***THIS ARTICLE IS RIDDLED WITH SPOILER ALERTS. If you haven't seen the Harry Potter or Wonder Woman movies, you won't want to read this***
I am a HUGE Harry Potter series fan! And yes, I can say that because I have read the books and seen the movies. As for Wonder Woman, however, I haven't read the graphic novel, but I went to the movie excited to feel empowered as a woman. I left the movie feeling pretty depressed and discouraged. Hermione Granger is a better role model than Diana, princess of the Amazons.
Let me break it down for you:
1. Let's start with the obvious.
Wonder Woman is a pillar of sex. Like, wow. What a beautiful woman.
And let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with being sexy and it shouldn't take away from your badass, feminist self. Where the problems come is when sexy takes away from your character. Ok, yes, her arm cuffs and shield are indestructible, but if you're an Amazon woman trained in combat, wouldn't you want some armor, say, around your neck where your jugular is? She is so exposed. The costume is clearly less for combat and more to attract the male gaze. I mean, just look at those boobies. Yes, Wonder Woman wouldn't be able to fight with too much clothing on because it could weigh her down, but this is a little dramatic.
Now let's look at Hermione Granger's sexiest moments:
She is usually depicted in the traditional Hogwarts uniform (clearly conservative):
But let's look at her sexier moments (think: Yule Ball)
Look at her! She looks so beautiful (while at the same time fully covered) and her date is none other than Victor Krum! A famous Quidditch player. Total dreamboat.
Ok, fair enough, this was in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (the fourth movie) so she would've only been 15. Maybe that's why she's conservative? Let's see her in the seventh movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Pt. 1 at Bill and Fleur's wedding:
This is at the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur DeLacour when Hermione (again) comes to the rescue of Harry and Ron by "apparating" them out of the wedding when they hear the He Who Shall Not Be Named is coming. Throughout the HP series, Hermione shows girls that they can save they day without having their bodies sexualized by Hollywood.
2. Emotional Intelligence.
Wonder Woman gets to this unknown place (the world we know) and acts impulsively.
Sometimes it works out in her favor (like when the men are in the trenches and she gets out and advances the army).
Or when she totally told off that army general guy and told him he should be ashamed of himself for not fighting alongside his men. Or when she told Steve that men were necessary for reproduction, but not for pleasure (one of my favorite lines, by the way). It was in those moments where men were astonished with how brave she was that I felt like she could be a feminist icon.
But other times, she looked really stupid. Like when she went into the German party undercover to kill General Ludendorff. Or even when she assumed (incorrectly) that General Ludendorff was Ares. Yes, it was probably an easy mistake to make, but the combination of making the assumption and immediately acting to kill him based off of an assumption proved that Wonder Woman was less brain than she was physical power. It showed a lack of foresight which made her look stupid.
We all know Hermione, on the other hand, as the book worm, the smartest kid in class.
Hermione is constantly saving the day by mixing the ever-so-intricate poly juice potion for herself and her friends...
and performing the trickiest spells to protect the people she loves like her parents and her friends.
While also fighting like a badass
Not to mention she destroyed a horcrux. For those of you who don't know what that means, she killed a piece of the meanest bad guy in the world. Hermione shows women that strength comes from within their minds, not just their bodies. Hermione makes being smart, cool.
3. Finally, let's talk about who needs a man.
I know I've been ranting so I'll make this the last thing we need to discuss. I think this is the most important thing because it was the thing that made me the most upset in the movie.
Wonder Woman:
The first thing I got mad about in Wonder Woman was when Diana sees a lot of people dying and immediately turns to cry on Steve. Are you really trying to tell me that an Amazon woman's first instinct is to turn to a man for internal strength and comfort? Honestly, it was in this moment that I thought of how Hermione rarely turns to Harry or Ron (unless to comfort them as well) in times of extreme despair, that inspired me to write this article.
Her greatest power comes at the very end when she unlocks this strength that has been inside of her the whole time, that makes her strong enough to defeat Ares. Her greatest power that makes her the fiercest Amazon. What on earth could possibly unlock such a raw, untapped, god-like power?
Ok, so we've already established that men are unnecessary for pleasure, yet she falls for Steve. Ok, that's fine. Love is good. But then her ultimate power is unlocked when Steve, a guy that she knew for maybe a week, kills himself for the greater good of humanity. She wasn't even that upset when her aunt, General Antiope, who practically raised her and was the first person to ever believe in her capabilities was killed by soldiers on her home island of Themyscira.
Wonder Woman derives her power from man. How anti-feminist is that?
Now let's talk about Hermione.
This girl works hard for her power, studies hard for her intelligence and puts her mind to the test by constantly pushing herself to learn and understand more.
So, that pretty much wraps it up. Why have the looks and physical force like Wonder Woman when you could look like Emma Watson, spin spells like Hermione and fight like a badass. Personally, if I ever have a daughter, I'll tell her the tale of Hermione Granger, the girl who constantly saved The Boy Who Lived, the girl who graduated top of her class and the girl who believed in herself throughout her life so much that she didn't need any catastrophic event or a man to unlock her inner power because she had it all along.
