Much like other great movies, I started to think more about it and found a lot more to praise. One, in particular, was the picture Diana (Gal Gadot) received at the beginning from Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) which was referenced in Batman v Superman. Obviously, the photo shows that Diana has a long history and that at one point these four men were a part of it. But the more I thought about it and heard others opinion the more I thought about these guys and what they meant for Diana. Not just them being her friends but also how they may have affected when she entered the non-mortal world.
To start, each character is unique and has a different background. Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is that prototypical good looking American, Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui) is a rather eccentric French-Moroccan, Charlie (Ewen Bremmer) is a brash Scotsman trying to hide his demons, and Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) is a kind of cynical Blackfoot Native American. Each of these guys show Diana that the Earth is made of different people with different backgrounds. S
When the movie premiered there were a lot of comparisons made to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Both feature heroes from different time periods and "different worlds" who fought in a World War with a rag tag group of soldiers. While Steve Rogers's group - The Howling Commandos - is certainly more diverse and shows that America is made of diversity, Wonder Woman actually went deeper with the characters and what they meant. I'm not trashing the first Captain America movie, I still love it. Matter of fact, I'm still waiting for a Howling Commandos tv show. But each member of Diana's group was explored more, thus growing a stronger connection amongst the team.
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Let's talk about each member individually and my interpretation. First up, the Chief.
The Blackfoot smuggler was the last member to join the group and gave Diana a rather harsh lesson about the world. That being, not everyone is treated fairly. It's well established in the movie that Chief basically acts and travels on his own. He'll sell guns to almost anyone.
This confuses Diana given that Themyscira seems to be all about remaining loyal to your homeland and the warriors who fight for it. But Chief makes it obvious that his native country hasn't treated him or his people justly.
Because of this, he has left his home country and go off on his own. That's not to say he doesn't have friends or associates, given how he greets Trevor in the movie, but he can't commit to ideals that he can't fathom given what's happened to him and his people. This shows Diana that injustice comes in multiple forms and what it can do to a person/group.
Charlie is the most tragic. As stated above he's brash Scottish sharpshooter who hides his PTSD under his drunken, and somewhat selfish, demeanor. But we later see he does still have a humane side to him when he plays the piano and sings.
This shows Diana that people handle fears and trauma in their own ways. But even if a man displays buffoonery and roughish behavior he could still have that sensitivity to them. Diana even wishes for him to show more of that side.
The dandy dressing, master of disguise Sameer is probably the most confident of them. When he first meets Diana he hits on her - can't blame him - and talks about showing her the world and such. There's never a sense that he's degrading Diana or anything but he's just a romantic. As the film continues the two of them do form a strong bond and in a way, as he grows to respect to Diana's spirit and she starts to admire his spirit and love of the finer things.
Sameer could have had an impact on Diana love of art and human culture. As we see in the opening and closing of the movie, she's working at the Louvre in Paris and we see she works in art restoration in the Justice League trailer. Given Sameer's fancy stylings, dreams of acting, and use of language, it could be seen as an influence on Diana's interests.
And last but not least, Steve Trevor.
I'm sure we can all agree that Trevor is one of the most important characters in the film. He's not only the first non-Amazonian she meets, but the first male she's ever met. He's also the person that gets the plot in motion with talking about the possible destruction brought upon to innocent lives. His determination makes her want to go and bring down what she believes is Ares.
It's through journeys she sees many of her own traits in Trevor, mainly in stopping an evil foe. A big difference is Trevor is a weary man. A man who has seen the horrors of war, but continues to fight regardless.
There's one scene between these two in particular that handles a difficult subject. While in the trenches, Diana wants to rush out and save a village in peril but Trevor says they should stay on task. When asked why he gives a very blunt response,"we can't save everyone in this war." You can sense he hates saying it and she doesn't want to believe it, but as a later scene shows, Diana faces that reality. This complex topic is handled way better than the "maybe" stuff in Man of Steel.
But later in the movie, after seeing Diana determination to fight and carry on, he says to her words that could be seen as the movie's message.
"I can save today. You can save the world."
The final note I'll end is another reason why the photo itself was so special. I didn't think about it till after I watched a review from Doug and Rob Walker of Channel Awesome (heads up this review is an hour long). Her four friends in that photo have all since passed away. These were among the first friends she made in this new chapter of her life, ones that made a huge impact and added to this already courageous character.
I can't wait to see what Wonder Woman does in future installments. I'm sure no matter what her spirit will continue to shine.
