I deleted a Facebook post today. I try to make sure my Facebook wall is clean of politics and religion. I think I'm adding 'fandoms' to the list.
You see, I typed up this rant over Hollywood's choice for Wonder Woman. I snarked on the body type not fitting my idea of my childhood hero when I could have simply said I didn't think she was a good fit. Someone I respected called me to the carpet and pointed out that what I said was terrible and made me look cold.
They had a point and I deleted my post. It had only been up a half an hour but that was a half an hour too long.
The irony in this was I always thought of Wonder Woman as the normal woman representation and was excited that maybe my nieces would have a super hero with a body type that they could identify with.
The roll of Wonder Woman is not about body type. Anybody should be able to play Wonder Woman because her body isn't what makes her a hero.
Open mouth and insert both feet, please and thank you.
As embarrassing as it was, I needed that knock on the head.
So the lesson(s) of the day. Be aware of my words. How I say something, has an impact. Being upset, indignant, {insert emotion} is no excuse for bad behavior. When I catch myself focusing on the shell of something and not the heart, stop. Step back and take a look at my feet. Are one or both of them in my mouth?
I saw what you had posted. You deleted it while I was typing my cvomment. I agreed with you. Yeah, it coul have been worded a bit differently, but it was a passionate post. It was not "body shaming". You were not saying being short and small breasted is horrible and ugly. I think that has become the new buzz word that's being used whenever anyone makes a statement about bodies that people disagree with. The heart of Wonder Woman's back story is that she is an amazon. A tall strong woman. Even if the actress is 5'9" like wikipedia claims, that is not a woman of amazonian proportions. If Linda Carter who was not large chested either, nor was she exotic looking, isn't that great of an actress, but is 6 feet tall, surely they can find someone that at least meets the amazonion height. But either way, if Joss Whedon isn't directing, I won't be going to see it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote the post, I didn't think through. I definitely could have said things differently. I didn't think I body shamed the actress but that wasn't the perception, no matter my intentions. Thank you. I worried for a while that everyone who saw the post believed that was what I meant. And a resounding yes regarding Joss Whedon directing. :)
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