PBS and Vaquera Films have released a trailer for the upcoming pop culture documentary.
Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines is about the history and currency of Wonder Woman, but it doesn’t stop there. The Kickstarter funded documentary, from filmmakers Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Kelcey Edwards also discusses general history of women in comics, and how the history of women is reflected in comics, specifically in comicbook heroines.
“I loved the idea of looking at something as populist as comics to reveal our cultural obsessions, and in particular, how women’s roles have changed over time.” Says Guevara-Flanagan on the documentary’s website. “The narratives of our most iconic superheroes, told and re-told over decades, boldly outline our shifting values. That’s one story Wonder Women! tells, but to me, it’s not the most interesting one. I hope the film also conveys the unpredictable ways those icons can shape and even transform us in return. For some it’s Lara Croft, for others it’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but we all need those iconic heroes that tell us we have the power to slay our dragons and don’t have to wait around to be rescued.”
While the documentary has a feminist bent, as well it should, it is not militant or vehement. The work approaches the subject of female characterization in a man’s world and the effects that has cyclically on the society, through the lens of comics – one of the most ignored media, despite how clearly reflective it can be – and from an unbiased viewpoint; a trait hard to come by in this sometimes-polarizing subject.
We have this synopsis from the studio:
Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, Wonder Women! looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation.
Wonder Women! goes behind the scenes with Lynda Carter, Lindsay Wagner, comic writers and artists, and real-life superheroines such as Gloria Steinem, Kathleen Hanna and others, who offer an enlightening and entertaining counterpoint to the male-dominated superhero genre.
Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines will premiere in the United States on PBS’s Independent Lens series on Monday, April 15, 2013. No date has yet been announced for a home video release.
