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A review by nicoleburstein
Wonder Woman: Earth One, Vol. 1 by Grant Morrison
2.0
This is a very difficult review to write, mostly because on the surface, I generally enjoyed the book and loved the art - however - I have some pretty major problems with it too.
First off, there seems to be a huge focus on body shaming. Female characters who don't look like Amazons are constantly remarked upon, and this made me very uncomfortable. Secondly, I couldn't help but think that the depiction of Paradise Island is what Grant Morrison thinks a female-only utopia would be like. And I think Grant Morrison has a very skewed idea about women.
In places I found the little touches of misandry quite funny, but then when I stopped to think about it I found it onerous. There is just so much relentless man-hating in this book, and I'm scared that some readers may interpret this as 'feminism'. It's not. A feminist utopia would be where men and women are equal. A world where women are superior is misandrist. Does Grant Morrison understand this at all?
I was also uncomfortable with the 'makeover' scene. Frankly, it was appalling. When holed up in a motel and under investigation from the US army, I don't think any woman would decide that a makeover would be the best thing to do. This is not how women behave. This is not what I want to see in a Wonder Woman book. And going back to Paradise Island - why are there not women of all shapes and sizes and colours? Why is Nubia the only black Amazon? Why are they all so freaked out by Candy's size? This is weird. And disappointing.
Morrison has attempted to tackle the diversity issue in his portrayal of Steve Trevor as black. I have a suspicion that this was done purely to placate an audience searching for diversity. It had no real meaning or impact on the character. In fact, Steve Trevor had no character to speak of. A missed opportunity. What I would have preferred to see was more people of different shapes, sizes and colour throughout the book. In any crowd-scene, the people are all quite blatantly white. If you're going to tackle diversity, maybe do it a bit more consistently?
I have a suspicion that Grant Morrison didn't talk to any women at all when he wrote this book. He has an idea in his head of what women are like, and what they would like to read. Whatever this idea is, it's wrong. Next time, perhaps employ a more sensitive writer? Or, you know what, perhaps employ a woman???
First off, there seems to be a huge focus on body shaming. Female characters who don't look like Amazons are constantly remarked upon, and this made me very uncomfortable. Secondly, I couldn't help but think that the depiction of Paradise Island is what Grant Morrison thinks a female-only utopia would be like. And I think Grant Morrison has a very skewed idea about women.
In places I found the little touches of misandry quite funny, but then when I stopped to think about it I found it onerous. There is just so much relentless man-hating in this book, and I'm scared that some readers may interpret this as 'feminism'. It's not. A feminist utopia would be where men and women are equal. A world where women are superior is misandrist. Does Grant Morrison understand this at all?
I was also uncomfortable with the 'makeover' scene. Frankly, it was appalling. When holed up in a motel and under investigation from the US army, I don't think any woman would decide that a makeover would be the best thing to do. This is not how women behave. This is not what I want to see in a Wonder Woman book. And going back to Paradise Island - why are there not women of all shapes and sizes and colours? Why is Nubia the only black Amazon? Why are they all so freaked out by Candy's size? This is weird. And disappointing.
Morrison has attempted to tackle the diversity issue in his portrayal of Steve Trevor as black. I have a suspicion that this was done purely to placate an audience searching for diversity. It had no real meaning or impact on the character. In fact, Steve Trevor had no character to speak of. A missed opportunity. What I would have preferred to see was more people of different shapes, sizes and colour throughout the book. In any crowd-scene, the people are all quite blatantly white. If you're going to tackle diversity, maybe do it a bit more consistently?
I have a suspicion that Grant Morrison didn't talk to any women at all when he wrote this book. He has an idea in his head of what women are like, and what they would like to read. Whatever this idea is, it's wrong. Next time, perhaps employ a more sensitive writer? Or, you know what, perhaps employ a woman???