There's been a lot of noise about Alamo Drafthouse's Women Only screening of Wonder Woman. It's the same noise I've seen around comic book shop's Ladies Night (we even got some of that noise when we started ours.) Men yell about why they don't get a Men's Only showing of _____ and _____, not realizing that most of the media is catered towards men and they don't have to fight for representation like women do.
I deal with a lot of it. It's old news for me. Creating women centered content means I hear and see a lot of the same argument and it's tiring and boring.
You can't yell equal treatment when the minority is still struggling to be on par. You raise them up and yes, that means sometimes "special treatment" until they no longer need the help and are in fact equal.
But that's another rant for another time.
When I saw our local Alamo was doing a Women's Only screening, I immediately bought tickets. This was before the movie even came out. I was so excited. It's a rare occurrence for their to be a women focused event that I'm NOT involved in and I was going to be there no matter what.
Men started complaining, of course, but I didn't care. We were seeing the movie June 1st, doing our Art of Wonder Woman gallery June 2nd, and Wonder Woman Day was happening June 3rd. Everything was Wonder Woman.
I dressed up, met my friends at the theater, splurged on a ton of food, and then cried through the whole movie.
I cried when you see the Amazons for the first time. The diversity! So many women of color and different body shapes and Robin Wright and baby Diana and my heart burst. The world of Themyscira was amazing and colorful and beautiful and dear god can we get a whole movie just showing life there? Please?!
I laughed and cried some more and sobbed when Diana crossed No Man's Land. The only thing I could think was "That's Wonder Woman. That's her and she's amazing and everything I could have hoped for."
I loved the movie. It wasn't perfect but it set the bar high for me. I felt inspired and amazing and confident and empowered. This was a movie about Diana, about her coming into her own, not just about her defeating a bad guy. It's her story rather than a story about defeating evil.
She's a woman that is confident in her sexuality and love and hope for mankind and strength. She's amazed at her own abilities but doesn't doubt herself. She sees wrong and cannot just stand by even when everyone tells her it cannot be done. She is kind and never talks down the people around her even when she knows she stronger than them.
Yesterday, was the Women's Only showing of Wonder Woman. I had been itching to watch the movie again, but this was the best way to see it. I noticed a couple days before though, that the listing wasn't on the website anymore.
I panicked. They better not have canceled it.
I checked again. Nothing. I called. It was still happening but was sold out.
Alamo had taken the listing off the website. We showed up and they had our tickets in an envelope behind the counter. Sneaky. My best bet was this was to avoid people showing up and making a ruckus. If it's not listed anywhere and not advertised, they don't know where to go and what time.
In the lobby, they had a Rosie the Riveter style backdrop up, a Wonder Woman cosplayer who was perfect, and a tiara, bracelet, lasso set for people to take pictures with. At the showing door, some staff stood outside, most likely to make sure guys didn't enter.
They had Wonder Woman slap bracelets on every seat. They were so nice and sparkly! We tried to find more after the showing, but they said they didn't have extras. Oh well. The staff was all women. A host from Texas Tech that does their Sexism in Cinema series came out before hand and talked about Wonder Woman and the history it was making. Me and my friend Alex that came with me pigged out on ALL the food. It was a glorious night.
It's amazing what happens when you get a ton of women together. They let loose and relax. A lot of them laugh and ooh and cheer at the same moments, more so than at a regular screening. Subtle looks Diana would give at being talked over or being called just "a woman" rather than her name erupted in jeers. There were laughs and tears I could hear the theater go silent during No Man's Land at the sheer glory of it.
The whole thing was amazing. Afterwards, women chatted with each other and told each other their opinions and what they were excited about. Everyone seemed so pumped! A group of women made a pyramid to take a picture, fully in tiara and sword. We all cheered them on. We ran into a friend and stole the tiara to take pictures then ran into the photobooth to take more pictures. We talked to a couple of girls who were sitting a few seats away.
I can't even begin describing the feeling. I didn't feel shy or nervous talking to these random strangers and cheering girls on we didn't know. We were all riding the feeling of the night and the comradery of having seen a movie made for us, about us, with our point of view.
Wonder Woman is not a perfect movie, but it's a start. Women have waited so long for a hero that doesn't come from sexual violence or tragedy, but one made in hope and love who just wants a better world. I'm excited to see what happens in the future and excited for more Wonder Woman.
We're just getting started.
-Sam <3