The famed director doubles down on his criticism of the hit superhero film, saying, 'I'll stand by that,' before noting that the film's not groundbreaking and its star Gal Gadot was overly sexualized.
- Sep 28, 2017
AceShowbiz - He's not backing down! James Cameron doubles down on his criticism of this year's hit superhero film "Wonder Woman" after calling it "a step backwards" for woman in film. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 63-year-old filmmaker says he'll "stand by" his controversial remarks toward its star Gal Gadot, whom he said was overly sexualized.
"I mean, she was Miss Israel, and she was wearing a kind of bustier costume that was very form-fitting," Cameron says, referring to Gadot's Wonder Woman costume in the Patty Jenkins-directed flick. "She's absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. To me, that's not breaking ground. They had Raquel Welch doing stuff like that in the 60s."
The legendary filmmaker adds that he's talking about "Wonder Woman" in the context of Linda Hamilton's portrayal of Sarah Connor in "Terminator 2: Judgement Day", a role in which he says her sexuality was purposefully downplayed.
He says, "It was all in a context of talking about why Sarah Connor - what Linda created in 1991 - was, if not ahead of its time, at least a breakthrough in its time. I don't think it was really ahead of its time because we're still not [giving women these types of roles]."
His latest comments echo his remarks in an interview with The Guardian last month, when he said Gadot's Wonder Woman was "an objectified icon." He said at the time that "all of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood's been doing over 'Wonder Woman' has been so misguided. She's an objectified icon, and it's just male Hollywood doing the same old thing!"
Meanwhile, "Linda looked great. She just wasn't treated as a sex object," the filmmaker tells THR. "There was nothing sexual about her character. It was about angst, it was about will, it was about determination. She was crazy, she was complicated."
"She wasn't there to be liked or ogled, but she was central, and the audience loved her by the end of the film," Cameron continues, adding, "So as much as I applaud Patty directing the film and Hollywood, uh, 'letting' a woman direct a major action franchise, I didn't think there was anything groundbreaking in 'Wonder Woman'."
