This week on the InQua Podcast, we’re joined by an InQua Magazine O.G.–Madison Daniels. We discuss movies, his belief in community activism, spirituality, and an academic paper he penned while in undergrad. In that paper, he discusses 2017’s Wonder Woman and the Anthropocene. There are environmental subtexts hidden in plain sight, and a view of climate change reflected in society today.
Enjoy this week’s InQua Podcast – Wonder Woman and the Anthropocene!
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Wonder Woman (2017) – When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny. Madison uses this film as the basis for discussing the Anthropocene, and our relationship to the natural world.
- Director: Patty Jenkins
- Writers: Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs
- Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston
Merriam-Webster Dictionary – Anthropocene: the period of time during which human activities have had an environmental impact on the Earth regarded as constituting a distinct geological age.
Related articles, with and without mentions of the Anthropocene:
News:
Despite Reports, A24’s ‘Civil War’ Is Not Over 3 Hours Long
- https://variety.com/2023/film/news/civil-war-runtime-a24-alex-garland-1235851844/
- “The Alex Garland movie, set in the near future as the United States breaks out into violent conflict, has a runtime of 109 minutes, despite reports to the contrary. While IMDb incorrectly lists a runtime of 3 hours and 15 minutes, A24 confirmed to Variety that the film is under two hours long.”
- “Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman, the movie puts viewers in the heat of a new American civil war. The trailer opens with scenes of destruction across the country, along with news reports that “19 states have seceded.””
- “”Civil War” is directed and written by Garland, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind “Ex Machina,” “Annihilation” and, most recently, “Men.” Garland also created the 2020 FX series “Devs” starring Offerman.”
- “Long runtimes have become a hot button issue with moviegoers as of late, with varying box office results. Mega-blockbuster hits like “Oppenheimer” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” exceeded three hours in length, while Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” clocked in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. At 3 hours and 9 minutes, Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” bombed at the box office despite stars including Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, and Ari Aster’s latest A24 nightmare “Beau Is Afraid” flopped with 2 hours and 59 minutes.”
- “By keeping “Civil War” at a lean 1 hour and 49 minutes, Garland may recruit more soldiers at the cinema.”
‘Wonka’ Tops Thursday Box Office With $8 Million, ‘Aquaman 2’ Struggling During Holiday Season
- https://variety.com/2023/film/news/wonka-thursday-box-office-aquaman-2-struggling-1235857641/
- “Timothée Chalamet retained his holiday season crown as “Wonka” topped the box office on Thursday. The family film, which looks at chocolatier Willy Wonka and his quest to open the world’s most fantastical candy company, earned $8 million, pushing its domestic gross to $110.6 million. “Wonka” carries an $125 million budget and has been a success overseas, where it has earned more than $180 million.”
- “In second place, Universal and Illumination’s “Migration” earned $6.5 million to bring its domestic total to $37.1 million. The film follows a family of mallards whose trip south for the winter takes some unexpected detours. “Migration” has been a slow starter at the box office, but it has picked up some momentum this week with kids out of school and parents looking for diversions. Its $72 million budget is relatively economical for an animated film, but the film has ground to make up if it’s going to turn a profit.”
- “Warner Bros., the studio behind “Wonka,” has had a very busy end to its year, releasing three major films. The other two, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and a musical version of “The Color Purple,” earned $5.8 million and $3.3 million, respectively. That was good enough for a third place finish for “Aquaman 2,” pushing its domestic gross to a disappointing $58.3 million. The film is the final entry in DC’s ill-considered and oft-maligned cinematic universe. The company, under new leaders James Gunn and Peter Safran, is rebooting its comic book movies.”
- “George Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat,” a sports drama about U.S. rowers competing in the 1936 Summer Olympic games in Berlin, earned $2.4 million. The Amazon and MGM Studios release has earned $13.6 million domestically.”
Tim Burton’s Unmade ‘Catwoman’ Was an ‘$18 Million Black-and-White Movie,’ Says ‘Batman Returns’ Writer: Selina Kyle ‘Low-Key Living in a Small Town’
- https://variety.com/2023/film/news/tim-burton-catwoman-movie-black-and-white-18-million-budget-1235857602/
- “”Batman Returns” screenwriter Daniel Waters participated in a recent discussion about the Tim Burton-directed sequel (via IndieWire) and revealed the collaborators’ clashing visions for a spinoff project centered on Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. Waters was envisioning a satirical take on the comic book movie genre, something he says was more akin to Prime Video’s “The Boys” these days, but Burton had something far more risky up his sleeve.”
- “”He wanted to do an $18 million black-and-white movie, like the original ‘Cat People,’ of Selina just low-key living in a small town,” Waters said. “And I wanted to make a ‘Batman’ movie where the metaphor was about ‘Batman.’ So I had her move to a Los Angeles version of Gotham City, and it’s run by three asshole superheroes. It was ‘The Boys’ before ‘The Boys.’ But he got exhausted reading my script.””
- “”It was a weird assignment in that I didn’t need to please anyone but Tim Burton. Before the internet, you didn’t have to go before a tribunal and say what you were doing — it was just two guys in a room riffing. We didn’t know shit about Batman villains,” Waters said. “We didn’t really understand the whole comic book thing. I just found out DC Comics stands for Detective Comics.”
- “Given that Pfeiffer’s performance as Catwoman was so acclaimed, it disappointed many comic book fans that her spinoff movie never truly made it past the development phase. The character would later be played on screen by the likes of Halle Berry in “Catwoman,” Anne Hathaway in “The Dark Knight Rises” and Zoe Kravitz in “The Batman.””
Fan of the InQua Podcast? Fan of this week’s episode on Wonder Woman and the Anthropocene? Check out articles from the host, Tristan, and this week’s guest, Madison, before you leave. Thanks!