{"id":56929,"date":"2017-10-12T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/5-questions-for-professor-marston-and-the-wonder-women-director-angela-robinson-exclusive-clip\/"},"modified":"2017-10-12T12:00:25","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T16:00:25","slug":"5-questions-for-professor-marston-and-the-wonder-women-director-angela-robinson-exclusive-clip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/5-questions-for-professor-marston-and-the-wonder-women-director-angela-robinson-exclusive-clip\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Questions for \u2018Professor Marston and the Wonder Women\u2019 Director Angela Robinson (EXCLUSIVE CLIP)"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 Questions for \u2018Professor Marston and the Wonder Women\u2019 Director Angela Robinson (EXCLUSIVE CLIP)<\/b><\/p>\n

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\"Professor<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Annapurna Pictures<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Professor Marston and the Wonder Women <\/em>blazes into theaters nationwide this Friday (October 13th<\/sup>) with a 90% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score and GLAAD is excited to bring you a first look at a scene from the film, along with a new interview with its writer and director, Angela Robinson.<\/p>\n

The film tells the story of psychologist William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) \u2013 famous for inventing both the Wonder Woman character and the lie detector test \u2013 but also,\u00a0the unconventional polyamorous relationship he shared with his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and their mistress, Olive (Bella Heathcote), both of whom inspired the iconic superhero.<\/p>\n

In GLAAD’s exclusive first look, William, Elizabeth, Olive, and Olive\u2019s fianc\u00e9 share a picnic by a lake and play a guessing game about what each of them longs for in their lives:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

GLAAD caught up with Robinson to ask about what attracted her to tell this very compelling story of 3 individuals who chose to lead lives that were much more progressive than the times they lived in.<\/p>\n

\"Angela
(Photo courtesy of\u00a0Annapurna Pictures)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plot of \u201cProfessor Marston and the Wonder Women\u201d isn\u2019t exactly easy to explain casually to someone \u2013 they really have to see the film to understand its message \u2013 what\u2019s your \u201celevator pitch\u201d for describing it to anyone who\u2019s not already familiar with it?<\/em><\/p>\n

I tell people the film is about the extraordinary life of the guy<\/a> who created Wonder Woman and the two women<\/a> who were the inspiration for the Wonder Woman character. If it\u2019s a long elevator ride I go on to say that Dr. Marston is the inventor of the lie detector test and that he and his wife fell in love with their student and they all lived together and raised a family together and that this love story is the origin story of Wonder Woman. \u00a0<\/p>\n

What drew you to this story? And why tell it now in 2017?<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been a Wonder Woman fan.\u00a0After I shot my first feature, D.E.B.S.,<\/em> Jordana Brewster knew I was a Wonder Woman fan and gave me a history of Wonder Woman book as a wrap gift. I read it and there was a chapter in the book on the Marstons\u2019 story and I was blown away. It was just such an incredible story. I became obsessed with telling it. What struck me when I read it was what a contemporary story it was. The Marstons were ahead of their time in the 1930\u2019s and 40\u2019s and they\u2019re STILL ahead of their time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s the story of a polyamorous relationship, the women<\/a> in the relationship truly have agency. Why was it important to portray this? <\/em><\/p>\n

When I started writing the film I realized that you couldn\u2019t tell a story about the man<\/a> who created Wonder Woman without fully exploring the two women<\/a> in his life who inspired the character. It was important to me that both Elizabeth and Olive have agency \u2014 they were strong, bold, incredibly brave and intelligent women<\/a>. As for the love story part of it, I think the love story is between all three of them \u2014 I think that\u2019s why their relationship worked, it was like a tripod, if you remove one of the legs then the whole thing would tip over. (Spoiler alert\u2026) In the end, Marston dies and Elizabeth and Olive lived together for the rest of their lives. That\u2019s what really happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How did being a queer woman<\/a> of color inform your choices while directing this film?<\/em><\/p>\n

In a couple<\/a> of ways \u2014 I am very sensitive to representation and how important that is.\u00a0It\u2019s important to me as a viewer and so it\u2019s also important to me as a filmmaker that I approach and portray identity and communities in a respectful way.\u00a0I consulted with two female<\/a> \u201crope experts\u201d who were part of the Boston BDSM\/kink community who designed the beautiful rope work in the film and gave me and the actors workshops on the history\/philosophy\/safety\/practice of BDSM.\u00a0As a woman<\/a>, I worked with the idea of the \u201cfemale<\/a> gaze\u201d with my cinematographer (Bryce Fortner). \u00a0In the staging of the love scenes, it was important to me that the female<\/a> characters were in control of what was happening.\u00a0I also was very committed in the film to the idea of \u201cconsent as foreplay.\u201d The characters are always asking the other characters for their consent and checking in with them \u2014 a lot of what is erotic about the film is psychological.\u00a0I feel like it comes from a female<\/a> POV. \u00a0<\/p>\n

A petition is going around currently to \u201cmake Wonder Woman bisexual<\/a>\u201d in the current big budget Warner Bros. franchise, to match how the character is written canonically in the comic book \u2013 do you think it\u2019s important for the Gal Gadot-portrayed version of Wonder Woman to explore her sexual orientation on the big screen? And if so, why is it important?<\/em><\/p>\n

I do think it is important – now that Wonder Woman is canonically queer \u2011 to represent that in the next Wonder Woman. I think it would mean so much to so many people!\u00a0I also feel like being true to oneself and living your truth is deeply embedded in what Wonder Woman is about and that it would be brave if the big screen version of Wonder Woman could reflect that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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October 12, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n