Also saw Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, the new biopic about the creator of Wonder Woman and the two loves of his life who influenced the creation. And by the two loves of his life, I mean his wife and the college age beauty they collectively fell for and had a poly-amorous love affair with. So it’s a romance, and a decidedly adult (and mature) one. This is a surprisingly good movie that is far more focused on this relationship and what it means for them in the late 1920s through the 1940s than it is on Wonder Woman as a comic or character.
Make no mistake about it, this is an R rated film and if the F bombs Mrs. Marston starts tossing out within the first minute of the film doesn’t convince you, the three ways later in the film will. I only bring it up since it’s released so close to the Wonder Woman movie and the title might suggest something more mainstream or (dare I say) “wholesome”. That said, the movie doesn’t overly sensationalize anything and there’s nothing raunchy or sordid about what they show (it is tastefully erotic though). Just keep that R rating in mind before taking your daughters or sons.
That out of the way, this is a very interesting, moving, and emotional and emotionally honest film. It really is a romance between three well-defined, well-written characters and the movie doesn’t make judgement calls. It IS kind of funny to have a lesbian relationship that we can sit back and smugly say, “Things are better now”… but then the movie reminds us this is a three-way relationship… not to mention the BDSM.
Professor Marston believed (and practices) his philosophy of DISC – that is humans (both women AND men) are only happy in a relationship that includes Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance. He didn’t see bondage or submitting to a more powerful person as in any way negative, nor, ultimately does his wife or the pretty young co-ed. In fact, he’s technically the submissive in the relationship. It’s a pretty daring and challenging story in the 1920s much less today and the movie doesn’t shy away from it.
Their lifestyle, however, does get them kicked out of academia and the wife (who is a college professor) has to take a job as a secretary (hey, that’s Wonder Woman’s alter ego’s job) while he keeps trying to write psychology books nobody wants to read. Eventually, after encountering European ideals of BDSM and rope play, he hits on the idea of Wonder Woman and takes it to the comic book publishers.
There’s been a lot of talk about the images and stories in early Wonder Woman comics and that it depicts a lot of kinky stuff. People are tied up, spanked, etc. I gather there’s some debate about it but this movie is very blunt in telling us that Marston wanted to use the comic to convince boys and girls that his ideas of dominance and subservience were right and good (how else would the boys of today be able to relate the powerful women of tomorrow?).
Unfortunately, I don’t think the Wonder Woman portion of the movie is as strong since it suggests Wonder Woman was ONLY about the kink. It doesn’t cover (and maybe it shouldn’t?) how the character was used during WW2 (just like Captain America was) or how boys and girls may have looked up to her as a hero alongside Superman.
So, yeah, this is an unconventional romance / biopic of an interesting and subversive relationship. It’s told with maturity and intelligence, whether you like their romantic entanglements and BDSM lifestyle or not. It’s filmed well, acted well, and is mature and thoughtful in its content. It may be less about Wonder Woman than you’d think from the title and trailer, but that’s largely ok since what they did do was done well.
Score: 86