I get that. But it still feels like part of the mixed messaging regarding Barbara's character and kind of weakens her Cheetah to me.
I feel like the traits are present to some degree but not to the extent where the Cheetah tranfsormation is as believable as it could have been, or as built-up to because we jumped around so much. She can be an unreliable narrator but I think we need more on-panel evidence of her true character than what we actually got and not so much mixed messaging.I think the actual event should have been shown, and maybe it would have had he stayed on the book. But I think Barbara is clearly established as a brash glory seeker who deflects blame for her own failings onto others (chiefly Diana and Cale, but also even earlier with Dr. Martins) and isn't a reliable narrator to the point where we don't really need it shown. Her own personality and the dialogue of other characters paints the picture we need.
Same when she rejects Diana and Circe's help out of spite.
I don't think it was put on the back burner when the scenes of her slowly transforming into the person she ends up as is parallel to everything else, so it didn't really feel abrupt to me. I don't think it was the stone's influence beyond it granting her wish and her wanting to make sure the wish continued because she didn't want to go back to the old version of herself because she gradually starts to enjoy the perks of her newfound gifts and not the consequences. I think the film was just much more straightforward take on Barbara compared to Rucka.I don't know, the film has received criticism for her arc being put on the back burner and her switch seeming abrupt. The stone could be influencing her and exaggerating traits that are already there, but while Wiig's early scenes are great, we also needed more time to get to know her in order to know for sure where she truly ends and the wish effects really begin. I think Rucka's paints a more nuanced picture of what Barbara is like pre-Cheetah than this movie is able to.
The movie take seemed to be going with her giving up on her humanity to reach the pinnacle of what she can be and surpass Diana. And it wasn't as monstrous as Sharp's Cheetah so I don't think it's the less than ideal state that Rebirth Barbara ended up as, and Post-Crisis Cheetah eventually enjoyed her Cheetah form.Her wanting to be an "Apex Predator" and specifically a cat-thing is also receiving some cocked eyebrows, even among reviewers who are onboard with her story before that. I don't think a transformation in a monstrous Cheetah form should ever be something Barbara really wants. Because it's a bizarre thing to desire. It makes more sense in Perez and Rucka's versions where she doesn't know 100% what she's getting into and it bites her in the ass hard.