What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women

*The format of the official account is more beautiful, it is recommended that you go to the account to see~

It is narrated and discussed. If you are particularly concerned about being spoiled, please watch the film first.

This film tells the story behind the birth of "Wonder Woman" and will give you a new perspective on the most famous female superhero of all time.

Marston (William Moulton Marston, May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), who created "Wonder Woman", but because the film was not officially authorized by the Marston family (in fact, was Dunn's granddaughter strongly opposed it), and there are too many circulating versions of the stories of the real characters in the film, we can regard everything we see as "unofficial history".

◐

First of all, as a film with elements of teacher-student love, lesbian, bisexual, threesome (3P), SM, etc., it is very sexy.

◐

As for why Wonder Woman, whose mission is to "peace the world", is associated with these subcultures? Look at her "genes".

Dr. Marston was a professor at Harvard in the 1920s. He taught behavioral psychology, which was at the forefront of academia at the time. "DISC Theory" is his trademark, namely: Dominance, Induction, Submission, and Compliance.

In the process of "studying" female students, he put this theory into practice. Later, through the sex objects from France, he found the most perfect example to explain his theory - sadomasochistic culture.

Marston and his wife Elizabeth were expelled when news spread around the school that the Marstons were living together with the schoolgirl trio. (It is also said that they were expelled for conducting an experiment on campus "that women are better suited to testify or serve as jurors than men.")

Schoolgirl Oliver is home with children and chores, Marston is at home writing bestsellers like "How to Be More Popular," and his wife, Elizabeth, is out looking for a job as a secretary. The three tenaciously maintain this structure for the sake of "freedom", "justice" and "love" in their hearts. (I wrote about a Polish feminist before , and this is also the family structure of two women and one man.)

◐

In the early 1940s, the American public began to take issue with the violent content of cartoons. When the publisher had a headache, it happened to see Marston's previous interviews, such as "comics are not low-level, they are educational", and they hired him as a consultant. (The story in the film is that he created Wonder Woman first and then went to the publisher.)

In order to appease the protests of the people, Marston proposed the idea of ​​adding "Qingliu" - anti-war heroines to the group of male heroes.

Of course, Wonder Woman isn't that "clear" either. As a consultant to the publisher, Marston, who was supposed to make the comics completely "harmless", still hid private goods. The only weakness of Wonder Woman's shape and "strength if you are bound" comes from Marston's repressed desire.

"When the libido is blocked, it is sublimated to the spiritual realm, and art and beauty are created." - Freud

◐

The film gives a series of clues to suggest the pieces that make up Wonder Woman, and culminates when the schoolgirl dresses up as a goddess of war:

The growth background of Wonder Woman was hatched from the two women who lived with Marston - a wife and a female student. You can correspond to every bit through this film.

◐

Marston said Wonder Woman was a love letter, a fantasy, his life and love. Because this character is the most perfect woman Marston can imagine as an "artist", as a psychology professor, and as a man. She combines the advantages of his wife Elizabeth and schoolgirl Oliver. She is strong and soft, sexy and innocent, and at the same time, she is both S and M (the weapon is a rope, but it is tied firmly at every turn).

◐

There are very few well-known female superheroes. The only place in the comics that can keep up with Wonder Woman is "Catwoman". Come to think of it, Catwoman is also an image with the characteristics of red and white roses at the same time. Are shiny corsets, masks, and whips tough? But it's a kitten!

The creator of Catwoman is Bob Kane, one of the original authors of Batman. This character originally appeared to add a little romance to "Batman", which is similar to the feeling of creating a woman after a man was created in the Bible.

It can be said that although these heroic comics feature women as the protagonists and look like "feminism", their images are still in the aesthetic category defined by men. In the West, there is a saying similar to our "red roses and white roses", they are called "temptresses and angels".

"Temptresses" are women who are unwilling to submit to men, unwilling to give up their ego, or sexy and romantic, that is, women who are the least popular in the straight male world. People tend to call them shrews, goblins, sluts. When they restrained their actions because of these (made) adjectives, men maintained a cultural order centered on them.

The "angel" is the "growth goal" created by the male-dominated society for women : beautiful, gentle, pure, kind, selfless, docile, as quiet as the Virgin Mary, full of motherhood, and unconditional support for men. As Beauvoir said, "Women are not born, they are shaped by society; it is the whole civilization that shapes women... In a world dominated by men, women are always the other, relative to the essence of men. Non-essence, the reason why it is difficult for women to return to their essence is because they have not tried to restore their essence. ” All women who want to be charming in the men’s circle will try their best to lean in the direction of “angels”, like our country” "Ayawawa, a famous emotional expert, summed it up simply and rudely: as long as you are beautiful and docile (high MV and low PU), you can marry and your family will be harmonious. Actress Meryl Streep also mentioned in a college talk that she was already an actress in high school -- and could play the "Pretty Girl" role well. In order to be more attractive, she learns all the details of makeup from fashion magazines, and designs her movements, language, eyes, and even controlled laughter to make it appear sweeter and lovable (of course, Meryl Streep It is said that this period is a reflective attitude).

As soon as Wonder Woman came out, it can be said that the standard of perfect women has been raised a level. Everyone wants you not only to save the world, but also to be innocent and sexy.

Ironically, after Professor Marston lived with his wife and students, as the two became "mosquito blood on the wall" and "white rice grains stuck on clothes" (to borrow Zhang Ailing's metaphor), he again With a new mistress (the film doesn't go into much detail). Hey, even better if your periods are all staggered!

Well, it's not fair to say that, because obviously, the male heroes in the American comics are also the inherent masculinity image in everyone's thinking: muscular, heroic and resolute. It's just that all along, men have indeed occupied more of the right to speak. Then, since there is power, of course, we must seize the opportunity to raise demand and maintain this power , such as "no matter how people's definitions of masculinity change, these definitions will always be in sharp contrast with femininity and will always override femininity. above."

To put it bluntly, it is human nature.

If women write superheroes, the result is the same. There will be no more sad superhero girlfriends, men can make money to support the family, do the housework, take care of the children, talk sweetly, provide endless sense of security, and no matter how many boyfriends women have. Friends, all smile and cooperate. I wonder if male readers will work hard to "be a better self" after reading it.

◐

It's hard to say whether Marston really believed that "the road to peace is to solve the problem of people's hearts" when he created Wonder Woman, or just a hypocrite with one wife and one concubine, made up to spread sadomasochistic culture; it's hard to say female students Whether Oliver was "powerful sexual assault" by the couple (professors and teaching assistants, for students, are both holders of power), or whether he was willing to choose such a life; it is difficult to say that his wife Elizabeth gave up her career and gave up her original monogamous life. , is it being brainwashed by Marston, or her own choice (at least from the point of view of the film, she has been struggling); it is even more difficult to say whether the power relationship between the three has changed. To the collective kneel for her, but in essence, has Marston been the big boss of the three-person relationship ("Together, you are the perfect woman")? Maybe everyone will have their own judgments after watching the film.

There is no black and white. As Freud said in "Introduction to Psychoanalysis", "No matter how much you like simple facts, you cannot deny this complex reality (of human nature)." Many human behaviors are contradictory, and many Logic is also fundamentally paradoxical. And "normal, just a tick on the dryer."

◐

Whether you agree with this life or not, at least you have to admit that all three are brave. Marston and his wife Elizabeth, as intellectuals with a high degree of Harvard, can give up their careers in order to live a real life and go to work that is poor and not so highly regarded by others. Moreover, the income obtained in this way also supports the livelihood of a family of seven (two women each gave birth to two children). Their life in the community is not easy. Facing the pressure from their neighbors, they can only rely on lies. In addition, Marston also experienced political risks in the 1940s and 1950s because he insisted on including lesbian and SM plots in "teen books".

In the 1940s and 1950s, American comic book dealers simultaneously caught up with defending children's culture, elite critiques of popular culture, juvenile delinquency, and the proliferation of McCarthyism during the "Cold War" (censorship, control of politics, education, culture, literature and ideology in various fields of society such as art). Comic strip magazines, because they are deeply embedded in working-class immigrant culture, are considered dangerous. Also, comic strip magazines are aimed at children and have a strong penetration into American homes, which is a cause for concern (in fact, an overreaction to regime insecurities).

Like socialism, feminism was also labeled as 'un-American' after World War II ." And the media complicit with the government, starting from the cover girl, subtly shaped capitalist ideology. The American mass media The image of women is consistent with the development of society, with the meaning of American idiosyncrasies, with the consciousness of class, gender, sexuality and consumerism.

Are these also violent?

◐

In Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey", people hold on to the "self", but they are only holding on to the past, because all you know about yourself comes from what has happened; and only by finding the "true self" can you Create your own unique experience and empower yourself. The so-called "true self" includes all the possibilities of a person's future, as well as the entire range of time and space.

So I've always believed that as long as we think independently and stay strong, we'll all be part of a new world when we wake up. Look at the 1980s after the 1970s in China, and the 1960s after the 1950s in the United States, you can probably expect something better. As the saying goes: hold on, it means everything.

Growing up every time she is tied, the positive energy that Wonder Woman conveys is more real than "world peace".

◐

References:

✓Cui Haiying: The historical origin of the polygraph and its development in the United States

✓Kan Hongying: Angels and Temptresses - Interpretation of Female Images in Male Texts

✓ Wang Yanbin: Research on the Evolution of American War Fiction

✓ Cao Jin: Interpretation of American Magazine Cover Girls from 1895 to 1930s

✓ Noon Lotus: The Paradox of Wonder Woman

✓Wang Yezhao: Research on American Women's Political Participation from the Perspective of Social Gender: 1920-2000

✓ Xia Dongai: A Study of American "Golden Age" Superhero Comics: 1938-1954

✓A 10-minute video by "Lorre the Hardworking" by Meiman Daren: "Wonder Woman" 60 Years of Comic History

If you find this article useful, please click "Useful" for me~

If you find this article useful, please click "Useful" for me~

If you find this article useful, please click "Useful" for me~

Click the link below to see more normal and abnormal

no monsters, only humans

Tell me, who is the freak?

This is just love or love to fill a night

Original: Mr. Huang

Public number: Teacher Huang Cinema (huangfilm)

Your forwarding and following will give me more motivation to continue.

View more about Professor Marston & the Wonder Women reviews