*Please note that this article is an opinion-editorial.
Welcome, fellow Amazons, to another thrilling installment of Wonder Woman Wednesday. This week, we take a decidedly introspective look at Wonder Woman. Why do we love her so? What is it about the amazing Amazon that continues to inspire us 75 years after William Moulton Marston created her? What instills Wonder in our heart? Why are there legion of “Wonder Disciples?” Cult? Obsession? Religion? Let’s take a look, shall we, at the Zen of Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman was created by Dr. William Moulton Marston in 1942 as an answer to Superman and Batman as a role model for young girls to look up to. That, in itself, is key to Wonder Woman’s long and varied success. And, when I say success, I don’t speak to the amount of cash she has garnered for DC Comics for the last several decades. I speak more to the endearing spirit of one of the most iconic fictional, female characters in our lifetime. (Not to be confused with “television for women.”) Intention is 9/10ths of the law in my world. The fact that Marston created WW with such benevolent intent and extreme forward thinking in a mostly misogynistic era. In creating Wonder Woman, Marston infused Diana’s origin with Greek Mythology as a loving tribute to his wife who had a fondness for the genre. If that doesn’t make you a little misty, Hera help you!
I believe another testament to the endearing longevity of the character of Wonder Woman is that the people who worship her identify with her, because she is the person not who we are, but who we aspire to be.
Diana is kind and loving, but righteous and just. She is truly nonjudgmental. That always remains consistent in credit to her many varied writers. She never loses her cool or ponders failure. She represents hope, an essential key to thriving in life.
More importantly, I believe everyone’s experience with Wonder Woman, like religion, is their own personal, spiritual experience. I fell in love with Lynda Carter spinning right round, baby right round on my telly, baby, right round, right round. And, a modern child will fall in love with Zack Snyder’s Gal Gadot in Batman V Superman!
It’s the continuation of the world as we know it. And, I feel fine.
Although it’s seems Wonder Woman is making a comeback in certain ways . . . she’s never been gone. A true icon remains alive and relevant in our hearts and minds at all times. I truly love every incarnation, from Adam Hughes to Trina Robbins, and that is “The Zen of Wonder Woman!”
