Professor Marston and the Wonder Women 2017
It seems like I remember this movie getting generally lukewarm reviews, but it has a pretty solid 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an above average 68 on Metacritic, so I thought it would be worth watching. It is a little underwhelming. Set in the 1920’s, Marston is a psychology professor at Harvard when he and his wife proposition a female undergraduate teaching assistant. There is a lot of ick factor in all of that, then and now. Throw in some kinky imagery and eventually a rope-wielding dominatrix version of Wonder Woman is invented. It is interesting but it is as intentionally titillating as anything, so it’s kind of like we are being sold some kind of softcore vintage pornography. Luke Evans (Welsh, playing an American) is barely okay in his role (he does not seem like a professor), but Bella Heathcote as the young target struggles with an American accent (she is Australian). Rebecca Hall as Mrs. Marsten is good, but her character never has much emotion as a participant in this love triangle that goes on for years and produces children. Neither the writing or acting really makes this seem like anything that believable and the directing fails to bring any of it to life. Tossed out of academia, Marston supposedly makes money writing Wonder Woman for a few years at the end of the movie, though again it seems unlikely that writing comics paid many bills. They never really explore the character or franchise he creates other than some negative depictions that get him in trouble. Marston’s psychology theories don’t seem to make much sense, though the field was certainly in its early days. The portrayal of teaching consists of writing words in large all capital letters on a chalkboard and then underlining them. That kind of hamfisted approach is taken with pretty much everything. It is still a little interesting and gives you this odd and unlikely story of a character that is still popular today, so probably worth watching for some, but keep expectations low.
Written: 15 Jan 2023