I Wonder As I Wonder

Hello readers!

It has been so long, I may need to reintroduce myself. That may come later. I apologize for the silence; this past year has been incredibly busy and difficult to balance, and I’m not exactly Wonder Woman-- which brings me to today’s topic.

I recently went to see the new Wonder Woman movie, and I’ll spare you a plot summary and movie review, but if you have not seen it, I would highly recommend. The rest of this post will explain why, but if you have not seen it, you might want to see it before you continue reading. I won’t intentionally spoil anything, but little spoilers may slip out.

There was a lot to love about this movie, and also a few things not to love. The dialogue was patchy in some places, and there were some small holes in the plot that were not filled by the end of the movie. However, the action was breathtaking and well presented, characters were developed cleanly and in good detail, and Gal Gadot is absolutely perfect for the role of Wonder Woman. But what really stood out to me in this film was not any good work of cinematography, performance, or effects. The elements of this film that pleasantly surprised me most were the undertones of spirituality and the subtle but effective proclamation of the gospel.

This is not the first time this has been evident in a DC storyline. Batman vs. Superman, the film in which Wonder Woman is reintroduced, explored the storyline of resurrection and of the role of a god (implying a capital G in many places) among his people. These elements of Christianity, though refreshing to observe, were not carried out particularly artfully, but an effort is an effort. However, this effort pales in comparison to the masterful work in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the second installation of the recent Batman trilogy. The Dark Knight addresses the idea of a hero who saves people despite the fact that they do not, have not, and will never deserve it. This concept was such a dramatic turn from all other hero storylines (at least in recent years) in which the hero takes out the “bad guys” so humanity can be its inherently good self again. The Dark Knight’s premise was that humanity is not inherently good, and is in fact so broken it is beyond self-redemption. Nolan’s Gotham City does not need a helping hand, it needs devastation and destruction, the only way through which it can be truly saved and redeemed. Gotham serves as a symbol for all people. Our only hope for redemption is to be put to death in our sin and be made completely new in Christ. The Dark Knight could just as well have ended with scripture recitation with how accurate a portrayal of the gospel it is.

In all honesty, I never expected another superhero, or any movie, to proclaim the gospel as beautifully or effectively as is done in The Dark Knight. But then I saw Wonder Woman.

Yeah. It’s that good.

Wonder Woman’s character arc is primarily centered around the fact that she is a deity, but no one bothers to tell her this information. However, she thinks like a goddess without knowing she is one. She desires to protect humanity and destroy evil. Her reasoning for this initially is a naive belief that humanity is inherently good, but that people have been corrupted by external forces. The climax of this story occurs when she thinks she has destroyed the external forces, and the war and corruption continues. She soon realizes the external force she sought was actually elsewhere, but as she fights this force, she begins to understand that humanity truly does not deserve her. However, she does not stop fighting. As she fights, she explains to her adversary why she fights-- not because she is required or obligated to, and certainly not because anyone deserves the salvation she is able to deliver, but because of love. She loves people. So though they truly do not deserve a redemptive hero, she carries out her act of redemptive heroism for no other reason than because she wants to. It is her great expression of love for people.

So often we find ourselves watching movies and reading books about great heroes and wishing they were real, and that they could swoop in and save us. And while we can be pretty certain Wonder Woman will not be crossing No Man’s Land for us any time soon, we have a far better and more beautiful reality: our savior Jesus descended into our broken world and even into the grave so he could save us, and he did not do it because we deserved it or because he had to. He sacrificed himself willingly and with joy, for no other reason than because he wanted to. It was his great expression of love for people.

The greatest art is not necessarily that which expresses ideas the most clearly. Great art effectively and beautifully begins conversations about the ideas it expresses, whether these ideas are explicitly stated and elaborated on in that art or not. By this definition, Wonder Woman is a beautiful work of art because it opens up an area of conversation as to its meaning and implications about our world, our philosophy, and our faith. The gospel proclamation may not have even intentional (although it certainly appears to be), but Jesus said if the rest of the world was silent, the rocks would cry out his praise. Sometimes the most effective reflections of the gospel are those that happen unintentionally, because our world exists for the glory of God, and the glory of God is always ultimately achieved.

I look forward to seeing Wonder Woman’s  impact on the superhero movie industry and on viewers everywhere who may or may not have been previously introduced to the truth framed in beauty that is Christianity: that though we do not deserve a hero, our hero already came. And no matter how many plot twists we may come upon, we have something citizens of the superhero universe do not: our hero is already victorious.

“He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’” -Luke 19:40