Bingo filled by Twitter user @GTPsijic

Since when talking about difference between Wonder Woman movie and Justice League movie Amazon costumes this week we mentioned two articles that praised the former, let’s set the record straight: NOPE. 

Amazon armor is not good, let alone perfect, in Wonder Woman. At best, it looks like leather/metal fashion wear with some neat Greco-Roman references for armor history geeks… Given we accept the reality where Ancient Mediterraneans invented boobplates and wedge heels as combat wear. 

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But now at least we can make an informed guess that those old costumes were some sort of hard-earned compromise between giving the actresses wearable armor and meeting the “sex sellsdemand from higher ups.
It’s obviously no coincidence that once there were no women in power over the next movie Amazons appear in, any restraint over shamelessly objectifying them was gone

I’m still very angry that the new costumes make old ones look so much better just in comparison, making our criticism look weirdly harsh in hindsight. Lowering standards below the ground level doesn’t invalidate the points already made regarding the old standard

~Ozzie 

see also: fan-submitted bingo for the old Amazon armor

The Amazons’ New Clothes – The Golden Lasso

The Amazons’ New Clothes – The Golden Lasso

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SamBeringer submitted: 

Zack Snyder took one look at the boobplate in Wonder Woman and went “hold my beer.” Christ, this is awful.

Worst part? Here’s something the article above points out:

Wonder Woman began filming in 2015, the year before Justice League started filming in 2016. The Amazons’  design was finalized and most of the costumes completed while Justice League was still in pre-production. That means that there were discussions about what the Amazons should wear into battle in Justice League and the epic designs from Wonder Woman were rejected in favor of leather bikinis. Let that sink in. They rejected already finished costumes to redesign and remake the armor so that more skin would be showing.” 

Thanks to all readers who sent this our way! 

This makes me angry on a visceral level. We covered the problems with the costumes and the way the were pitched in the Wonder Woman movie, but this is twice as bad with none of hat tips toward real historical armor.  This has all those problems and then some. And is, frankly, just generic bikini armor trash.

As the article points out, the Justice League movie has an essentially all male executive team as well as a male costumer.  There’s presumably also a Creepy Marketing Guy (or even a small army of them, seeing as this is a DC/Warner Bros production). 

No matter who to blame, this is just self-demonstrably shameful.

~Ozzie

See also: Buzzfeed’s take on the same topic (ht: @itsgoodtobeming)


What’s really baffling about this is that Zack Snyder and same costumer, Michael Wilkinson, did manage to create a fairly decent (fantastic by comparison, but certainly not without it’s faults) female costume design in Man of Steel, as worn by the glorious Faora-Ul:

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Most of the high end production staff from Justice League also contributed on Wonder Woman.  So that leaves us with several equally terrible possibilities:

  • Someone with executive power literally saw the early sections of Wonder Woman and decided that what it needed was more women’s body on display so asked for “sexy versions of that”
  • The executive(s) in charge have been starting with “playing it safe” to build hype on the initial movies, and now have concluded that since those were a success they can throw female characters and fans under the bus in favor of their own puerile fantasies
  • Warner Bros or some other executive power only allowed the Wonder Woman amazon armor to be as not-terrible-as-possible because they assumed it would be a limited interest movie and not the highest grossing Superhero Origin Story at the time of it’s release. (which would explain this comic)

You may notice a theme of this being an executive with very poor judgement, and as much as a suspect otherwise I really hope it’s NOT Zack Snyder.  Because if it is, this does not bode well for the future:

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– wincenworks

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

So, after getting many reader suggestions and taking time to process the info, we took a closer look at what people behind the upcoming Wonder Woman movie have to say about the ridiculously mediocre Amazon boob armors which the film is going to feature… And wow, was it a ride of predictable rhetoric and obliviousness to blatant double standard. I sincerely hoped the whole bingo card wouldn’t be necessary, yet here we are.

Indeed, Patty Jenkins, the director, also played the “men are sexualized too” card:

I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.

Because that: 

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Has TOTALLY the same costuming priorities as this: 

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With lines like that, maybe Jenkins and the costume designer, Lindy Hemming, aim to be the Mari Shimazakis of Hollywood… Except Diana of Themyscira is not Bayonetta, so “she’s supposed to be very sexy and I as a lady find it empowering” excuses do not really work, even in

the

context of character agency. Because Wonder Woman is so much more than “looking like a supermodel while kicking ass”.

As a reblogger, @meishuu pointed out, that Oglaf strip was pretty much what the director said.

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I want to be optimistic and am gonna assume that the crew is contractually obligated to endorse every choice made about the movie, no matter how ridiculous it is when you think about it for more than a second.

~Ozzie

more Female Armor Rhetoric Bingo on BABD

Since the Wonder Woman movie premieres tomorrow, let’s remember what absurd explanations its director had for the weirdly sexualized, boobplate-y armor which the Amazons sport in the story. Seems like nonsense rhetoric for how female characters dress is common in DC Expanded Universe films

What makes it funnier, the flat sandals Gal Gadot wore on the red carpet during the premiere would make much more believable footwear for Greek mythology-based warriors than the high heels they wear in the movie. 

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That being said, please don’t read it as an endorsement to boycott Wonder Woman in cinemas. Critics have been saying some great and interesting things about it, so if you decide to watch it, remember that you can enjoy the movie while being critical of its flaws (like costumes that contradict the story’s message).
Still, be watchful of both what’s communicated on screen and behind the scenes, cause those things say a lot about how female-led stories are viewed in the industry. 

~Ozzie

I find it very worrying that while even Entertainment Weekly could appreciate the importance of Wonder Woman having a face and a cool pose, Warner Brothers apparently decided the only thing we need to know is that Gal’s outfit is basically painted on.

Honestly, DC Comics got slammed for this when it happened originally, but apparently Frank Miller’s vision is all Warner Bros care about:

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The trailer is not really any better for depicting her or the other amazons either, basically all the issues from Justice League Action but with real actors:

Sure would have been nice if the costume and promotions departments for our first super heroine live action movie could have had some direction other than:

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Rather than say… I dunno… look at the intro to the 2009 animated movie.

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– wincenworks

So, after getting many reader suggestions and taking time to process the info, we took a closer look at what people behind the upcoming Wonder Woman movie have to say about the ridiculously mediocre Amazon boob armors which the film is going to feature… And wow, was it a ride of predictable rhetoric and obliviousness to blatant double standard. I sincerely hoped the whole bingo card wouldn’t be necessary, yet here we are.

Indeed, Patty Jenkins, the director, also played the “men are sexualized too” card:

I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.

Because that: 

image

Has TOTALLY the same costuming priorities as this: 

image

With lines like that, maybe Jenkins and the costume designer, Lindy Hemming, aim to be the Mari Shimazakis of Hollywood… Except Diana of Themyscira is not Bayonetta, so “she’s supposed to be very sexy and I as a lady find it empowering” excuses do not really work, even in

the

context of character agency. Because Wonder Woman is so much more than “looking like a supermodel while kicking ass”.

As a reblogger, @meishuu pointed out, that Oglaf strip was pretty much what the director said.

image

I want to be optimistic and am gonna assume that the crew is contractually obligated to endorse every choice made about the movie, no matter how ridiculous it is when you think about it for more than a second.

~Ozzie

more Female Armor Rhetoric Bingo on BABD