"Wonder Woman" (2017)

I finally broke down and tried another of the current spate of DC films—by all accounts the one that isn’t terrible—Wonder Woman. It wasn’t terrible, but it did fall into the trap of having a mindless third act where one became dulled to all the battle effects and… well, I don’t remember much about the end.

However, in that third act there were a couple of quotes that struck me as quite good.

First, when Diana thinks she has vanquished Mars but the war isn’t stopped, she realizes that humanity is not good as she thought. They don’t deserve to be saved from evil. Pine’s character reflects on this and has this to say:

“It's not about deserve. Maybe, maybe we don't. But it's not about that, it's about what you believe. You don't think I get it, after what I've seen out there? You don't think I wish I could tell you that it was one bad guy to blame? It's not! We're all to blame!”

That quote touches on a lot of Biblical theology right there. Faith and not merit. Total depravity and the universal need for a savior. Humanity can’t fix things, they have to trust—believe—in someone else.

Later, Diana brings that quote back. And at the end of the film we get her voice-over:

“I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves - something no hero will ever defeat. I've touched the darkness that lives in between the light. Seen the worst of this world, and the best. Seen the terrible things men do to each other in the name of hatred, and the lengths they'll go to for love. Now I know. Only love can save this world…”

Yes. It is pretty sappy. And silly when you consider all of the fighting that Wonder Woman does. She was envisioned as a superhero that would go against the fighting model and instead change the world through the feminine capacity to be nice. But, she seems to fight like all the other heroes.

But it is also true, and biblical, that love is the only thing that will save the world. Not feminine love, but true, selfless, sacrificial love. And it isn’t human.