Wonder Woman: a love letter to my childhood

DISCLAIMER: I just found this post in my draft folder. It's a little out of date, but I think it's worth sharing.

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I just got out of the theater, where I saw Wonder Woman for the first time. On the big screen that is, as the star of her own movie, I mean.

I'm a little drained, emotionally, as I usually am after a big movie. But I have some thoughts I need to share.

I'm a fan of anything super hero related. When I was young and first got into comics, I imagined movies bringing my favorite characters to life, and I couldn't wait.

As those movies started appearing, I hit the theater with an open mind and my heart on my sleeve. I loved them, almost every one. I'll admit I had to forgive things here and there—little things, in some movies, entire plot lines in others—but I always found the good in them and felt grateful that my heroes were coming to life in some way. I even found positive things to say to say about Batman V Superman because I want so desperately to love these movies. I'll forgive a lot to see the characters who meant so much to my childhood, and who mean so much more now that I'm an adult and fighting the lack of belief that can weigh us down, thanks to the weight of age and years of reality.

Then along came Wonder Wonder.

This movie should have been made many, many years ago. Wonder Woman was one of the originals, an anchor of DC's lineup of stars, one of the oldest of a long and loved pantheon of heroes. Batman and Superman, the other most recognizable DC heroes, have each had several different versions of their own movies, as the studios tried time and again to get it just right. Sometimes they hit pretty close to the mark, sometimes not so much, but every time they made money, so they kept trying.

If I'm being honest with myself, I know that the reason they never gave Wonder Woman a shot had more than a little to do with her gender. Big-budget Hollywood can be sexist at times. I know, shocking. But I'd rather believe the reason they waited until now was because they wanted to make sure they'd made all the mistakes and gotten all the trial and error out of the way on the DC boys. They wanted to make sure that when they finally brought Wonder Woman to the big screen, she'd be everything her her fans wanted, and more.

I can honestly say, wholeheartedly, that it was worth the wait.

For the first time, I don't have to forgive anything, not a cheesy line, not a strange costume, not a single blessed thing. This movie is everything I've ever wanted from a super hero movie. It is perfect.

If you don't know a lot about Wonder Woman, go see this movie and fall in love for the first time. If you're a diehard fan, go try your best to hold back your tears of joy. For a minute. Then let go and let them flow. You've been waiting all these years, after all. For a couple hours, let the kid you used to be watch a wish come true. Witness the wonder of a hero who sees the best in all of us, a hero who loves the world no matter how dark and ugly it gets. A hero who brings hope when we need it most.

We could all use hope right now. And we could all stand to remember what it felt like to be a kid.