Photo by Earldan The Phenomena of the Wonder Woman Movie
Have you already seen the movie “Wonder Woman”? I saw it last week and I loved it. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is really worth it. Who doesn’t want to be a superhero or heroine in real life?
Having a look at the sheer quantity of all these superhero movies during the last couple of years and decades, it seems that there is a real market and desire for these kind of legends, stories and movies. There could be two reasons for this:
- First, it seems the world absolutely craves for inspiration of how to be a superhero and embodying superhero qualities.
- Secondly, for others it could be the notion that they feel like victims and want to be rescued by some super force to make their own life better.
From a spiritual point of view those who only want to be saved by others in real life will most probably be disappointed. I think, we are not here to be victims to be saved but we are here to become the superheroes of our own life and use our strength to protect the weak ones.
That’s what the superheroes in the movies do: (a) they have extraordinary abilities (that we are to develop for ourselves) and (b) they hold a high moral code and use both to protect and serve.
Being a Superhero or Wonder Woman in you own Life
What does it take to be a superhero or a wonder woman? Sometimes it is even less than you might think.
- Someone may go through a difficult time and keeps his spirit high,
- get to the core of her addiction, be true to herself and eats a vegetarian diet or doesn’t drink alcohol even though everyone around tries to talk her into it or someone may
- go to a vinyasa yoga class, who is not very fit and either sustains the session or takes the freedom to rest in child’s pose and allows everyone else to do so as well.
- A person with a serious problem can go through a transformation and she or he inspires later others in their life to change, too. She or he becomes a teacher in this very area.
- Some may become heroes in the classical sense that they rescue someone in a dangerous situation.
Being a hero has mostly to do with how you perceive yourself, what challenges you are facing and how connected you are to your intuition and that you act upon it. Your challenges, values and your actions together become the acceleration tools for developing your talents.
Diana Prince, the heroine of Wonder Woman is shown nearly solely in her superheroine role. If you think of Clark Kent, the human side of Superman, you have another inspiration of a superhero. Clark Kent is an orphan and I think there is no knowledge in the story about his real parents. He is shy and a quiet person. In the few connections that he has he is a real, honest and authentic person. I will come back to the qualities of a superhero later in my article.
About the movie “Wonder Woman”
Diana, the Wonder Woman, is a super heroine, who is half goddess, half amazon. She chooses to leave her protected island to go out into the world of war to protect the weak and finally face the God of War. Diane is courageous, beautiful, athletic and distinguishes herself from others by a genuine authenticity, high standard of ethics and compassion.
This movie touches a lot of archetypes and spiritual concepts. For instance, you could see the movie as most of legends and stories as a play of different aspects of the psyche. One example is, that when she finds her partner, Steve Turner, they together as a team work even greater wonders than each one of them alone. The female and the male aspect are interdependent complements here, each one of them is self-reliant (they don’t depend on each other), they inspire each other and accomplish together more for a greater cause.
Just as Clark Kent/Superman Diana also embodies two worlds. Humans are coming from a genetic line and can either decide to be like their parents with all their good and bads or they can decide to embody spiritual values that grow beyond the restrictions of their family line (Marianne Williamson always says, you can choose to become like your parents and blame them for everything or you set your compass after your Divine Parents, the Divine Mother and the Divine Father).
I loved the storyline, the romance and the action. The dialogues showed what kind of values the main characters held. Your values and attitudes lead to the kind of thoughts you think and finally result in your actions and experiences. I would have written the ending of the movie a bit different but unity consciousness shows through many scenes and the director also touches it a bit in the video documentary further below. Diana reminds me of the Goddess Durga in Indian mythology, who also fights an evil force in the end.
The Superhero and Wonder Woman Qualities
Here are some of the qualities of a superhero or a heroine. There are different systems of qualities and here you find them illustrated with examples:
- Love: unconditional love for the “good” ones and including the “evil” of this world; the Goddess Durga for instance wins in her legendary battle the fight with Love whereas all others failed no matter which kind of weapons they used; seeing that as an internal quality it is the love also for your shadow aspects and transforming them by love not by judgement
- Compassion: compassion for the weaker ones, who cannot protect themselves; seeing that as an internal quality you would be nurturing yourself and there would be no need for you to prove yourself that you are worthy
- Clear vision and discernment: Superheroes can look through things, they have the x-ray view, they have the knowledge and the understanding (“light” spiritually) of what has to be done now and do it; in yoga we practice to be in the moment with full awareness to see through the illusions of the mind to see what is real to be able to act upon our inner knowing
- Non-violence: superheroes only use force to protect others; if you would be addicted to something you wouldn’t beat yourself up for falling off the wagon, you simply go back to the life-generating behaviour, it is about progress, not perfection. If you meditate you don’t judge yourself for having run away with a thought train you simply return without making a fuss about it back to being an observer and if the thoughts persist you make a mental note to look into that topic deeper later
- Discipline: Diana trains hard to become a good fighter. You in your own life exercise and have healthy eating and cleansing rituals to be fit and healthy in order to be able to live your passion. Discipline is joy, because it is self-chosen (Diana can’t wait to be trained!)
- Service: Superheroes are there for others. We need to balance our time for our own spirituality (e.g. am I still on the right track? the time for experiencing bliss that comes only from inside and doesn’t need an outer source) with the time we help others; as with all these complementing qualities serving others becomes with time a form of looking after ourselves and caring for us contributes to the wellbeing of all
- Truth: These superheroes speak the truth and they do so in a palatable manner. Speaking the truth to yourself is essential for your spiritual progress, and speaking truth to others must be guided by a genuine wish not to hurt others. It takes a lot of wisdom to know when to talk and when to be silent.
- Right Conduct: “Practicing what you preach, doing as you say it has to be done, and keeping practice in line with precept. Earn virtuously; yearn piously; live in the reverence of God, live for attaining God; that is Dharma.” (Sai Baba)
- Patience: Patience and trust go together often. Have faith that if you engage in your practices that are aligned with universal law results will follow. Superheros also know that there is a perfect timing for everything and they act out of a point of stillness instead of hyper-activity because they trust.
- Peace: Inner peace is one of the foremost qualities of a superhero. Without inner peace all the other qualities are hardly to attain. Peace can be gained by not depending your happiness on the outcomes of your actions and fully engaging in this world. Outer peace in your family and finally in society follows inner peace naturally.
Wishing you all the best and hope that you enjoyed this Wonder Woman inspired article,
All Love
Sandra
A nice short Documentation of Wonder Woman by the Magazin Time
P.S. I didn’t touch on the Divine Feminine aspects here of the movie and what their display might have for our society. I could write another article about it, also about Clarc Kent, who is so inspiring for me or about the weapons (sword and others) that Diana uses. To make up for the female aspects a very short documentation about the movie by the magazin Times. Enjoy!
Source of the video: http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/smart-living/10-questions-with-wonder-woman-director-patty-jenkins/vp-BBCJ9zX