The row over James Cameron’s dismissive remarks about Patty Jenkins’s global blockbuster Wonder Woman continues. This time, it’s the turn of Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the American television series in the 1970s, to speak out against the Avatar director.
Carter, who played the role between 1975 and 1979, called Cameron’s criticism of the Gal Gadot movie “thuggish” and “ill advised”.
In August, Cameron had told The Guardian that the film was “nothing groundbreaking”, and that it objectified the titular character. Jenkins had responded to Cameron stating that his inability to understand her film did not surprise her.
The director reiterated his comments in an interview to The Hollywood Reporter, maintaining that Sarah Connor from his Terminator franchise was a better female protagonist because she “wasn’t there to be liked or ogled, but she was central, and the audience loved her by the end of the film”.
Carter responded to Cameron’s comments with a Facebook post: “You poor soul. Perhaps you do not understand the character. I most certainly do. Like all women–we are more than the sum of our parts. Your thuggish jabs at a brilliant director, Patty Jenkins, are ill advised. This movie was spot on. Gal Gadot was great. I know, Mr. Cameron–because I have embodied this character for more than 40 years.”
Earning over $816 million worldwide, Wonder Woman is the first studio superhero film to be directed by a woman.