Patty Jenkins Responds to James Cameron’s Comments About “Wonder Woman”

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins took to Twitter on Thursday night to respond to James Cameron’s criticism on the female superhero film.

“James Cameron’s inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for, to woman all over the world is unsurprising as, though he is a great filmmaker, he is not a woman,” Jenkins wrote. “Strong women are great. His praise of my film Monster, and our portrayal of a strong yet damaged woman was appreciated. But if women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven’t come very far have we.”

She added, “I believe women can and should be everything just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman. And the massive female audience who made the film a hit it is, can surely choose and judge their own icons of progress.”

Cameron expressed that Hollywood’s “self-congratulatory back-patting” over Wonder Woman “has been so misguided,” during a recent interview with The Guardian.

“I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards,” he explained, comparing the heroine to his Terminator’s female character Sarah Connor.

“Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon,” he shared. “She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!”

According to ET, Jenkins is presently in negotiations to direct the sequel of Wonder Woman, which is set to release on Dec. 13, 2019. Since the release of the DC Comics and Warner Bros. movie in June, the blockbuster has been breaking records and is now the highest grossing live-action film ever directed by a woman.

“Thanks to ALL of you for making #WonderWoman a success,” Gal Gadot wrote on Instagram. “Wonder Woman has the best fans in the world.”