January 12, 2012

Lessons from Wonder Woman

Earlier this week I posted about the lessons I learned from my youngest daughter's first grade basketball game. Then, last night, my oldest daughter asked me to sit down and watch Wonder Woman with her. My daughter has been obsessed with superheroes, particularly Wonder Woman, since a very early age.

Source: Wikipedia
This past weekend I found Season One of the Lynda Carter television series, Wonder Woman. I was so excited to share it with my daughter. We sat down for some mom-daughter bonding and watched it.

I was struck by several things:

* Lynda Carter is gorgeous. Still is, actually, if you've seen an updated picture of her. She's a classic movie star beauty, in the same category as Natalie Wood, Doris Day, and Grace Kelley. These actresses were before my time, but I'm grateful for a mother who shared their movies with me.

* The television series is cheesy and flimsy. Really, Diana Prince is somehow in military intelligence and glasses alone keep Major Steve Trevor from figuring out who she really is. Then again, Clark Kent only hid behind glasses while surrounded by reporters. Yet my daughter loved it like I loved it. Good, clean fun.

* I get that it was campy, but I was offended by how lightly they took World War II and the Nazis. Everything was so glossed over and softened. I would rather them have made up a fictitious war than used the real thing. I never noticed this as a kid.

* In the late 1970s, woman had real bodies. At first, I found myself gawking at the size of the women. But they were gorgeous and, well, round like a woman should be. It's a shame that my daughters are growing up in a generation that thinks Angelina Jolie is the epitome of beauty. A strong wind could blow her away.

A blogger friend* recently wrote a wonderful post: Nostalgia Ain't What It's Cracked Up to Be. She nailed it. We think the "good old days" were so much better. They really weren't. They just remind us of our youth and what made us happy. But we also have to remember we looked at these events through inexperienced eyes.

I watched my daughter soaking in the fun of Wonder Woman. I knew she'd remember it as time with mom. When she grows up, she'll drag out things from her youth to bond with her child. I hope I'm around to enjoy the moment with them.

Do you ever watch shows or movies from your youth and end up amazed by your adult reaction?

*If you haven't had a chance to check out Ramblin' with AM, please do.

5 comments:

ShaunaKelleyWrites said...

Great post! I am always struck in watching older. Lives how fast the cultural norm of tiny, tiny bodies as beautiful came into place.

Anonymous said...

I always think the classic movie era was a great time for women. You had thin gals like Audrey Hepburn and voluptuous ones like Sophia Loren. THAT's what I want to see - a range of women who are beautiful in their own way.

I loved Wonder Woman as a kid. What I never did understand, however, is why any woman would fight crime in a strapless suit with high-heeled boots. Clearly, that superhero was drawn by a man!

GmrGirl said...

I'd fight super villains in high heels and a strapless suit! "check it out bad guys! Not only were you beat by a GIRL you were beat by a girl with a handicap (lets see YOU fight in heels), a manicure and fabulous hair!"

That is my dream costume one year. To be able to be built enough to say "I can wear a wonder woman costume! Now everyone will know how I feel some days" :D

Thanks for the smile :D

Unknown said...

I *loved* Wonder Woman when I was little. I even had Wonder Woman Underoos. LOL!

Tia Bach said...

Shauna, Thanks, and I so agree.

Julie, You are so right. But then we could blame a woman for butting the Man of Steel in skintight elastic. ;-)

GmrGirl, I'm so laughing!

Melissa, If I could have found WW underwear for my daughter a few years ago, she would have been beside herself. But as a 6th grader...

Thanks everyone for your comments!