![]() Instead, it’s “just” a lazy, unwitting sort of Orientalism. Given the incoherence in the film’s central points, I can’t believe the film’s creators used this side quest to make a statement about the Middle East. And while Jenkins said she was making a statement on American politics, I couldn’t see it. The movie did try to make a moral point, sure, but I challenge anyone to explain what exactly the whole “truth, lies, wishes” speech really meant. Yet, while some have hinted at it, it’s hard to see this as an exercise in political domination of the Middle East. This Orientalism expresses itself in everything from news coverage, to foreign policy, to popular culture. But he went beyond that, arguing that this is part of a long process of “Othering” the Middle East and its peoples, which is closely tied to the colonial and pseudo-colonial efforts of Western powers. In Orientalism and follow-up works, he criticized the stereotyped, inaccurate manner in which Western scholars studied the Middle East. That brings us to Edward Said, and his critique of Orientalism. This movie, and the attitudes of those who made it, matter. If you are going to assign weight to your movie’s message, you must answer for it. Wonder Woman is a “great avatar for me,” Jenkins says. ![]() On another level, far weightier than the film’s retro fanny-packs and futon couches, she wanted to explore American politics of that era, as well as this one, through a personal lens. And she has explicitly tried to claim the movie has a significant message: Director Patty Jenkins is the new big thing in Hollywood. You may wave this away, arguing it’s “just a superhero movie.” But it’s not, is it? This movie has been praised as being authentic to the 1980s. And some insensitive depictions of Middle Eastern people. So…there are some historical inaccuracies. And in one brief moment, an Iraqi official asks the villain for help because the Soviets were backing Iran. Arab children play in the road as military vehicles race towards them their nearby parents do nothing, requiring Wonder Woman to save them. Bustling, modern Cairo looks like something out of a Robin Hood movie. Was he supposed to be from a pre-Islamic elite? Was he a descendant of King Fuad, and was using “heathens” loosely? Did he discover a massive oil supply under Cairo that no one else knew about? The villain helps him, but the guy already sold his oil to the Saudis (I guess he pumped it all out?) Then the villain raises a wall, cutting off the poorest people of Egypt from their water sources. But what caught the attention of this Middle East scholar was a sequence in which the villain meets with a deposed (I think) Egyptian King who wishes to return to power and kick the “heathens” out of his land. Wonder Woman 1984 tells the story of Wonder Woman fighting against a super villain (sorry for the spoilers). But what really stuck out to me was the particular sort of Orientalism it contained, a lazy Orientalism oblivious to its political implications but still problematic. You can read why, or just watch it yourself. And it did, but only by replacing them with frustration and confusion. The much anticipated sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman promised to make the horrors of 2020 fade for awhile. Like many Americans, I ended my Christmas day by paying $15 to subscribe to HBO Max and watch Wonder Woman 1984. WARNING: Minor Spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984 ahead
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