There are a lot of great lines in Wonder Woman and you might think that I would pick, “I am the man who can.” It’s a great line, too. But there is one that is far better. It doesn’t really look like it is at first, but under the surface of this line, there is a lot of meaning. The best quote from Wonder Woman is, “No. But it’s what I’m going to do.” How powerful.
The quote is from Diana to Steve after he tells her that she can’t save everyone and that it wasn’t what they came there to do. Yeah, I know that I didn’t come here to do that, but I’m going to do it anyways. That’s what she basically said. And she did and in doing so inspired all the men around her because she didn’t let Steve tell her what she could or could not do.
How many times in our lives have we been told we can’t do something? Women, especially, hear that being said to them more than men. This line reminds us that we can do what we want. And hopefully, it inspires a new generation of women.
Actually, I think it already has, and not just the women. Patty Jenkins, the Director of Wonder Woman sent out a tweet of a picture that she received. It was a listing of kindergarten reactions to the movie. The movie had an impact on both boys and girls. From a boy saying he wanted to replace his Iron Man lunchbox with a Wonder Woman lunchbox to a girl telling her teacher that the movie was better than Frozen.
Now that’s an inspiration. What does this quote inspire you to write? Do you have a different best quote from Wonder Woman?
I mentioned in passing to my mum at my dad’s funeral in February that when I visit Dubai I am going to go on the zipwire across the bay … I’m usually non adventurous when it comes to things like that, so her reaction of utter disbelief was not altogether surprising. My thoughts were that, “no, it’s not normally something I would do but I will do it” My inspiration though admittedly came not from Wonder Woman but rather from my late father who used to be very adventurous & would try practically anything – he had an infectious sense of fun and adventure up until 12 years ago when he succombed to dementia. Life is for living was his mantra. No, I may not be adventurous now … but I will be ?
That’s an awesome story. And I love your father’s mantra.
I just saw the movie tonight and absolutely loved it. This is a great quote and you have described it really well. I’m not sure what I am going to do but whatever it is I will now do it with far more gusto than before.
That’s how I feel too.
Haven’t seen Wonder Woman, but it is a great quote!
Don’t be silly Mummy. You must get yourself to Wonder Woman asap.
When I first watched Wonder Woman I thought the movie was okay, nothing special about it; but reading your post and going back and thinking about it, I never noticed the subtext behind her words. Now I’m going to have to watch the movie again ?
I’m glad you’re going back to take a second look. There is a lot of subtext throughout the entire movie. An action movie filmed by a woman director with a mostly female cast of woman warriors. At no time is that woman put into a corner (oh, they tried a couple of times and she destroyed the corner.) But the beauty of it is that she doesn’t know she is destroying gender roles because there are no gender roles on the island she comes from. So to Wonder Woman, being herself, being in charge is a normal, everyday occurrence. It’s what she expects. (And don’t forget having Robin Wright, the Princess Bride who waited to be rescued as the Amazon Warrior General who does the rescuing.) There are a lot of feminists for and against the movie, but when is the last time you saw a movie in which the female heroine was so sure of herself that what other people thought of her didn’t matter one bit?