Showing posts with label Ivonne Martin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ivonne Martin. Show all posts

Vambrace Yourselves: The Great Wonder Woman Roundtable


Despite being one of the three most important characters in the DC universe, it's taken Wonder Woman an inordinate amount of time to get a movie adaptation worthy of her. Until now, the only adaptations of the Amazon Princess's adventures were the Lynda Carter-starring 1970s TV show and the 2009 animated movie.  Otherwise, the character was generally either part of an ensemble or worse, given a side role. It felt like Wonder Woman will never get the chance to shine her fellow Trinity members Batman and Superman got. Even the announcement that WB is making one that'll be a part of their cinematic universe didn't inspire confidence, especially due to the controversial nature of the DCEU, influenced by the general depressing tone and quality of already released films.

But all our fears turned out to be unfounded, as Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman turned out as well as it did, gaining outstanding critical acclaim and love from fans both old and new —  breaking box office records all over the world. After this undeniable success, the future of female-led superhero movies is looking brighter than ever.

Naturally, we here at Critical Writ have our own thoughts about Wonder Woman. We've already released our review of the movie, written by our own Elessar and now it's time for our other members to discuss how the film affected them.

Warning:  We do discuss spoilers below!  


Let's begin by sharing our personal history with the character. Are you a new-fangled fan, or were you already very familiar with Wonder Woman?

Tova: I’m very new to Wonder Woman. I borrowed the Sensation Comics anthology with Wonder Women stories from the library just before the movie premiered and had read some of that, and I read the first volume of DC Bombshells, but that’s the only experience I have with the character outside of hearing and reading about her. I’ve also frequently used the GIF of Lynda Carter smashing the patriarchy, of course.

Adrian: I’m very familiar with the comics and animated stories! I’m a fan of Greg Rucka’s various runs, Gail Simone is my hero, but the Justice League cartoon stands out as having the most on-point Wonder Woman. Susan Eisenberg’s voice work epitomizes Diana much like Kevin Conroy is the definitive voice of Batman. I love Diana so much that once aspiring to write a Wonder Woman screenplay served as a catalyst for growing my creative writing skills.

Rosario: I am very familiar with the character, insofar as “half-remembered fragments of Lynda Carter’s show” and being a long-time fan of the DCAU. Even now, getting comics in my country is a tall order, so I never got into them. But Diana was always one of my favorite heroes. My love of all things mythological just cemented my love for her.

Megan:  I’ve been reading Wonder Woman now for almost ten years; it was Gail Simone’s The Circle that really made me a fan.  I wanted to get into her earlier, but I always thought her costume (the one with the star spangled panties) was utterly ridiculous.  Terry Dodson drew her to make her look so powerful, so it was when I saw the cover for The Circle that I felt I could really get over that.  Ever since, I felt like DC had the greatest superhero ever on their hands that they just weren’t promoting well.  If you’re a longtime Wonder Woman fan, it’s the same as being a long suffering Wonder Woman fan.

Ivonne: I’m pretty new to Wondie. I mean I know Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, and that’s about it. I never read the comic books before last year, and I’ve only read a smidgen of stuff since. Mostly, everything I know about Wondie I know from the DC animated movies/series, and word of mouth.



What are your overall feelings on the movie?

Adrian: Relief. It’s been a rough five years or so for DC fans. The comics went through a contentious period with the New 52 and the DCCU has been struggling to find its footing. It had grown hard to imagine that DC fans would ever “get to have nice things.” Patty Jenkins delivered a fun, tonally-accurate, and explosive adventure. I feel, for once, hope for the DCCU.

Tova: I’ll answer this question in a very literal way: Many and intense! There’s a lot of joy simply in seeing a badass heroine at the centre of a story, but when empathy is one of the central characteristics of that heroine, that joy turns much stronger and bigger. Perhaps the sadness in the movie was also heightened as a result, because I felt that more intensely than usual with epic adventure movies as well. And a strange kind of protective love for mankind that most of the type of humans and human actions we see in this story really shouldn’t inspire but which Wonder Woman is full of. It was definitely an inspiring movie. I’m aware I’ve likely ignored many issues with the plot because of all these emotions and the awe it made me feel, but that seems like minor details when a movie gives you this kind of experience.

Rosario: I agree with Tova, I am probably being more forgiving of the film due to the sheer excitement of seeing Diana in the big screen. Do understand, that for me has been a really, really long time. The other DC animated film about her I keep hearing about? I don’t even think it’s dubbed, there are no DVDs of it being sold here, it hasn’t been aired so far as I know… It has been a really, really long time. The hype has been so real here, with people going multiple times to the cinema for Wonder Woman. This is not something we do here. When I sat in the cinema and saw Themyscira for the first time it felt—wow.

Megan:  Like Adrian, relief.  You’ve come a long way, Diana.  I’m so happy that not only did she get her first big budget film, and not only is it a critical darling and box office success—it is a movie that is in love with Wonder Woman and everything she represents.  Despite the changes from the comic, the movie gets to the heart of what makes her so damn lovable.  I feel vindicated, and I am so happy that millions of people now have a chance to love her too!

Ivonne: Relieved that it didn’t suck! This was the one movie DC needed to get right, and they did, apparently more by accident and lack of care, than by design (they gave Jenkins pretty free reign, and seemed quite surprised by the success of the film). I’m a Marvel fangurl first and foremost, but I needed WW to do well, for the express reason of kicking Marvel in the ass so they start acknowledging their female fans… and so that they don’t screw up Captain Marvel. As for Wonder Woman itself, I loved it. It was inspiring, visually beautiful, and one of the only movies I’ve seen come out of Hollywood that wasn’t male-gazey. It was, in a word, wonderful.


How did you find the plot? What do you think about the the movie's version of Diana's origin?

Adrian: I feel great affection for the clay baby origin, but the New 52 ret-con establishing Diana as Zeus’ daughter opened up a whole new, exciting wing of her family tree that was previously non-existent. So much potential here! And yet, it seems they scuttled all those possibilities in the few minutes of Wonder Woman, establishing that the entire pantheon of gods were eliminated in Zeus and Ares’ great conflict. The plot perfectly serves Diana’s character growth and while I’m thankful for that, I mourn what could have been, and hope for a return of the gods in sequel.

Rosario: I am extremely ignorant of the comics. I know the broad strokes, and with all the controversy the New-52 retcon drudged up it was all but impossible for me to ignore, so… This is the first time for me encountering Diana’s origin, so I am… blasĂ©, maybe? It’s a good story as any. It is suitably mythological for me because of the incestuous undertones: The Amazons were created by Zeus, so kind of like his daughters, then Zeus and Hippolyta had a clay baby. To me it was more important how the film emphasized how it was the Amazonian society that gave Diana her morals, and how it was Antiope’s and Hippolyta's love what shaped her into the woman who became a heroine.

Tova: I really liked the idea that Diana doesn't have a father, even in the biological sense, but only a mother. Her entire history and heritage being female is just so appealing to me, especially considering no one ever suggests there's something missing there — her family and childhood is whole and full. Like Rosario says, the film still emphasizes the women around Diana, and it's clear they're the ones who shaped her. But you don't go "By the way, you were told a lie about your origin and Zeus is actually your father" and then not examine what that means for the character. I'm not looking forward to that examination (sorry!).

Megan:  The plot, overall, is fairly in line with what we’ve seen before in the comics.  Unfortunately, the goddesses involved in her creation are gone, boo.  But it’s not the New 52 origin, which I was dreading.  The clay baby origin is always my favourite, and while there was a quick line that suggested that wasn’t true, that person wasn’t under the sway of the lasso yet, I don’t think, and so I’m choosing to ignore it.  I just wish there was a cinematic of the clay baby coming to life and the Amazons crowding around the one child they ever had, or that they included that they were reincarnated from abused women.

Ivonne: I’m not a fan of all the goddesses having been killed, but I don’t mind Diana having a father. Although, not going to lie, when it was revealed that he had sired Diana on Hippolyta, my immediate thought was to wonder what animal he turned her into to rape her, since Zeus is kind of known for that. I know, pretty awful, but there you have it. Zeus was very… clean in this version of Greek mythology. But I guess he’s dead, so whatever. I’m fine with not having him present in her life.


How did you feel Gal Gadot fared in the role?

Tova: Great! She has such an expressive face, and I love how you get to see the outside world reflected through her eyes when you watch her watch it. Like when Diana first encounters soldiers wounded in the war, or the people in the French village they reach after going through No Man’s Land. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve grown somewhat immune to similar scenes showing war after so many movies have used them, and they don’t pack the same emotional punch anymore. But thanks to Gadot’s acting (and probably the writing and directing as well) these scenes do work, and it makes the whole story more engaging, as it gives us great insight into Diana’s motivations in her quest to end the war. Then she puts on her warrior face, and the determination behind Gadot’s eyes is just as convincing as the compassion.

Adrian: I’ve been a fan of Gal since her work in the Fast & Furious franchise. Gisele and Han OTP! I think she did a good job in accurately expressing Diana’s warmth, determination, conviction, and purity of heart. I don’t feel like Gal’s talent as an actress has grown much past her days in Fast, but I think I’m in the minority on that assessment: after all, she did make millions of people cry!

Rosario: She pulls off the naĂ¯vety so well. I don’t remember much of her prior work, thus, I cannot comment on that, but when she runs up, excited at seeing a baby, when she was eating the ice cream and thanked profusely the vendor… Gadot was amazing. The way Diana marveled at her own power was also very good acting. She was occasionally weak when she had to be more serious, but maybe that could be interpreted as Diana being somewhat confused at the stupid morality of Man’s World, so I don’t give much weight to it.

Megan:  Fantastic.  There were a few lines I thought were clunky, particularly the narration at the beginning and at the end, but it could have just been how it was written.  Those were my only gripes, and I quickly forgot it once the film got going.  When she was cast I was disappointed that they didn’t go with an actress who was more muscular; yes, I was one of those people!  And I will admit I was wrong.  Gadot looked powerful and strong.  I totally believed she could lift a tank like it was nothing.

Ivonne: Back when Gadot was introduced, I wasn’t sure I liked her. And on a political level, I don’t, because her politics regarding Palestine is typically Israeli. That said, and setting dubious politics aside, I thought Gadot was fabulous in this role. She really owned it, she seemed to revel in it, she looked gorgeous and powerful. She was so expressive in her wonder when Diana is first running around London, and yet she never comes off as naive or stupid. Gadot ended up being perfect for the role despite my initial misgivings.


What are your thoughts on the film's supporting cast - the characters adapted from comics (Steve, Etta) and the original ones (Sameer, Charlie and Chief)?

Adrian: Etta was exceptional; we need more of her. In the past, Steve has pointedly been Diana’s damsel in distress, but in the film they succeeded in making him more than a mere love interest, but a friend and an inspiration. Diana deserves no less. I really enjoyed the original characters, but much like Etta, I’m saddened that we can’t expect to see more of them.

Rosario: Steve was so charming, I truly hurt for Diana when That Scene happened. Because of how much the trailers featured Etta, I was disappointed that we didn’t get more of her in the film, so I hope there is a director’s cut or extra scenes or something when we can appreciate more of her, as well as have more of the trio. Overall, I thought the supporting cast was great, especially their interactions with Diana. My favorite was Chief, mainly due to the potential of his character. In a universe where the gods existed, could it be really that he is a demigod? I sure hope so! I hope he appears in more films! Also, I liked how the Soldier Trio represented something about war. Sameer is the person with no other hope than to join the war, Charlie is the soldier who struggles to try to make something of himself in a war he doesn't know what it stands for anymore and that has damaged him, and Chief is the one so hurt by conflict that he is just numb to further conflict. That’s what they are until Diana comes along.

Megan:  I love Etta!  More of her please!  If her sequel is modern day, can she have been reincarnated?  Same actress in the role of Smetta Smandy? Steve was great.  The animated movie kind of poisoned his character for me (he’s a chauvinist pig in that one), and Chris Pine is kind of a similar character in the first Star Trek film so I was anticipating something similar.  But Pine did a fantastic job and I really loved him in the end.  Sameer, Charlier and Chief were great; I really love that the film didn’t shy away from the fact that this was a war of colonial powers that brought men of colour from around the world to fight in a war they had no real stake in.  I also hope the theory that Chief is a demigod himself is true, I’d love to see him in the sequel.

Ivonne: Chris Pine was another surprise for me (along with Gadot). I thought he did a fabulous Steve Trevor. He was never over-bearing, despite probably thinking Diana was a little bit crazy, and ultimately he proved himself to be respectful of her and her power. I was pleased at how well Chris Pine, a leading man normally, seemed to naturally take to the role of supporting actor to Gadot. As for the Howling Commandos Lite, they were pretty good. If I have any complaints, is that we maybe didn’t get enough of them. They grounded Diana, humanized the faces of this terrible war, and they did it well.

Tova: I don’t think there’s much to add here! I always like a good ragtag team of misfits, and then one here did not disappoint. Like the others have said, I would have liked to see more of them, and more of Etta Candy, so I’m a little sad the sequel will take place in the present.
I’ll also miss Steve, who really was a pleasant surprise.


What are your thoughts on how the movie handled its human and supernatural villains?

Adrian: Dr. Poison was very intriguing, another character who I desperately want to know and see more of. Ludendorff and Ares were a bit two-dimensional, but I felt like Dr. Poison could carry a whole film. Could we get extras and vignettes like they did for the MCU? Ares serving as a violent muse to mankind has some interesting tendrils to explore, but ultimately it seemed to diminish the depth of the human villains.

Rosario: We definitely need to see more of Dr. Poison. Elena Anaya’s interview with The Verge uncovers so much I am thirsty. And I didn’t even know it! That said, while I agree that Ludendorff and Ares need to be explored more, I think I may be one of the only people who disagree with the assessment that the film did not serve itself by having Ludendorff and Ares be stereotypical villains. I actually liked that Ludendorff was like a human version of Ares. It really set up that Man is the best (as reflected by Steve and Etta) and the worst.

Tova: I think it was necessary to have human villains, for the reason Rosario describes, to show personifications of the worst as well as the best of humankind. I do not agree about Dr. Poison. To my, admittedly limited, understanding of the DC world of heroes and villains, one of its biggest issues is that villainy there very often comes from mental illness. It’s so full of mentally unstable villains that an asylum for the “criminally insane” is one of the main locations of DC stories, and a large share of Batman’s enemies have been patients there. Along with that there’s also the more widespread trope where disfigurement or disability (the two often being intermixed in pop culture) either serves as a sign of evil or itself leads to evil.

One of the clearest examples might be Two-Face, who is driven insane and adopts his villainous persona after being severely scarred on one side of the face, and is often portrayed as suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and/or dissociative identity disorder.

With this in mind, to have a villain who is obsessive, sadistic and “a maniac”, and whose “hideous” facial scars are described as proof of her sadistic side (all descriptions from the Anaya interview) seems to me to reinforce all those harmful tropes. I think Dr. Poison is a step up from characters like Two-Face, but then, why use that category of storytelling device at all? There are so many better options out there.

Megan:  The villains just weren’t developed well, but I think that was okay for the story they were trying to tell.  It wasn’t really about who the big bad was, because the real danger is the potential for evil that is in every human.  That said, what I like about Wonder Woman comics is that she really gets to the heart of her villains and often wins them over to her side.  Part of me wishes we saw that with Dr Poison, the last big fight could have been cut down and we could have had some resolution between them.  On the other hand, an unrepentant female villain is so rare, outside the femme fatale trope.  She’s scarred, she’s mean, she’s not sorry, and she’s not not going to fall for a pretty face, Steve.

Ivonne: I really wanted more of Dr. Poison. I felt like there was a great deal of development left at the table with her. But she was convincingly evil, and I was glad she didn’t fall for Steve’s shenanigans at the party. The actress needed more room to shine, because honestly, she was fabulous.

I thought the use of Ludendorff was a strange choice, seeing as he is an actual historical figure from WW1 that survives that war to get somewhat involved with Hitler prior to WW2. Making the choice to kill him was odd, to say the least. They could have called that character anything, made up a name of a fictional general, so why use a real historical figure? Add to that, I guarantee that most American audiences don’t know the name. It’s not that he’s obscure--he’s not--but American history courses are woefully short when it comes to anything before WW2. European audiences probably knew Ludendorff quite well, though, and especially his history.

Ares was… okay. The final battle was all kinds of cool CGI, but it was weird to see Professor Lupin as the god of war. For all that Ares was the boogeyman that Diana chased the entire movie, he wasn’t particularly frightening. That said, I will give kudos to the fact that I never saw it coming that this particular character was Ares. Normally superhero films are fairly predictable, so it was nice to be surprised that way.


What did you think about the movie’s use of the World War I setting, as opposed to WW2, more traditionally connected to Wonder Woman’s origin?

Rosario: I thought it was brilliant, actually. It’s one of the best settings to learn about the murky world we live in, at least for an Amazon warrior. The War is one of the murkiest conflicts ever. The War was arguably started by the Black Hand, an extremist Serbian separatist group, when Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Ferdinand. It is a prime example of a “your terrorist are our freedom fighters” scenario. The whole thing was magnified by allies dragging each other into war, treaties falling apart all over the place—just look at how the Kingdom of Italy went from the Allied side to the Triple Entente side. It’s really tragic as well how it strips away Diana’s conviction that we are so inherently good. Yet, she chose chose to fight that final battle, anyway. Had I not known from hearsay her comics’ origin is in World War II, I would never have guessed, since The Great War feels so thematically appropriate for Wonder Woman.

Tova: This is where I have to admit I thought the movie took place during WWII all through watching it. Quite embarrassing, but also regrettable for the dimension clearly lost on me because I wasn’t aware of the context! I love Rosario’s analysis here, and in hindsight it truly does enhance the themes of human nature of good and evil and, especially, the grey area in between.

Adrian: There's a lot of thematic symmetry between Diana's first experiences with Man's World and mankind itself coming to grips with the new horrors of modern warfare, so I think the setting world worked beautifully. One of the trailers that ran before Wonder Woman was Dunkirk, the story of a massive rescue operation to save Allied soldiers from the Germans in WWII. A rescued soldier, fearing for his own life, balks at prospect of returning to Dunkirk to save more lives, when the ship’s captain tells him "There's no hiding from this, son. We have a job to do." It's that same call to duty that soldiers faced in WWI, and in a way that had never been experienced before. You won't have trouble finding exceptionally bloody episodes throughout history, but the first World War set a gruesome new standard in suffering, appallingly prodigious in death count; something the world had not previously seen or imagined. Life in the trenches of Verdun was so deadly, so bleak, it's what directly inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's vision of Mordor in Lord of the Rings. Indeed, the never-ending battle of attrition that is “No Man’s Land” set an ideal landscape in which Diana could arise, crossing the chasm that no man could, establishing not just to the audience but to herself, that she can make a difference, even when the task before her is an impossible one.

Megan:  For the story they’re trying to tell, it was a perfect change.  With WWII, you have the Nazis vs the Allies and I think we can all agree that while Allies committed war crimes too, it’s largely accepted that it was a war against evil.  WWI wasn’t about that.  It wasn’t good versus evil, us against Nazis and genocide.  It was empires with stolen lands forcing men to fight over, essentially, nothing.  It wasn’t a war any side can really feel good about.  It was a terrible, pointless  war that should never have happened at all.  I really liked that in the British war council, the general was all for sacrificing soldiers, and on the German council before Ludendorff attacked would not stand for any more lives being lost.  The Germans weren’t any more to blame here than the British.  That and you know, the reveal about Ares, really hit that home.

Ivonne: It was a nice change of pace to have WW1 be the setting, but for all of that, this movie still felt a great deal like Captain America: The First Avenger in the entire latter half. Also, I heard that there were American audiences who were puzzled on which war it was, but honestly, that says more about the public education in this country than anything else. The movie “placed” the setting quite well, between the language Steve used to try to explain it to the Amazons, and the trench warfare. Costumes, props, and things like the planes were gorgeously done to make this period piece work.


What did you like the most about the film? And what you thought was its biggest failing?

Adrian: I have some minor quibblings around Diana’s naivetĂ© (a bit overdone) and the mythology (for instance, they didn’t cover why she wears the bracers or the nature or purpose of their power), but the biggest failing of the film was a lack of representation. Many have rightly said Wonder Woman is inescapably a feminist film, which is why the film is remiss regarding intersectionality. Anyone not hopelessly insulated recognizes the Amazons of Themyscira as queer, yet this is never represented on screen. While the racial diversity could have been worse (I love that Artemis, of an African Amazon splinter-cell Bana-Mighdall, was played by Ann Wolfe!), many Amazons' scenes were cut. With the core cast of Amazons being blonde and white, we’re left with the same old story: white women elevated to the forefront of modern feminist ideals, with women of color unobtrusively shuffled off to the side. While Gal Gadot provides much-needed representation for Jewish women in superhero films, we cannot ignore that “Hollywood perceives her in terms of unspecified whiteness.” Otherwise, I will forever love Wonder Woman for simply getting Diana’s character right. The depiction of Themyscira and the Amazons was otherwise near perfection and the proper tone of the film could serve dividends for the whole future of the DCCU. Wonder Woman is a great movie.

Rosario: I don’t have much to add to this, since I mostly agree with Adrian in failings and strengths. More explanations, more diversity in the Amazons is needed. That said, the combat scenes were well done, the slow-mo was in all the right places.

Tova: If it’s not already clear from the amount of words I used to criticize the character, Dr. Poison is one of my least favourite parts of the film. Anaya plays her splendidly, but I can’t disregard the problematic elements, which are really at the foundation of the character.
One other thing that has kept tugging at my mind since I first thought of it is: Why the hell is there no mention of Wonder Woman returning, or not returning, to Themyscira at the end of the movie? It’s almost like the Amazons are forgotten. That doesn’t fit the tone in the first part of the movie, and certainly not the parting of Diana and her mother. Themyscira is such an important part of Wonder Woman’s story, and I would have liked to see that acknowledged as this first story wraps up.

As for what I liked the most: The feelings! The feminism! The wonder! I suspect everything that has made people love Wonder Woman for decades

Megan:  Not to correct you Tova, but Hippolyta says to Diana as she leaves that she can never come back.  This is a thing in the comics; once she leaves, she may never return.  Of course, in the comics she eventually does, and since Amazons are going to be in Justice League we should get an answer.  I do agree with Adrian about representation, could have been better.  I also really wish Diana was less confused by sexism and more outraged by it.  I suppose that would have clued her into the evils of man sooner, unless she would just conclude the patriarchy is a tool of Ares as well. As for what I liked most….Themyscira!  It was everything I wanted and more.

Ivonne: I loved the way this movie made me feel. I loved seeing a powerful woman who was still feminine and beautiful. I loved that she wasn’t filmed under the male gaze. I loved Themyscira and wanted more of it. More Amazons, more Amazons of color, especially. And as Adrian has already pointed out, the film’s biggest failing was how powerful the white feminism was, but how short it was on representation of anyone else. Yes, we saw black Amazons, and some brown ones too, but they didn’t speak, and one of them was even the Mammy stereotype when Diana was a child. Oooo boy… as a feminist piece, this one has major failings on intersectionality.

I’m not sure if this is a failing or a strength, but I did feel like someone at WB looked around, asked why MoS, BvS, and SS were so critically panned while Marvel has had a dozen hits, and decided “screw it, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Wonder Woman felt, emotionally, like Captain America: The First Avenger to me, and it pretty much even ended the same way. When the movie ended, my husband leaned over and whispered, “Steve will be back in Wonder Woman: The December Soldier!” But seeing as how The First Avenger still remains one of Marvel’s best films, I suppose this isn’t a failure for Wonder Woman. And well, it’s no accident that so many folks, including critics, loved this one, as opposed to the first three DC films.


Finally, let's make a wishlist for the future sequel, which is obviously coming thanks to the movie's reception. What would you like to see in it, aside from the return of Patty Jenkins in the directorial chair? What are your biggest hopes and greatest wishes?

Adrian: More women of color, more Amazons, more gods, more magic! Villains! Cheetah, Circe, and Medusa (see: Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon by Greg Rucka) would all make great villains for the sequels! Sidekicks! Can we get Wonder Girl Donna Troy and/or Cassie Sandsmark? An Artemis and Antiope buddy warrior movie?! I want all the things! Also, it’s implied the canon that there is a lineage of Amazonian Wonder Women throughout history. Can we get a Hippolyta as an ancient world Wonder Woman prequel? Can we see Nubia, Diana’s twin sister as Wonder Woman? There definitely were Wonder Women before Diana; what else would the suit have been made for?

Tova: More Amazons, which should naturally lead to more WOC and queerness. And it’s not enough to show that other Amazons are queer, I want an unambiguously pan- or bisexual Wonder Woman as well, and I want it treated with the same subversion of the male gaze that much of this movie showed. If I can dream big then bigoted straight men will watch the sequel and feel annoyed and let down, and cool men, women and non-binary folks will leave the theatre feeling empowered. I want a movie that truly deserves the label “cultural Marxist SJW propaganda”. Because we’re worth it.

Megan:  I think as long as China bans any movie with outright LGBT representation, we’re not getting it in a Wonder Woman film.  That would be my greatest wish though. But more Amazons, Nubia, Smetta Smandy, Chief, The Holliday Girls, and Ferdinand please.  Also, WB, email me about my amazing Wonder Woman RPG idea.  The lasso mechanics alone will be worth it.

Ivonne: More Amazons, more women, more women of all colors, goddesses returning, some of Wondie’s classic female villains… and that’s to start! Also, needs more lassoing, and definitely an invisible jet (I’m kidding, that’s stupid). But seriously, I just want more Wonder Woman, and more Patty Jenkins, and LOTS MORE FEMALE DIRECTORS AND STARS. And I want it right now!

Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy demisexual lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Rosario is an early-twenties, outspoken woman, who likes to burrow between piles of books, and store miscellaneous trivia in her head.

Tova Crossler Ernström is a bisexual Swede, feminist, socialist, INFJ, Hufflepuff, HSP and Taurus. She is fond of personality tests, labels and lists.

A Final Trip to 'Lian Yu' - Arrow S5 Finale

Yikes! "Lian Yu" was intense!

And no fooling, this was one of the best episodes Arrow has ever done, let alone one of the top for season five.

In fact, season five is one of this show's top seasons, harkening back to its strong foundations in season one. And speaking of season one, "Lian Yu" features the cameo returns of Malcolm Merlyn, Slade Wilson, and Moira Queen to Arrow.

Spoilers beyond the fold.


I actually missed a couple of reviews over the past few weeks, due to being involved in a car accident, so I apologize (I actually had people ask me on Facebook about the missing reviews). At this point, I'm not going to backtrack. Suffice to say that Adrian Chase has continued being the super genius bastard that he's always been, and that Team Arrow has never been able to keep up with him. In the previous episode before this one, Chase has, one by one, abducted the members of Team Arrow, as well as William, Oliver's son (and his mother, as we discover in this episode).

Thus, Oliver is in a bit of a pickle. Malcolm Merlyn also showed up in the Arrowcave last episode to offer help in getting Thea back. And Oliver ended up calling in another ally: Nyssa, his "wife." The sparks flew immediately between Nyssa and Malcolm as they growled at each other, and their verbal sparring continues in "Lian Yu" and it is great. Once on the island, Oliver picks up a couple more unlikely allies.

Awww YISSSS!

Happy to report that Slade Wilson was absolutely amazing (and that despite weeks of trolling fans about how he wasn't involved in this episode at all, Manu Bennett was indeed back and in awesome form). With the mirakuru cleared out of his system, Slade is sane again, and remembers everything he did under the influence. He wonders why Oliver didn't kill him for the execution of Moira Queen, and he's especially surprised when Oliver not only lets him out of ARGUS prison AND provides him with his gear, but also hands over a flash drive with information containing the whereabouts of Slade's missing son. You can almost see Slade softening, especially with the last.

Not gonna lie, Slade and Oliver fighting together again was a thrill I hadn't realized I was missing so very much.

This is a scene I didn't know I needed...

The other baddie Oliver picks up is Captain Boomerang, which he needn't have bothered, since the jackass turns on them almost instantly. Apparently Chase and his goons got to Boomerang first, but we don't learn that until Oliver rushes into an ambush and Boomerang pulls a gun on him. Slade appears to betray Oliver in that moment as well, but actually, he just proceeds to kick Boomerang's ass. Thankfully, Evelyn also gets her ass kicked in this scene, and put into a cage. And because Oliver is a much better person than I am, he promises to come back for Evelyn when Chase has been dealt with. Personally, I'd just leave the wench to rot on Lian Yu.

In other news, Ollicity is back on again!



Oliver sends Felicity, Curtis, Thea, and Samantha back towards the plane along with Malcolm as the pilot. The idea is that he wants to get the weaker members--Felicity and Samantha--safely off the island, and of course he wants his sister out of the line of fire. Despite Malcolm being Malcolm, he's certainly proven time and again that he will do whatever it takes to keep Thea safe, so I suppose he's trustworthy enough for this mission. Of course, the reunion between father and daughter is less than warm. Once again, John Barrowman and Willa Holland have fabulous chemistry together. They argue back and forth up until the moment there's a click and Thea freezes in place.

Yeah, how did everyone forget that Lian Yu is riddled with those stupid mines?



In a strangely heartbreaking scene, Malcolm shoves Thea off the mine and takes her place, and then tells them all to run away because Boomerang and some thugs are approaching.

Yeah, Malcolm freaking Merlyn sacrificed his life for Team Arrow (well, really for his daughter, of course). We see the explosion in the distance from Thea's point of view.

It's worth noting that while this is the comics genre and no one ever really stays dead, John Barrowman has thanked his fans for a wonderful five years. It sounds pretty final to me.

Oliver takes Slade and Nyssa to an old Chinese temple thing that's never been shown before in previous flashbacks of the island. Apparently that's where the rest of Team Arrow is being held. The three of them split up, with Nyssa going off on her own, and instantly Slade betrays Oliver and gives him up to Black Siren. But don't despair! It was all planned! Oliver wanted to get captured, because it gave him access to Dinah, and he gives her the collar that Curtis made for her that lets her focus her canary cry. It also allows her to break their chains.

Love me some lady assassins, NGL

What follows is a pretty awesome fight. We get treated to some beautiful fight choreography, starting first with an all-too-short fight sequence between Nyssa and her sister Thalia. Truly, if I have any complaint at all about this episode, or even this season, it's that we didn't get more of an explanation on why Thalia turns on her old student Oliver (yeah yeah, he killed my estranged father yadda yadda), and why Nyssa and Thalia seem to hate each other. I truly wish we'd had more development of the relationship between the sisters. There's some decent dialogue to that effect here, but still... I was left wanting so much more. These are two genuinely badass assassin ladies, and I am ALL about the assassin ladies of the world getting more screen time.

There's also a much larger fighter scene where everyone is fighting everyone: Dinah and Laurel have a canary face-off, Diggle gets to punch stuff, Slade and Nyssa fight more thugs, and ultimately, Oliver and Adrian face-off in their own apparent final battle. Once again, the fight choreography was phenomenal. Bonus points for Quentin getting the opportunity to knock Black Siren in the back of the head. And triple bonus points for Quentin insisting that Dinah be called the Black Canary.

It's worth noting that this giant fight scene in particular beautifully juxtaposes scenes with a flashback of the fight on Lian Yu between Oliver and Dolph Lundgren's Russian thug, just before Oliver's boat back to Star City is supposed to arrive. We keep switching back and forth between the flashback fight and the current fight, and instead of being jarring, this actually really works for the episode.

This is bad, right?

Ultimately, where in the flashback Oliver ends up breaking Kovar's neck and rushing off to catch his boat, Oliver has the chance to end Adrian's life once and for all, and he chooses not to. Which is a good thing because that's about when Felicity calls him and lets him know that the island is covered in c4 that is set to explode on a dead man's switch. If Adrian dies, the island gets blown up.

Nothing is ever easy for Oliver Queen. Nothing. Adrian won't tell him where William is, and he even suggests that he killed the boy, just to try to get Oliver to kill him (and thus everyone) too.

Ultimately, Adrian ends up escaping (because of course he does), and Oliver sends everyone to rejoin the rest of the team while he runs after Adrian. The team finds out pretty quickly that they are hosed, though, because Adrian sabotaged the plane, so it isn't going anywhere.

That freaking smirk! Josh Segarra, you are so good at making us hate you!

William is on the boat of course, and Adrian has one final card to play. Kill Chase, OR Chase will kill Oliver's son. Of course this was Adrian's plan all along: make Oliver make the impossible choice between his entire team or Oliver's son.

Jerk.

Okay, time for this jerk to die. Srsly. 

Oliver almost had his cake and eat it too. He manages a trick shot of an arrow that hits Adrian's foot and makes him let go of William, so Oliver grabs the boy. But our hero is not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, not to mention the fact he was in the process of freaking out about his son. So he fails to shove William behind him and then smack Adrian upside the head and knock him out, which would have been the obvious solution. Instead, he stands there shouting at Chase, while Chase plays his final final ace.

It's like the 4th of July up in here...

OMG the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers! Who will live? Who will die? Is Oliver a single dad now?

Unfortunately, some of the suspense was killed by the recent announcement that Dinah and Rene are still series regulars in season six. Thanks, CW! Also, the showrunners have explicitly stated that Thea Queen will not be killed off, ever. So there's three right there that you know survived!

Still, in my opinion, the combination of excellent writing, amazing acting (Stephen Amell has come so far since season one, he was brilliant here), and gorgeous fight choreography, really made this the CW's best superhero finale this year, hands down. And really, looking back on the whole season, despite a few duds here and there, Arrow had the overall best season period this year.

We won't know until October how anyone on Team Arrow survives (if you want my opinion, Slade saves all or most of them by taking them underground to the ARGUS bunker). I have my doubts that Samantha, William's mother, survives. But even if she does, William now knows that his dad is the freaking Green Arrow, so there's that to look forward to next season.

I'm also loving the return of gruff, cool Slade Wilson as an ally of Oliver's. I kind of really hated him in season two when he was basically the villain out of Days of Our Lives (like literally, in a suit with an eyepatch), and Manu Bennett is on record as saying he didn't care for the way Slade was written in season two either. I expect that Slade will disappear to find his own son, but that we can expect him back for cameos. I like the idea of a somewhat enigmatic antihero Slade Wilson at large.

Besides Nyssa and Thalia not having enough screentime together, my only complaint is that Moira Queen didn't have as much screentime either as I would have liked. But Susanna Thompson was still heartbreaking and fabulous as Oliver's mother when she receives that phone call from him as he is leaving the island. I love her so much.

I almost quit watching Arrow after the trainwreck that was season four, but I'm glad I stuck with it. The showrunners and writers really stepped it up a notch, and it was worth it.

What did you think of the finale? Let us know in the comments!

See you in the fall, everyone!


Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good.


Staggering across the "Finish Line," - The Flash Season Three Finale

Whew! I don't know about you guys, but after this season of The Flash, I am exhausted! I feel like I ran a marathon and I'm just now staggering across the "Finish Line," which not incidentally, is the name of the season three finale.

So let's wrap up The Flash, and now that you've seen the finale (or read about it here), also be sure to head on over to check me out as I step up on my soapbox about superheroes never getting a happy ending, and how that trope kills the marginalized.

But first... the finale.

Spoilers beyond the fold.


"Finish Line" doesn't leave us guessing on the fate of Iris West for long. I'll be honest: while I didn't really think they would kill her off, there was a part of me that had my doubts. Call it the cynic in me, because as I noted in my soapbox piece, the trope about superheroes never getting a happy ending usually results in women and people of color being killed off. Iris is both of these, so she was in danger of falling into the trap of this trope.

Thankfully, the Berlantiverse may have learned from the fan rage after Arrow killed off Katie Cassidy's Canary last season. As we learn immediately, HR used his Earth-19 face magic thingie to turn himself into Iris. We actually see a flashback of him using the piece of Savitar's armor to find the secret lair, turn himself into Iris and Iris into himself, and then Savitar recapturing "Iris." So when Savitar gets stabby, he's actually stabbing HR.

No, HR. You are not a coward.

HR has not, by any means, been my favorite Wells. But I admit to feeling sadness at his fate, if only because he proved that he loved this team and that he had a hero's heart all along, even though he scanned as a coward for a good part of the season. However, I am perfectly ready for Tom Cavanagh to come back next season as an all new Wells. Or maybe just return to Harry from Earth-2, since it appears Harry will be sticking around for a bit after this episode. Also, I'd like to point out that this sort of falls into that whole annoying "no happy endings allowed!" trope I'm going on about today. HR and Tracy had just fallen in love, so it seems kind of crappy to rip them apart.

But anyway, Savitar prevents Killer Frost from killing Cisco, because he needs Cisco to go all sciencey and modify the speedforce cannon. Back at base, Barry remembers that Leonard Snart told him that the key to defeating Savitar once and for all is for Barry to not stoop to Savitar's level and to always remain the hero. Thus, Barry calls for Savitar to meet up with him, and offers him the chance to be saved from the impending time anomaly that will result in Savitar's being erased from existence, since HR effectively managed to change the course of time by saving Iris.

Yeah baby, caress my burns...

Despite apparently being touched by Iris' kindness, Savitar/Evil!Barry doesn't really buy into it. This scene is notable only for the fact that Devoe, aka The Thinker, is name dropped for the second time this season. So, definitely the big bad for season 4. Thank Dog it's not another speedster!

Also of note here, Julian appears after being absent for a while, and reveals that he and Caitlin's mom developed a gene therapy cure to bring Caitlin back for good as the non-meta she's always wanted to be. This was actually the moment that I knew we wouldn't be getting human Caitlin back and that we were most likely looking at Frost (aka, the metahuman that isn't evil like Killer Frost). I'm actually quite happy about this, because I never accepted the narrative that Caitlin was incapable of both being a hero and a metahuman. The idea that cold powers make you cold inside is silly.

Guys! I made a thing!

Anyway, Savitar knows that time is catching up with him, so he makes Cisco modify the speedforce canon to do some major pseudo-science technobabble-laced nonsense. Something about splitting Savitar into an infinite number of himself, so that he can exist in every moment in time and truly be a god, and truly be above time anomalies and other such banal concerns. Whatever. I can't believe Evil!Barry fell for the idea that Cisco might actually help him do something like that.  When Savitar uses the speedforce canon, it instead somehow pops Jay Garrick out of the speedforce prison, along with more technobabble nonsense about how that happened. Reversing polarities on something or other is a Star Trek thing, guys! Get your own technobabble!

Also of note: Gypsy showed up to save Cisco's life, because he somehow vibed his distressed across the multiverse. They make a cute couple, not gonna lie.

After Garrick pops out of the prison, what follows is a pretty awesome CGI sequence that suggests the CW has been investing money in this show. Savitar getting chased by Barry, Wally, and Jay is a really cool sequence, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the episode. It was over way too quickly.

No foolin', one of the coolest fight scenes I've seen on this show, ever

When this chase is over, Barry and Savitar face off, and Barry has had it! He, much like the audience, is sick of it all. He does a really cool move where he races and phases into the Savitar armor, shoving Evil!Barry right out of it. The armor actually changes color, and if you want my opinion, it looks a lot more menacing when Good!Barry is in it. Also, cooler.

I'm not actually sure how the hell this happened, but it was super cool. 

Barry ultimately shatters the armor and lets his evil remnant live, because the time anomaly is about to finally catch up and erase him anyway. Evil!Barry knows his time is up, so he makes one last push to get his vengeance: his bumrushes Barry, who like an idiot had his back turned.

Then the show's real hero shows up.

That's right, bitches. The real badass has been hidden in plain sight the whoooole time

Iris, honey, if you could do this all along, why the hell haven't you been your own hero?

Not gonna lie, it was really satisfying for Iris to be the one to save Barry, for once. Interestingly, they don't bother with any emotional fallout for Iris, considering she just shot a version of him in the back. Back at the apartment after he's just delivered their save-the-date notices, Barry asks her if she's okay with what she just did. Iris says she's sure it will hit her later. But for the moment, she's totally fine. She has zero angst about killing, despite the fact that Barry has wrestled with this moral question time and again for all three seasons.

For just a glimmering moment in time, we had a version of Iris that wasn't a helpless victim. It was nice, and I really want to see more of it. I have always lamented that the really badass version of her is the cop Iris on Earth-2, and she seemed to embody that doppelganger here. Can we keep her? Please?

Happily, not only did a black woman not get fridged for a white man's journey through mainpain (a rare occurrence, to be sure), but she was also given the opportunity to be a hero.

Caitlin has become someone else... something else (#sorrynotsorry)

Caitlin has decided not to use Julian's gene therapy to become non-meta. She gives it back to him, and says that she needs time to figure out who she is now. For the moment, she has exited off of Team Flash, but I doubt she will be gone for long. Like I said earlier, I'm pretty giddy about having Frost now, so I'm looking forward to her return.

So, all's well that ends well, right?

Oh, sweet summer child.

Of course not! This here is a superhero story, and remember... superheroes can never be happy! There are no happy endings! Thus, when Iris and Barry are trying to settle down and think about wedding stuff, the speedforce erupts into Central City, because the forced expelling of Jay Garrick out of the speedforce prison means there's an imbalance in the Force, or something. No one took Jay's place, so the gaping hole means the speedforce is going to wreck Central City in return.

Barry accepts his fate: he created this problem when he created Flashpoint, so now he must pay the price. Of course, that means Iris pays the price as well.

I'm not cryin', you're... oh hell, fine, I'm cryin'

The romantic in me cried, but the rest of me was pretty angry. Once again, trumped-up drama is used to deny a happy ending. Never mind Barry, none of this is fair to Iris, who apparently must also pay the price for Barry's boneheaded decisions.

I mean, I know, and you know, and everyone knows, that Grant Gustin is way too popular to be exited off this show. So look for Barry to come back in episode one of season four, or episode two TOPS. I would be really surprised if they dragged this on any further than that.

But until then, Kid Flash, Harry Wells, Cisco, Joe, Iris, and possibly Tracy will have to be the Team Flash that keeps Central City in one piece.

A Mark Twain quote seems particularly appropriate for HR

Thanks for sticking with Critical Writ for your Arrowverse reviews, and tune in tomorrow for Arrow season five's finale. Iris West wasn't fridged, so here's hoping Felicity Smoak won't be either.

See you in the fall for The Flash's return.


Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good.

No Happy Endings: The Trope That Kills The Marginalized

We need to have a serious discussion about an annoying superhero trope that never seems to go away (but needs to). So excuse me for a moment while I step up on my soapbox, and let's discuss how superheroes are never allowed to live happily ever after.

(Spoilers for Supergirl season two and finale, The Flash season three (including the 5/23 finale), Arrow season five)








Mon-El, I'm sorry, I'm the star of the show, I have to stay single, so you're going to have to go away or die. 

Recently, on a Facebook post regarding Arrow, a friend posted that he thought Felicity was going to die in the season five finale of the show (which airs on 5/24/17). When I asked him why he felt that way, he said the show has taken to ramping up Ollicity (the Oliver Queen + Felicity Smoak romance) again, despite the fact that their engagement was broken up back in season four, for suspect reasons. I replied: "well maybe they [the writers] are actually just getting Ollicity back together." He sounded surprised in his response when he said "yeah sure, that would be cool. They are cute together."

That conversation took place last week, but my brain has been mulling it over and over since then, made worse by the fact that the day before it took place, The Flash had apparently just killed Iris West for realsies (but not really, as we discovered during the finale on 5/23. But we have been treated to the sight of a black woman getting stabbed throughout this season). But what caused me to write about this was Supergirl's season finale, where Kara has to choose to either save Earth or keep Mon-El, her apparent true love. When I stopped crying, I started getting mad.

Make love to me now, Tony, because I won't be in the next film. 

The idea that superheroes (or heroes in general, regardless of the genreneed to stay singleor otherwise sacrifice their love to the greater goodis an old one. In fact, Superheroes Stay Single is the name of the trope, because it happens so often. Batman always has a new love interest; Deadpool seemed super in love with Vanessa, and yet for Deadpool 2 it appears Domino is the new lover; Iron Man 3 suggests Tony and Pepper have turned a corner, but the latter has left the former for some reason by the time Captain America: Civil War rolls aroundand I've already mentioned all three of the CW's powerhouse superhero shows and what they appear to be doing. Nor is it only a trope for the superhero genre: Bond always has a new Bond girl (and both of the times he's ready to settle down with her, she ends up dying, of course. If you're curious about the Bond films in particular, those are On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Casino Royale).

Pick your favorite series, whether on TV or in film, and tell me if this hasn't been done a thousand times before.

Mother always told me to never become a Bond girl. I should have listened. 

There are definitely a lot of fans out there that will be glad that Mon-El is exiting Supergirl, and there is a huge subset of the Arrowverse fandom that would be very pleased if Iris had actually died or if Felicity gets a surprise funeral in the finale. And I'm not suggesting that heroes must be married or have happy endings. Realistically, people die; evil people can and will use loved ones against the good guys; and not everyone gets a happy ending, even in real life.

Plus, it's not like Mon-El was the perfect boyfriend: he started out as the quintessential dudebro with little respect for women. But by the end of season two, he'd quieted down quite a bit, decided that he wanted to be a better man for Kara, and had learned to respect the fact that she was the strength of their relationship. Still, I was not heavily invested in their long-term romance. Before the finale, I didn't really care one way or the other.

So why was I so upset when the finale ended with Kara poisoning Earth against Daxamites? I mean, shouldn't I be focused on the fact that Alex asked Maggie to marry her, or that J'onn and M'gann were together again? Well, I am happy about those, with a caveat (which I will discuss below), but I also felt it deeply unfair to Kara to have literally everyone around her happy and in love, while she was the only one that had to make a sacrifice. The romantic in me wept. But there's more to this.

Avaunt! Into the refrigerator with thee, Iris! 

This is Critical Writ so it shouldn't surprise that my dislike of the "Superheroes Stay Single" trope has something to do with feminism, and to a wider degree, progressive ideals. See, here's the thing about this trope: it disproportionately affects women, people of color, and gay love interests.

Every goddamn time a hero has to emanate manpain and thus "grow" as a person, 97% of the time it means that a woman has to be fridged. And it's pretty much 100% of the time if it's an LGBT relationship (Maggie, you might consider rejecting Alex's proposal and running for the hills instead, just sayin'). The dead gay lover trope is so common, it has it's own entry on tvtropes: Bury Your Gays.

It's worth noting that the Bury Your Gays trope was born out of a need for censorship on American tv. In order to get past decency standards, queer characters had to be either straight and married, or dead, by the end of the story. The fact that Bury Your Gays is still so pervasive today makes that all kinds of gross. And it's understandable why the LGBT community freaks out when their characters get killed off.

Marry you? LOL nope, I choose life lol...

Even when a love interest isn't killed off completely, they end up getting shoved off screen: Pepper Potts has been disappeared out of the MCU, Paul divorces Curtis on Arrow because of the Mr. Terrific gig, Patty had a very strange and awkward exit off of The Flash in season two. But I don't possibly have the space here to list even a fraction of all the women and gay love interests who have been killed off, time and again, throughout the superhero, sci-fiction, and fantasy genres.

The romantic in me wept for Kara's pain during the finale, but later I was angry because they didn't kill Mon-El. At the end, he gets sucked into a wormhole, and ladies and gentlemen, this here is comics... the door is wide open for him to return later, miraculously able to deal with the lead in Earth's atmosphere. But of course he didn't die: he was a handsome white male. If racebent Jimmy Olsen had been Kara's true love this season, would he have died? Probably, because people of color of all genders also get fridged in the romantic narrative, especially if they are dating a white person. Also, black characters in Hollywood die a lot, whether they are romantic interests or not.

Ultimately, women, people of color, and LGBT partners are all disposable. What's worse is that we in the West are so conditioned by the constant fridging of these characters, that we can predict when it's going to happen, and even expect it (like my friend and Arrow). We joke about the "black guy dying first" in every movie. And the LGBTQ+ community is understandably wary and tired of seeing their already meager on-screen representation thinned out even more in the name of drama.

This is my 'I'm sooo happy I didn't date Kara in season 2' face....

As a fantasy fiction writer, I've caught myself almost falling into the same pattern. It's so easy to create instant drama by killing off a loved one. Here I am, a feminist writer, and yet I was about to commit that most egregious of sins: I was prepared to kill off a loving wife and woman of color just to create manpain in my hero. Instead, I've opted to develop my hero and his family in another way. Because you know, it's fiction, and I can do that. I literally make this stuff up.

Here's the thing though: killing off a loved one isn't the only way to create drama and conflict. Evil people may threaten the life of a hero's loved one and I don't have a problem with that concept. But why must a character suffer the death of a loved one in order to grow? And why does a woman and/or a gay partner usually have to suffer a death in order for someone else to grow as a person? We already don't have enough women, people of color, and LGBT represented in TV and film. And yet when we get them, they are often the first to be offered as sacrificial lambs on the altar of drama.

They don't have to be. It wasn't necessary to shoot Lexa in front of her lover in The 100, even though the actress was exiting off the show for career reasons. It wasn't necessary to kill Abby on Sleepy Hollow, which was really a dick move on the part of the showrunners anyway. It's not necessary to kill Iris (seriously, how many people does Barry have to lose to prove he has the heart of a hero? He had both parents killed right in front of him, and he is still good and pure).

Mon-El will likely be back at some point, if only for a cameo, and if only because he's a charming white guy. But if Iris West had been killed, I would probably have abandoned The Flash, because she's one of the only women of color in current superhero visual media. And if my friend is right and Arrow unexpectedly kills off Felicity, then yeah, I'm done with you. Sorry, but fridging Felicity would be one brooding bridge too far, Arrow. I'm still not over the way you treated Katie Cassidy and her Black Canary.

Hello? Yes, I'd like to report a possible fridging in progress. Please send help right away!

There are so many ways for writers to create drama and develop characters, and yet so many writers fall into the trap of taking the easy way out. I am calling out to the writers of shows across all genres on TV and in the movies: think of another way. Don't kill women and gay characters just to create pain. Creating pain is easy. Providing traditionally marginalized people with on-screen representations they can admire and look up to and not watch die? Apparently not easy, even in 2017.

Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good.