A website said having Patty Jenkins direct Wonder Woman was a risk. Twitter fired back.

'Remember when Sony gambled $230 million on a Spider-Man reboot on an indie director whose previous film cost $7.5 million?'

 Parker Molloy
06.02.17

At first glance, this tweet from The Hollywood Reporter to an article about "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins seems innocent enough.

"Warner Bros. is gambling $150M with a filmmaker whose only prior big-screen credit was an $8M indie," the tweet reads. Taken at face value, sure, that seems to make sense. Putting someone at the helm of a $150-million project is naturally a risk-filled endeavor, no matter who you're talking about. And, yeah, when that's nearly 20 times as much money as that person's ever had to work with, it's a fair question to ask.

But if you look a little closer, you'll see there are three big mistakes in that sort of framing.

And of course it's worth reading the full article before you make a decision, but there's still something about the way the headline and tweet are set up that seems ... off.

Jenkins (right) and Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

1. It's worth mentioning what that "$8M indie" was. In this case, it's pretty crucial to understanding the full story.

That $8-million indie film, written and directed by Jenkins, was called "Monster." It starred Charlize Theron, it won a bunch of awards, and oh yeah, it made $60 million worldwide. That's a pretty big deal.

Theron took home the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 76th Annual Academy Awards for her role in "Monster." Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images.

Luckily, there were some helpful folks on Twitter happy to offer some alternative ways The Hollywood Reporter could have framed things.

2. It reinforces a lot of super negative attitudes and stereotypes about women in Hollywood and, well, pretty much everywhere.

In a recent interview, actress Anne Hathaway tried to unpack her own experiences with sexism — both on the giving and receiving end of it — discussing a time she struggled to trust a director because that director was a woman. Why was that her instinct? That's what she hopes to figure out.

What doesn't help, however, are messages that suggest women aren't capable of handling large projects like this, as though they didn't earn it. Again, on Twitter, some users replied to THR to point this out.

3. Similarly experienced men direct big-budget films all the time, but you don't see nearly as many stories about them being a "gamble" or "risk." Why is that?

Fandango movie critic Erik Davis unleashed an absolutely fire string of tweets highlighting other times studios have given big budget films to directors with pretty meager portfolios. There's just one big difference here, he pointed out: Jenkins is a woman.

Wonder Woman is getting phenomenal reviews (especially when you compare it to some of the less acclaimed DC Comics movies of the past several years), so one can hope Jenkins' success helps change people's perception of just what women are capable of.

And, really, if there's one movie to help change how we talk and think about women in the entertainment industry, there's really no better answer than "Wonder Woman."

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

culture gender internet culture film hollywood movies sexism feminism twitter equality filmmakers patriarchy wonder woman patty jenkins hollywood reporter
Most Shared

The whale that plays fetch is in danger, but there's a team working hard to protect him

The Guardian / YouTube

Earlier this month, a beluga whale caught the world's attention by playing fetch with a rugby ball thrown by South African researchers off the waters of Norway.

The adorable video has been watched over 20 million times, promoting people across the globe to wonder how the whale became so comfortable around humans.

It's believed that the whale, known as Hvaldimir, was at some point, trained by the Russian military and was either released or escaped.

Keep Reading Show less
hvaldimir whale rugby whale save the whales norway beluga whale avocates for hvladimir mashable mic.com beluga fetch update
Planet

A dad's Facebook post is going viral for the way he handled his daughter's first period

Facebook / Maverick Austin

Your first period is always a weird one. You know it's going to happen eventually, but you're not always expecting it. One day, everything is normal, then BAM. Puberty hits you in a way you can't ignore.

One dad is getting attention for the incredibly supportive way he handled his daughter's first period. "So today I got 'The Call,'" Maverick Austin started out a Facebook post that has now gone viral.

The only thing is, Austin didn't know he got "the call." His 13-year-old thought she pooped her pants. At that age, your body makes no sense whatsoever. It's a miracle every time you even think you know what's going on.

Keep Reading Show less
parenting father viral first period facebook dads periods

A plus-sized fashion blogger was shamed for dressing like Meghan Markle. Her response was perfect.

Instagram / Katie Sturino

Plus-size women are in the majority. In America, 68% of women wear a size 14 or higher. Yet many plus-sized are ignored by the fashion industry. Plus-sized clothing is a $21 billion industry, however only one-fifth of clothing sales are plus-sized. On top of that, plus-sized women are often body shamed, further reinforcing that bigger body types are not mainstream despite the fact that it is common.

Plus-size fashion blogger Katie Sturino recently called out her body shamers. Sturino runs the blog, The 12ish Style, showing that plus-sized fashion isn't – and shouldn't be – limited to clothes that hide the body.

Keep Reading Show less
Culture

A Straight Pride parade was held in Dallas but only three people showed up

via Twitter / Soraya

There is a strange right-wing logic that suggests when minorities fight for equal rights it's somehow a threat to the rights already held by those in the majority or who hold power.

Like when the Black Lives Matter movement started, many on the right claimed that fighting for black people to be treated equally somehow meant that other people's lives were not as valuable, leading to the short-lived All Lives Matter movement.

This same "oppressed majority" logic is behind the new Straight Pride movement which made headlines in August after its march through the streets of Boston.

Keep Reading Show less
popular