8/13/2016

Patty Jenkins Strikes Back Against 'Wonder Woman' Rumors And The Press Who Believed Them

By View Comments

I have my own theories about this supposed letter written by an alleged ex-Warner Bros. employee, ripping CEO Kevin Tsujihara, Zack Snyder, and the studio as a whole for rewarding failure. To me it doesn't just read like a disgruntled employee; it reads like something that was completely made up to continue a narrative of negativity against the DCU as Suicide Squad breaks record after record. It reminds me of the fake news stories claiming to reveal plots of upcoming superhero movies. You can always tell the fake ones because they read like a fanboy wishlist. This is just a twist on that.

Somebody else who thinks the letter bogus is Patty Jenkins, the Wonder Woman director who found her film caught in the author's shrapnel. She took to Twitter to refute claims that her movie is "a mess", while striking out at those who so readily believed it. You can find her series of tweets below.

As for why those in the press were so eager to buy into the letter's claims? Forbes does a good job of breaking down the news media culture and the inertia of opinion within. When one vocal opinion becomes established you get many who simply go along with it, either through personal biases or because they know negative stories lead to more clicks than successful ones do. It's the "if it bleeds it leads" theory of journalism. You can get months of hits on stories about a big budget production that went off the rails, but only one on something that's doing great.  I've said it before that it's way too easily to create an aura of negativity that then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Say a movie sucks enough and people will eventually agree. I've had so many people who haven't seen Suicide Squad tell me how terrible it is that I could them on both hands and both feet.

I rarely recommend articles from other sites but I do think this one is worth checking out, and it has a lot to say about Rotten Tomatoes, as well. In the end I find myself disliking the tone many of my critic/journalist colleagues have taken with DCU movies. I've said all along it was like some had a special venom reserved for them (Some had their punchlines written beforehand: fact), and I continue to agree with myself on that until somebody proves me wrong. Good luck with that.

I continue to be pleased that most of those who worked on Suicide Squad have fought back and defended their movie aggressively, and I'm happier to see Jenkins doing the same. Wonder Woman has enough of a burden to carry without some in the press trying to pile on and make it heavier.