Wonder Woman shattered expectations and broke records, making filmmaker Patty Jenkins the first woman director to gross more than $100 million at the box office. Wonder Woman is also the first film in the DC Extended Universe in a very long time to be certified fresh on Rotton Tomatoes. With all of the success surrounding this superhero flick with a woman at the center, it’s no surprise that it means a lot to a ton of people, including prolific director Ava DuVernay.
With her Academy Award-nominated Netflix documentary 13th, Selma and her forthcoming Disney film A Wrinkle in Time, DuVernay is no stranger to breaking barriers, especially as a Black female director. Recently, at a Queen Sugar event in Los Angeles, DuVernay told EBONY.com that she cried while watching Wonder Woman. She said,
“I saw [Patty Jenkins] last night, and I told her I broke into tears when your name came up. But a few of the things she did. The posse, the guys. Every hero had to have a crew, a squad. His squad had a Native American in it. When they are walking through the train station into battle, I saw Sikhs. Sikh soldiers dressed in the British military regalia, but they were also Sikhs with the appropriate headdress. It was just this attention to detail that was wrapped up in this big, huge superhero thing.”
However, it wasn’t simply Jenkins’ attention to diversity that moved DuVernay to tears; it was also Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, herself. DuVernay explained,
“When you unpack issues of sexuality and gender politics, there is a way to do that with a real intention that is coming from a place of equity that colored the whole thing. It didn’t feel wrong, and if you weren’t looking for it you wouldn’t have even felt it, and if you were looking for it you saw something, and you saw yourself, and that was a beautiful example of what Hollywood can be, and that’s what happens when you let women take care of it.”
Obviously, both DuVernay and Jenkins are doing their part to make sure women continue to have a voice in Hollywood; let’s just hope that everyone else jumps on board soon.
Wonder Woman is currently playing in theaters.
Photo Credit: Getty/ Michael Loccisano
