The viral campaign to send girls to see 'Wonder Woman' will warm your heart.
Representation matters, and this group is bridging that gap.
[rebelmouse-image 19475388 dam="1" original_size="450x186" caption="All GIFs from "Wonder Woman"/Warner Bros./YouTube." expand=1]All GIFs from "Wonder Woman"/Warner Bros./YouTube.
The new "Wonder Woman" movie isn't just good, it's important.
That's why the Legion of Women Writers started a GoFundMe campaign to send 70 high-school-aged girls from Girls Inc. in New York to see the movie.
It's "important for young girls to get to experience seeing a woman as the hero on the big screen," the group's three co-founders, Char Martinetti, Carly Lane, and Swapna Krishna, wrote in an e-mail.
They chose to support Girls Inc. because of the group's own commitment to showing girls what they're capable of. "Since Legion of Women Writers is all about women supporting women and representation and inclusion in media, it made perfect sense," they wrote.
With a few days to spare, the crowdfunding effort has been a huge success, surpassing the group's original goal. All funds raised beyond the cost of the movie tickets will go to Girls Inc. directly, which is cool because Girls Inc. does some truly great work for girls and young women.
This is just the latest in an emerging trend of crowdfunding the cost of movie tickets for underrepresented groups.
Earlier this year, multiple crowdfunding campaigns helped send girls to see the Academy Award-winning "Hidden Figures." And in February, Chance the Rapper liked Jordan Peele's "Get Out" so much that he bought out an entire theater on Chicago's South Side for the local community to see.
I bought all the tickets to #GetOut at Chatham Theatre on 87th Just pull up with ID and enjoy the movie.— Chance The Rapper (@Chance The Rapper) 1488138986
Legion of Women Writers has already committed to holding another fundraiser to send young black kids to see "Black Panther" when it hits theaters in 2018.
.@LegionofWomen will gladly hold a fundraiser to send young black kids to their own Black Panther screening like we… https://t.co/1LG8DIxUWe— Cher Martinetti (@Cher Martinetti) 1496495336
For women, people of color, LGBTQ folks, and others, it's still rare to see real representation in pop culture. Audiences are clearly interested in seeing themselves represented on screen — the success of "Hidden Figures," "Get Out," and "Wonder Woman" are proof of that.
In Hollywood, nothing talks louder than money, and these fundraising campaigns are a great way to make sure studios recognize that audiences want more films like these while also making sure that the people who so desperately need to see themselves reflected in media can do so — regardless of how much a ticket costs.