of sad is that when we left the theater, my husband said, “She’s now my second favorite superhero, after Captain America..because they’re both wholesome.” I agreed. Then we remembered that scene and were embarrassed that we got drawn in to the kind of thinking that overlooks things like that. Still, like you said…so inspiring in many ways. Nice to meet another weeper, too! 😉 Have a great day–
Great post, Susan! It’s amazing how much movies can impact and touch us–hopefully in the right ways if we’re careful what we watch. I appreciate your caveat at the end where you rightfully point out the fallacy of this film–while Wonder Woman is supposedly a moral person, the filmmakers see no contradiction in her morality to have her be physically intimate with a man outside of marriage. No surprise from liberal media, but still sad. Much sadder still is that I read a review of Wonder Woman from a prominent Christian review site and the reviewer didn’t note this contradiction, just listed that moment as negative but still said her character was uncompromisingly moral throughout the film. Wrong! Anyway, thanks for making this clear to your readers! And congrats on getting inspired. 🙂
Jerusha Agen recently posted…Afraid to Fall: 3 Steps to Beat People-Pleasing Fear
I have seen reviews like that too, and it is sad. Something that my husband and I were talking about is that we, as Christians, often overlook those sin issues in movies to find the positives. And yet, there have been a lot in the liberal camp who are put out that although this movie is liberal in just about every one of its messages (‘girl power’, sex outside of marriage, “all you need is love” message, etc.) there are still folks that hate it simply because Gal Gadot is Israeli and proud of it. Good grief! If we didn’t go see movies because of the politics of the actors, we seriously would never watch anything. Our thought was that maybe we need to vote with our dollars more than we even do now. Definitely something to think about.
Yes! You’re so right. Love that point–we do need to vote with our dollars for morality, Christianity, religious freedom, and more!
Jerusha Agen recently posted…Afraid to Fall: 3 Steps to Beat People-Pleasing Fear