Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins recently responded to accusations that the film promotes sexual assault.
For those who haven’t seen Wonder Woman 1984, there are major spoilers below involving a significant plot point.
That plot point involves Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman making a wish using an ancient dream stone that grants your wish, but then takes your most treasured possession from you.
Wonder Woman wishes that her love from World War I, Steve Trevor, could return to her. The wish comes true although it’s only Steve’s consciousness that returns. He inhabits another man’s body.
The accusations of sexual assault come because it is implied that Diana has sex with Steve while possessing this other man’s body.
Popcorned Planet’s Andy Signore explains, “He shows up in another man’s body. Now, he is in this man’s body and it’s clearly defined that he is in this man’s body. No one sees him as Chris Pine. Somehow a living being who was already in the world just has his body taken over by Chris Pine’s spirit.”
“And this was confirmed by the end of the movie, remember, because at the end of the movie he shows up a little disjointed. He’s like a little bruised. He’s just happy. He walks out and stumbles upon on Diana, who then is like smirking and then begins to flirt with him,” he continued.
Signore then asked, “What they fail to sort of comprehend and what the audience is ignoring, think of all the things she just did to that poor man’s body. Think about it… And then Diana proceeds to let’s do it with this stranger. Another man’s body who can’t say, ‘Yea great sign me up.’ Didn’t have the opportunity to say, ‘Yea what’s up.’ They are in his bed. They are in his apartment. They are walking around. She just takes over a man’s life.”
Now, Patty Jenkins has responded to these accusations. She took to Twitter to share a defense of the scene and how the body swap trope was used in Wonder Woman 1984.
Twitter user DustyDontShoot wrote, “My defense of Patty Jenkins & Wonder Woman 1984’s usage of the body-swap trope (plus a link to Body-Swap Movies Wiki); linking respected people I follow.”
In an accompanying photo he wrote, “1. I’m linking the Wiki to the Body-Swap movie genre; if you can’t see that Patty Jenkins was playing with that trope, and even intentionally pointing out the problematic nature that all these movies have to skirt around, then I think you need to re-examine a beloved, 80’s fantasy movie like ‘Big’ with Tom Hanks… where he (as a 12 year old in an adult body) has sex with an adult female; making her a statutory rapist by default.”
The next photo reads, “The movie implies that if you revoke your wish, than much of the impact of your wish is revoked. Hence, even the sex Diana had with the guy possessed with Steve may have actually been eradicated from the movie’s fabric of reality.”
In a subsequent tweet, Dusty added, “Clarification 4all: EVIL WISHING STONE IS SEDUCING PEOPLE INTO EVIL!”
“Barbara loses her humanity. Max loses his soul; Diana loses her powers/becomes seduced by a lie,” he adds.
He finally concludes, “If you can’t see the movie is saying the swap is a problem, I think maybe you should rewatch.”
Patty Jenkins would whole heartedly endorse Dusty’s defense by writing on Twitter, “Hahaha. Exactly DustyDon’tShoot!!”
What do you make of Patty Jenkins’ response to the accusations that Wonder Woman 1984 promotes sexual assault? What do you make of the accusations?