Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor Appreciation 2019

[TheAnn]

The nurse falling in love with the fallen hero is a trope as old as they come.

Eh, not when the nurse is secretly a superpowered hero who only poses as a nurse to keep an eye on the danger-prone, not-very-bright soldier she's fascinated by.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with their first meeting. It's a little cliche, but I enjoy cliches myself and it was the 40s. Stuff that might've been groundbreaking then might not be groundbreaking now. Even Superman and Lois Lane, before they got all the development and fleshing out by later writers, started out as simply, "strong man who rescues woman".

I liked the way Rucka did their first meeting. Sure, she takes an interest (as in curiosity, not necessarily infatuation) in Steve because she's never seen a man before (which in itself isn't a bad thing and I don't understand why most people seem to think it is), but also because long before that, she's already expressed a certain amount of curiosity about the outside world and to her, Steve represents that: he's a piece of the outside world that dropped off the sky onto her island. And as they get acquainted, despite the language barrier she comes to know that men aren't that different from Amazons in that they also experience grief and loss. Nothing happens between them at this point but Rucka laid down a solid groundwork to build a relationship on. It's really not hard to change or add a few things to their first meeting to make it more believable and less cliche, without changing the whole thing altogether.

[kjn]

Eh, not when the nurse is secretly a superpowered hero who only poses as a nurse to keep an eye on the danger-prone, not-very-bright soldier she's fascinated by.

Not sure I agree with that interpretation. Marston has Diana fall in love with Steve while he is unconscious and still on the island. It's also part of a long string of statements on how Diana is just like a woman with her interest in fashion and in vanity.

Marston might have had an interest in feminism and be progressive in how he viewed (some) gender roles, but his stereotypes of gender were extremely strong.

I much prefer the way the movie approached Steve's and Diana's beginning romance. Not only because it managed to give Steve a personality, but also because it didn't feel forced by the plot, and that it gave both Diana and Steve more personal agency than the "classic" take.

This also goes back to the interpretation that Steve is the bland protagonist to the colourful hero, and part of the role of the bland protagonist is to act as a reader insert. Viewed in that light, there is more than a little of the dynamics of born sexy yesterday in Steve's and Diana's original relation (even if there are many other differences as well).

Now, it would be possible to handle this by having Steve recuperate on the island for a relatively long while before the contest (or whatever way Diana is chosen), but I think it's important for the character of Diana that she is Themyscira's emissary first, and that's why she goes to Man's World, rather than just because she's following a man she fell in love with.

I think there are lots of upsides, both narrative, thematic, and in characterisation, to decoupling Diana's reasons for leaving Themyscira from her personal relation with Steve. If nothing else, it will provide lots of scope to tell of Diana's and Steve's romance, since it won't be cramped with other plot points and given room to breathe.

[TheAnn]

Marston might have had an interest in feminism and be progressive in how he viewed (some) gender roles, but his stereotypes of gender were extremely strong.

I don't necessarily see it that way. I certainly prefer a Diana who is a physically strong warrior while still capable of liking traditionally "womanly" things than the oftentimes extreme portrayal of her as a bloodthirsty warrior who eschews femininity because Real Women Don't Wear Dresses. Is there a middle ground, a balance between the two? Certainly. But I don't see how portraying her as a tough woman who doesn't do feminine things isn't more of a stereotype than portraying her as a woman who kicks ass and lifts cars and saves gentlemen in jeopardy who also happens to care about the way she looks, which IMO is a more multi-faceted portrayal than what we usually get from the typical "warrior woman" archetype.

I agree that there's a simple way to fix the Diana/Steve first meeting to minimize whatever not-so-great implications that may exist in the initial stage of their relationship: Make Diana more interested in either exploring the outside world (as Rucka did in Rebirth) or have her be more interested in saving the world (the 2017 movie where the only reason she and Steve stick together is because they struck up a deal). Make her entire motivation for leaving Paradise Island be about her, not about some handsome man she's only just met. That way Diana and Steve's relationship will come off as a partnership of two people with wildly different beliefs and methods banding together for a common cause and falling in love along the way, instead of Marston's simplistic original tale about Diana following Steve to Man's World because she wants to get to know him. Saving the world should be her main incentive, not an afterthought.

It's a shame that WW's origin story has not been reworked since the 40s (a lot of the stuff from that era obviously didn't age well). But some newer WW origin stories seem to be heading in this direction (the 2017 movie and the upcoming animated Bloodlines movie), so that's a step in the right direction IMO.

[AmiMizuno]

When they told away her original origin of clay and her not being the only child it also makes her like yea she is the only one. I like the Idea of yea she is special but her almost being beat by Mala. Diana and the other children amazons are the new generation

[TheAnn]

RIP Diana/Steve, writers could never leave the two of you alone for too long before screwing everything up for the sake of drama. It hurts doubly because even though yes, comic book couples break up and get back together all the time, Diana/Steve lost a good chunk of time when Perez decided to yeet him off the role as her love interest in Post-Crisis (which cost them precious development that they could've gotten had they stayed together) and therefore do not have nearly as big of a following as other long-standing comic couples. So every time some terrible writing decision happens to them the naysayers jump at the chance to justify their dislike for the ship.

And now with the rumors of a new DC timeline, their future is as uncertain as ever. It's a bad time to be a Steve/Diana fan, folks.