UPDATED — SEE BELOW
If you were ever in love with TV’s Wonder Woman, you may want to skip this item. (Also, it depends on your politics.)
Asked simply what she thinks of Sarah Palin, Lynda Carter goes off on a rant.
I can’t tell you how crushed I am to hear such paranoid, hateful nonsense from someone I’ve loved since I was 7. (Yeah, loved. Lifelong. For the last thirty years, you say “Lynda Carter”, my heart jumps a bit.)
The day Palin was announced, I immediately thought, "Oh my gosh… It’s DIANA PRINCE!" I went on a Google Image search trying to find a matching pic of Lynda Carter so I could put them side by side on the MD blog. (Tried and failed. Found a bunch, none of which had similar enough glasses or pose.)
And now this.
Hey look, Lynda can believe what she believes and say what she says politically. But she could have done the smart thing and not pissed off half of her audience. The problem with Hollywood is that it’s so insular that many stars convince themselves that all of their audience must be of the Left. Sure, there’s a huge bunch of hicks in the middle of the country but those people don’t go to movies or watch TV, they just read their bibles and handle snakes. So why hold one’s tongue when surely all of her admirers share her politics?!
How hard would it have been to say simply, “I don’t agree with her politics but I’m sure Wonder Woman would be proud of her Amazon sister” or something gracious of that sort? Instead, it’s a long complaint about how Palin is so un-Wonder Woman.
Sure, Lynda Carter got to portray Wonder Woman once because she had a stunning smile and a fantastic rack, but she’s not William Moulton Marston nor is she the legal owner of the character. DC Comics may be a bunch of left-wingers but how much leeway are they going to give an actress to go out using their licensed character to defame a political figure?
Lynda does not own Wonder Woman and she doesn’t really know the character that well.
The Amazons are hunters. Palin is too, Hillary isn’t.
Wonder Woman is known for her own actions, not for being the wife of someone famous.
Wonder Woman, by the way, is a worshiper of the Greek Gods who is absolutely certain of her religion. (Well, why not, she’s MET them.)
AND she was sent to Man’s World to constantly nag everybody about trying to live in peace and behave like her people. That is, in fact, Wonder Woman’s primary mission: lecturing everyone else on how to behave.
I’m not even saying that Palin IS the ferocious religious nut that Lynda believes she is… but even if it were true: so is Wonder Woman!
Hollywood has been sitting out this election, perhaps realizing that all their mouthing off in the past didn’t help their candidates… but Palin is driving them nuts and they’re coming out of the woodwork. Don’t believe me? Check out Dirty Harry’s Place and just keep scrolling.
Hat tip: Dirty Harry
P.S. What say you? Should I post all the Diana Prince pictures I did find?
UPDATES
First off, I removed the photos because my buddy Lance pointed out that the picture of Sarah Palin was erroneous; it was a spokesmodel who had been misidentified as Palin on some blog. (Side-by-side with the real thing, I still couldn’t be sure. If you’ve ever compared Cindy Crawford in normal lighting to one of her professional glamour photos you wouldn’t know it was the same person either. But I trust Lance’s word.)
And I’m not going to bother responding to all the Palin hate in the comments section, because this post was never about Palin. If it weren’t about a DC Comics character and the TV actress portraying her, and how vacuous her comments are, I wouldn’t put it on Monitor Duty. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve said boo about Barack Obama this year, and believe me I could say a lot but this isn’t the blog for it.
I will say…it’s tempting to do a lengthy, deep post about Wonder Woman, feminism and Sarah Palin, especially in light of the old women’s magazine cover with Wondy on it. But if I’m going to devote time to this blog, I’d rather keep it off politics and more about comics. So as far as the Palin-hating goes: you’re wrong, you’re nasty, you’re mean and in November you will lose.
Loading ...
7 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
Tim
December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Lynda does not own Wonder Woman and she doesn’t really know the character that well.
She knows the version of Wonder Woman she played well. That’s the version mainstream America is most familiar with, the one they refer to when they speak of Wonder Woman. She’s qualified to speak on that interpretation.
The Amazons are hunters. Palin is too, Hillary isn’t.
Wonder Woman is known for her own actions, not for being the wife of someone famous.
The Amazons are warriors, not hunters. Hillary (who I dislike, make no mistake) was well noted as being a strong political mind during her husband’s term as president. Even then she was known as being a woman of significant political mind, not just her husband’s wife.
Wonder Woman, by the way, is a worshiper of the Greek Gods who is absolutely certain of her religion. (Well, why not, she’s MET them.)
Yes, she’s certain of it. Unlike Palin, she does not try to push her religion on others. Ever read a Wondy comic where she tries to have Prayer to the Greek Gods introduced in schools or enforced at the beginning of council meetings?
AND she was sent to Man’s World to constantly nag everybody about trying to live in peace and behave like her people. That is, in fact, Wonder Woman’s primary mission: lecturing everyone else on how to behave.
Nagging? That’s how you describe a diplomatic mission? I’ve only seen her come across as “nagging” in the hands of the most blatantly mysogynist writers. The ones who always have female characters injuring their ankles when doing gymnastics while the men land on their feet unharmed. The only exception I’ve seen is in Giffen and DeMatteis’s Justice League books, where it’s played for laughs and not presented as a serious portrayal of the character. Diana’s mission is to show an alternative to out way of life and invite others to join. I can’t recall reading a story where she forced others by law to obey her personal code, which is what Palin is trying to do, and has tried to do in the past according to her Alaskan constituents.
I’m not even saying that Palin IS the ferocious religious nut that Lynda believes she is… but even if it were true: so is Wonder Woman!
There’s a few differences. First is that Diana has come face to face with her gods. She has verifiable, testable, repeatable evidence of her belief. Palin does not. Second: Diana doesn’t try to make her religious beliefs law, or force them on others. For example, Palin has stated that she wants Intelligent Design taught in science classes. Have you ever read a Wonder Woman book where Diana tried to have her religion’s creation myths taught in science class?
I’ve seen a lot of interviews with residents of Wasilla who are worried about her inclusion on the ballot. They say she “doesn’t like different opinions and she refuses to compromise… When she was mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t hers. Worse, ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them."
That doesn’t sound like a Wonder Woman to me.
http://openid.aol.com/DiRT76
December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
For example, Palin has stated that she wants Intelligent Design taught in science classes.
No she didn’t. She wanted the discussion to be allowed if students brought it up. There’s a world of difference. But I guess you’re too busy telling everyone that McCain wants us to stay in Iraq for 100 years (which isn’t what he said either) to bother looking up the facts.
Jack Harkness
September 12, 2008 at 10:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Wonder Woman wouldn’t support charging rape victims for processing their evidence kits the way Wasilla did while Palin was mayor.
Wonder Woman wouldn’t support for the Bridge to Nowhere and then lie about it.
Wonder Woman wouldn’t lie about Iraq playing a role in 9/11 like Palin did the other day.
Wonder Woman wouldn’t abuse her power to settle a family vendetta like Palin clearly has.
Wonder Woman wouldn’t be completely ignorant of what the Bush Doctrine consists of the way Palin is.
But, hey, if you want to support a pro-rapist liar like Palin, that’s your business.
Jack Harkness
September 14, 2008 at 8:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Can you please explain the standard by which a comment about Wonder Woman and politics is out of bounds in response to your post about Wonder Woman and politics?
I see that you claim I’m “wrong” in my comparisons of Wonder Woman to Palin. Are you saying that Wonder Woman would support charging rape victims for processing their evidence kits the way Wasilla did while Palin was mayor, would support the Bridge to Nowhere and then lie about it, would lie about Iraq playing a role in 9/11 like Palin did the other day, would abuse her power to settle a family vendetta like Palin clearly has, and would be completely ignorant of what the Bush Doctrine consists of the way Palin is? That’s really surprising that you’d think that. Could you explain why you think Wonder Woman would do all those things? Because I just can’t see it.
Bonus points if you refer to specific issue numbers. Was there an issue of Wonder Woman where she decided that police should make it easier for rapists to go unpunished, for instance? I must have missed that one.
And what’s so “mean” and “nasty” about talking about and accurately describing the facts of a politician’s record?
http://openid.aol.com/kennygs
September 15, 2008 at 11:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I think you make some good points but we need to look at the general perception of Wonder Woman versus how “comic book geeks” see Wonder Woman. The way Wonder Woman USED to be characterized (back when Lynda Carter was playing the role and even before) was more benevolent, kind-hearted… you know, like most of the DC heroes including the Batman were. I’d guess she probably hasn’t picked up a Wonder Woman comic since then. That’s likely the only “Wonder Woman” she (and most of society) knows.
However, those of us that actually follow the plot and character developments as different writers have taken her in different directions (as well as the multitude of “reboots”) see her VERY differently. In one of the more more recent stories, specifically when she kills Maxwell Lord (oh, and her warrior queen appearance in “Final Frontier”), I agree that this hard line stance would probably be a fit for a character more in the mold of Sarah Palin.
I don’t think her statements showed a lack of intelligence, she’s just not “in touch” with what Wonder Woman has been about recently. Just as we are likely to NOT be happy with what transpires with Barry Allen in the future, she’d probably not be happy knowing what Wonder Woman has become (I’m sure there are other long time fans of Wonder Woman -the character- that would feel the same).
Jack Harkness
November 6, 2008 at 9:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
“you’re wrong, you’re nasty, you’re mean and in November you will lose.”
This statement has now gone from 75% false to 100% false.
Michael Hutchison
November 13, 2008 at 9:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Actually, by coming back and gloating after winning the election I’d say it’s gone to 25% false.