I saw Wonder Woman yesterday. The movie.
I could not go the first two weeks. I knew I would cry through the whole thing. Not little sniffles, but those big weeping hiccup sobs. I knew my body would jerk and shake and people would stare at me as snot ran down my face.
So I waited. And the reviews were good. And the box office was huge. Finally we got tickets for the Cinerama, the only place to see this movie. I knew that waiting was not going to help me control myself.
If I was going to make a complete fool out of myself anyway, I figured I'd may as well add alcohol to the mix just to make it a complete experience. We went the Tom Douglas Mexican restaurant next door to the Cinerama for mezcal margaritas and ceviche tacos. I recommend both.
I would say 70% of the audience was female. Female friends traveling in packs, mothers with their daughters, many of whom were in costume. The rest of the audience was mostly gay men. It made me think of Kathy Griffin, who at her shows always gives a shout out to the two or three straight men in the audience who were dragged there by their girlfriends.
I started shaking and crying before the movie even started. Why? Why am I having this reaction? Because I started collecting comic books when I was a small child and Diana was always my most favorite hero. I even had a magic golden lasso until my mother figured out that it was Wonder Woman’s and not Superman’s and she took it away from me.
If you are raised Catholic and do not go to Catholic school then you are forced to go to something called CCD on Wednesday evenings where the forced indoctrination can be monitored and controlled. Well, this twelve year old was already an atheist but enjoyed asking the priests and nuns why god let bad things happen to good people and why miracles didn’t happen any more. That was great fun until Lynda Carter’s TV series started. I had to make a choice between the Catholic Church and Diana. Guess who won?
I could not go the first two weeks. I knew I would cry through the whole thing. Not little sniffles, but those big weeping hiccup sobs. I knew my body would jerk and shake and people would stare at me as snot ran down my face.
So I waited. And the reviews were good. And the box office was huge. Finally we got tickets for the Cinerama, the only place to see this movie. I knew that waiting was not going to help me control myself.
If I was going to make a complete fool out of myself anyway, I figured I'd may as well add alcohol to the mix just to make it a complete experience. We went the Tom Douglas Mexican restaurant next door to the Cinerama for mezcal margaritas and ceviche tacos. I recommend both.
I would say 70% of the audience was female. Female friends traveling in packs, mothers with their daughters, many of whom were in costume. The rest of the audience was mostly gay men. It made me think of Kathy Griffin, who at her shows always gives a shout out to the two or three straight men in the audience who were dragged there by their girlfriends.
I started shaking and crying before the movie even started. Why? Why am I having this reaction? Because I started collecting comic books when I was a small child and Diana was always my most favorite hero. I even had a magic golden lasso until my mother figured out that it was Wonder Woman’s and not Superman’s and she took it away from me.
If you are raised Catholic and do not go to Catholic school then you are forced to go to something called CCD on Wednesday evenings where the forced indoctrination can be monitored and controlled. Well, this twelve year old was already an atheist but enjoyed asking the priests and nuns why god let bad things happen to good people and why miracles didn’t happen any more. That was great fun until Lynda Carter’s TV series started. I had to make a choice between the Catholic Church and Diana. Guess who won?
It's always been like that, my special relationship with Diana. Over the years as there was talk of a movie, I would identify who I thought was the best woman to place the role. Kate Beckinsale and Eliza Dukshu were favorites. I would tear up just thinking about it. There was the aborted tv services with Adrianne Palicki a couple years ago – the one with the really bad costume. And the rumored Joss Whedon movie. And then a couple years ago, confirmation that this movie was happening. I decided right then that I had to live long enough to see this movie no matter what. Nuclear war, earthquake, Brexit, tsunami, Trump elected president, nothing was going to stop me.
And then I was there. The lights when down and my heart stopped beating. Shit, bad timing. I thumped by chest really hard and my heart started up again. I was crying both out of joy and excitement but also out of pain as it hurts to restart your own heart.
I had purposefully gotten seats at the end of the aisle in the first row of the balcony so few people would see my hysterics. But as I sobbed and sniffled and shook I realized I was not alone. All over theatre I could hear the same thing.
The movie is awesome. Diana is portrayed as someone with a clear moral vision who is not going to let anyone stop her from doing the right thing. I think it's very important for young girls to see this. Actually, it's important for everyone to see this. The movie is funny, and warm, and quite totally amazing.
I do have a few quibbles. I have always told people that Diana is just a strong as Superman. While that is revealed over the course of the movie as she discovers her powers, I think they went a little too far. Future plots could be challenging as no big bad could beat her. Well, actually nothing could beat her anyway, but I think being a future script writer will be difficult.
And there are these two odd Buffy homages. At two pivotal points in the movie they take a scene directly from Buffy and recreate it. I was like, “Wait, what?!” Lovely to see a reference to The Slayer here, my other most favorite character in the history of the universe, but how odd. No one else seems to have gotten these references. I don’t see this mentioned online anywhere, but there is no way these were not done on purpose.
Anyway, I left completely drained, exhausted, joyous, and content. I am so happy this got made and that I got to see it. I am wrestling with if I should just call in sick all next week and go see every showing while it is still at the Cinerama. We’ll see.
If you have not seen Wonder Woman, please go see it. If you don't like it, unfriend me.
And then I was there. The lights when down and my heart stopped beating. Shit, bad timing. I thumped by chest really hard and my heart started up again. I was crying both out of joy and excitement but also out of pain as it hurts to restart your own heart.
I had purposefully gotten seats at the end of the aisle in the first row of the balcony so few people would see my hysterics. But as I sobbed and sniffled and shook I realized I was not alone. All over theatre I could hear the same thing.
The movie is awesome. Diana is portrayed as someone with a clear moral vision who is not going to let anyone stop her from doing the right thing. I think it's very important for young girls to see this. Actually, it's important for everyone to see this. The movie is funny, and warm, and quite totally amazing.
I do have a few quibbles. I have always told people that Diana is just a strong as Superman. While that is revealed over the course of the movie as she discovers her powers, I think they went a little too far. Future plots could be challenging as no big bad could beat her. Well, actually nothing could beat her anyway, but I think being a future script writer will be difficult.
And there are these two odd Buffy homages. At two pivotal points in the movie they take a scene directly from Buffy and recreate it. I was like, “Wait, what?!” Lovely to see a reference to The Slayer here, my other most favorite character in the history of the universe, but how odd. No one else seems to have gotten these references. I don’t see this mentioned online anywhere, but there is no way these were not done on purpose.
Anyway, I left completely drained, exhausted, joyous, and content. I am so happy this got made and that I got to see it. I am wrestling with if I should just call in sick all next week and go see every showing while it is still at the Cinerama. We’ll see.
If you have not seen Wonder Woman, please go see it. If you don't like it, unfriend me.
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