Simply put, it's the one time in the history of mainstream entertainment (as far as I know), when everything came together. A beautiful woman playing a sexy superheroine was knocked out, tied up, or put in peril in practically every other episode... And it happened on broadcast television.
There is an almost shameless eroticism in Wonder Woman that is completely lacking in most superheroine films today, even (perhaps especially) those that have been made specifically for the superheroine peril crowd. Which is kind of odd, because the show was made in the 70's, and seemingly for a broad audience. By the standards of 2015, the show is spectacularly innocent, with nary a scene of violence or explicit sexuality. Yet you will rarely find a superheroine peril fan who will not attest to the life changing pleasures of watching Lynda Carter being chloroformed in "Fausta, the Nazi Wonder Woman," or gassed and rendered unconscious in "Baroness Von Gunther."
There's thus a tension in the show. On one hand, it is an innocuous, often cute saga of a feminist icon beating up Nazis (usually by, err, throwing them). On the other hand, it is a strange fantasia of deviant sexuality, with wonderfully juicy scenes of bondage, humiliation, de-powerment, and struggle-- of a superheroine being put in peril.
I think it's this very opposition which gives the show its thrills-- a sort of excitement that could never be captured by a producer making stuff exclusively for the peril set. You get a little tingle of surprise watching "Wonder Woman"... A weird sense that something dangerous is really happening. The show was designed to show a superheroine being super: so how come she is so often made, well, not super? Was there something about Lynda that just FORCED writers to put her in perilous situations? Wonder Woman can lift cars. Wonder Woman can beat up men. Wonder Woman can deflect bullets. So how come Wonder Woman can be rendered powerless so easily?
Fight fans may scoff. And it's true that she was never "beaten up." But that was mainly because, at a certain point, beating up the poor lady would be pointless. When Wonder Woman is beltless, or under the spell of chloroform, she is, as pointed out in "The Bushwackers," only as strong as a normal woman. On TV in the 70s, this means she's pretty damn weak. Therefore, when Wonder Woman is defeated on her own show, she's hardly even a superheroine: just a damsel in distress.
It's the transition from mighty hero to damsel... That's the point. That's why we care. No other superheroine made that transition quite like Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman. There were other heroines before her, sure. Yvonne Craig as Batgirl had her share of obsession-worthy perilous encounters (I'm especially a fan of the classic "Cat's Whiskers"). But Batgirl was always just that-- a girl, and a knockoff of another hero-- so when she was defeated, it never quite registered the same way as "Fausta." (At least for one person...)
Since Wonder Woman, there hasn't been anything quite like it. The closest superheroine peril fans ever came to a mainstream show of its caliber was "Black Scorpion," which was definitely heavy on sexy knockouts, and placed a emphasis on the heroine losing in combat that "Wonder Woman" could never had. But that show really only pretended at the kind of campy, perilous delights that "Wonder Woman" reveled in. I mean, it didn't even have chloroform, for crying out loud!
This blog will be dedicated to reviewing the most perilous Wonder Woman episodes. If I can captured in words at all the experience of watching Lynda being tied up, I will count it as a success. If not, well, you know what to do.
WW is so erotic, I love her when she is under the chloroform
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ReplyDeleteI think that's one of the real thrills of this this version of the character. Wonder Woman has gone though many changes since the World War era, but the version used in this show, and the corresponding Golden Era comic's kink has her superheroine status constantly in peril, as much as her body remains in peril.
ReplyDeleteWonder Woman in the series is constantly on a thin lifeline, almost as perilous as a deep sea diver on the end of a long air hose, that can be snipped on her at any time. She has no real offensive weapons other than the edged tiara; only until the newer comic versions and movies, she's using a sword and shield, which befits her Amazon backdrop. We can at least say that with her lasso, Diana can always use the truth as her weapon.
In this series, she seems to be more about peaceful pacifism...defend things in the name of peace if needed, but given the perilous situation of her skimpy costume, and the limits of her strength and defenses, surrender or defeat seems to be at least as practical for her.
There's a point of no return for Diana in the span of the show's timeline that should have been plainly illustrated: Once prominent enemies such as Nazis know her weaknesses, word would spread like wildfire to any of Diana's potential foes. If anything, the series should have set an ever-increasing theme of helplessness for her, that led to worse and worse defeats and captivity.
While it represents the costume of a champion, the wearer of the Wonder Woman getup is actually sexualized by it. People who don't know the full story behind the character origin can get offended if Diana's dark history, at least gray history, is brought up.
But with the real woman who was the influence for the character, Wonder Woman's outfit is made for bondage and submission, and even more so, meant for a woman who is a willing subject of bondage and submission.
Lynda Carter wears the classic Wonder Woman style of the costume. A very shapely corset. Her breasts displayed in gold, the very large, fullback and starred briefs stretched so pleasantly over her hips and buttocks. Her feminine gait and posture are only enhanced by her high-heeled Go-go boots. Her bracelets, that in Amazon lore, are worn to constantly remind Diana and her island sisters of their past enslavement. A magical belt that can be removed, and instantly de-power her at any moment. With a susceptibility to chloroform, her own lasso can be used against her, urging her to reveal her most dangerous weakness, in admitting without the belt, Diana is completely helpless.
To be blunt, Diana in her costume is a proudly walking tits and ass show with intonations of slavery. You would have to think that, being sent into man's world with such limiting rules, that defeat and submission is always there; lurking in the back of her mind, like a furious itch she desperately needs to scratch. The Wonder Woman fan peril, adult movies that showcase this nature of Diana is the very best example of the genre, IMHO.
In the 2017 movie Professor Marston & The Wonder Women, this is shown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTECNHMm0vU
An alleged superheroine that's in such constant danger of her next and practically inevitable defeat is probably even more desirable and interesting as a character, rather than a bimbo type that's going to effectively function as a 'jobber' every time she steps outside in the outfit. She truly is Defeated Diana, and this is why the show affected many of us, and still does, decades later.