Hidden Meanings Behind
the "Wonder Woman" Movie
(Spoilers)
Reviewed by Joy Ramos Davis

Synopsis: Selected by "Conscious Movie Reviews," "Wonder Woman" is an action and adventure drama.  When British spy, Steve Trevor" crash lands on Diana's island home of Themyscira, she learns that World War I is raging in the outside world.  He has to return a notebook to his superiors in London that is evidence of chemical warfare being waged against their Allied forces.  She is bound by her sacred duty to defeat Ares, the War of God, in order to have peace.  While in London and on the battlefront in Belgium, Diana gets a rude awakening about the nature of war waged by man.

Warning: Spoilers within Presentation

Sacred Feminine Power

Welcome to "Conscious Movie Reviews."  I'm your host Joy Davis and here to review the action and adventure movie, "Wonder Woman."

The timing of Wonder Woman's return as a pop culture icon reflects the growing rise of the Sacred Feminine and feminist ideals as the Western world makes a societal shift in consciousness from patriarchy to matriarchy. 

On the isolated island of Themyscira, Princess Diana was raised by her mother, Queen Hippolyta and their multicultural sisterhood of Amazonian women.  Their sacred symbol of a spiral is a reminder to honor the goddess within, interconnectedness to everything, and evolution of the Universe. 

Diana was exposed at a young age to fearless women warriors who served as battle-trained guardians of humankind against Ares, the God of War.  Diana was naturally inclined to join them, despite her mother's protestations, so she secretly trained with her aunt, General Antiope. 

Queen Hippolyta hid her daughter's true identity to keep her from knowing how powerful she truly is.  This is like the quote from Spiritual Activist, Marianne Williamson, who said "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world." 

Diana was a demigoddess, the daughter of Zeus, king of gods.  He represented the patriarchal archetype to have more lovers than any of the other immortals.  Based on the teachings of Yol Swan, author of "The Indigo Journals," Zeus is a highly sexualized figure whose lust can't be restrained, symbolizing raw and often distorted power.  He's represented by the eternal playboys, incestuous fatherly figures, lascivious priests and politicians, as well as those in positions of power intent on suppressing the Feminine at any cost, in small and big ways.

For centuries, the feminine aspect of the of the domineering male was suppressed and therefore weakened.  Yet, because of the male's feminine aspect is part of him, by dominating the female, he only weakened himself.  And so it was, that while man was weakening himself, woman was slowly, slowly becoming stronger.  This is according to Michael and Ginny Katz of Gemisphere Luminary. 

Men at War

When a plane crashed in the water near the beachfront, Captain Steve Trevor of the American Expeditionary Forces was rescued by Diana.  This was her first exposure to a man.  Another break in the island's invisible barrier was made by men from a German cruiser in hot pursuit of Steve.  Symbolically, both instances can relate to how sperm penetrates an egg's barrier.  They are naturally drawn to each other through their warrior-like attitudes that's from either self-defense or invasion.

The men were locked in a losing battle against the Amazonian women defending their territory, firing at them with bullets, a phallic symbol of male domination.

While Steve was recovering, Diana walked in on him to observe his naked body.  He redirected her attention to his watch that represented male order and precision, particularly amidst chaos.

By using a golden lasso, Diana was able to learn from Captain Trevor that he is a spy for the Allied forces.  World War I was raging in the outside world.  

As one of several weapons, the lasso relates to how the comics creator of "Wonder Woman," William Moulton Marston, had a special interest in the secrets people keep.  He's credited with inventing the first lie detector test that measures systolic blood pressure changes to gauge whether someone is telling lies.

Hyper-Masculine & Hyper-Feminine Souls

Bound by duty, Captain Trevor must transfer the enemy's notebook that he stole for his superiors to have in London.  It contained evidence of a lethal form of mustard gas created by the nefarious Dr. Isabel Maru, also known as "Doctor Poison."  She acted under the orders of General Erich Ludendorff.

Diana understood the news differently.  She mistakenly believed General Ludendorff to be Ares, the true mastermind behind this war.  By stealing the sacred "God Killer" sword, she was intent on stopping him to restore peace.

On a spiritual level, the injustices of this world are reflected by the toxic male energies of being prone to anger, violence and domination, along with their controlling abuse of the Feminine everywhere.

Hyper-masculine Souls like Ares and General Ludendorff are driven by ego - the source of all wounds and imbalances, to plunge the world into a dark cycle.  Their evil is done openly or through veiled terror, like waging chemical warfare, to maintain power and control.

Hyper-feminine Souls such as the chemist, Dr. Maru, are characteristically fearful of competition, have a false sense of entitlement, and lacking in self-love and compassion to be bitchy, emotional manipulators.

Wonder Woman's Weapons of Defense

While in London, Diana protected Steve from an alley attack by men who wanted the valuable notebook.  She skillfully used her thick bracelets to deflect their bullets.  

Diana's indestructible bracelets can symbolically relate to a bracelet being a slang term for handcuffs.  Her character represents freedom from the restrictions imposed on women of their times and what feminists were fighting against.  As silver bracelets, the color is associated with the cool (but motherly) moon.  

Historically, the thick-styled bracelets were worn by Olive Byrne, girlfriend to the creator of the "Wonder Woman" comics.

As for her tiara, etched on it is an eight-sided star that symbolizes Aphrodite, the Goddess of Venus, to be a "light bringer" and archetype representing the female side of all.

A Rogue Warrior for Peace

When Diana tried to introduce herself in London as Princess Diana, Steve interrupted her to say that she is Diana Prince.  By doing that, it can be understood on a subconscious level as Steve's way of saying that he'll decide her place in this world - like a prince that lacks confidence at this time to be a true leader.

After delivering the notebook to Sir Patrick Morgan, the man responsible for negotiating an armistice with Germany, Steve escorted Diana to the Western Front in Belgium to prevent the mustard gas from being released. 

As a rogue warrior, she crossed enemy territory with her only weapons: a sword, shield, lasso, bracelets and tiara.  The men's machine gun firing was no match against her defensive moves.  She helped to free the villagers of Veld.

Diana Prince as Wonder Woman is the epitome of masculine and feminine energies in healthy balance.

To better understand, the divine, sacred feminine are the inner qualities of wisdom, patience, nurturing, compassion, and peace.  The divine, sacred masculine are the inner qualities of courage, loyalty, selfless service, valor, firmness and protection.  Regardless of gender, we can choose to give healthy expression to any of these traits.

Diana's Idealistic and Child-Like Awareness

Diana fought valiantly against General Ludendorff at the military base to kill him.  Unfortunately, it didn't end the fighting, leaving her gravely disappointment.  He was not Ares.

And with Steve's help, he stopped the air transport of mustard gas to London.  It cost him his life when the plane exploded in mid-air.

For Diana, the ravages of war was a rude awakening because she held a childlike understanding of it.  Her awareness was more like that of a pre-teen as many around that age are inherently idealistic and optimistic with a deep interest in what's fair and right.  Taking a quote from Viktor Frankel, a famous Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, he explained that "Idealism creates capacity for positive reality." 

Fighting Ares, the God of War

The true reveal came when Ares showed himself to be under the guise of Sir Patrick Morgan and that he's her half-brother.  He wanted Diana to join him in ridding the Earth of all humans for peace to reign.  It was to Ares, Zeus's fault for creating them.  She couldn't align with him after witnessing Steve's selfless service, a reminder that there are good-hearted humans like him.   

Diana was in an exhaustive fight with Ares to finally slay him. 

In the end, she gained wisdom from the whole experience to remain a warrior for the protection of innocent lives, with the understanding that war and peace will always exist because of the dualistic nature of this world.  It's an individual's free choice to either be a force of good or evil.

Ideally, the middle way of being in this world is to not get caught up in its duality.  You can be detached about what goes on in the outer - not in a cold way, but detached in a loving, yet compassionate way.

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