A 6 Year Old’s View on Wonder Woman

Over the past couple years, I have had the privilege of being a Father to two of the most beautiful and wonderful children I could ever have dreamed to have. I encourage you to take the time to read all the way through this story, because in my opinion, it is worth it.

When Wonder Woman opened, my daughter (6 years old) was very happy to see it. Unfortunately, over the past couple years, I have kept her relatively ‘sheltered’ from the female centered TV shows and comics. Besides the ridiculous outfits that I do NOT want my daughter seeing, there were countless other reasons to ignore the shows and comics. My daughter is a huge Supergirl fan as well, but I could not let her watch the recent TV show. Besides the fact that I thought it was horribly written, the amount of political agendas in the show was dumbfounding. Lesbian love stories, bashing conservatives, gun rights, etc. I don’t need those types of topics on the front of my six year old’s mind.

I will admit, that when Wonder Woman opened, I was unsure of where it would go. As a father of a girl, I am extremely aware of wanting my daughter to grow up as a “true” Feminist. Someone who understands she does not need a man to give her self worth, has the confidence to move forward in life and doesn’t take abuse. This new movie was being touted as a win for feminism and women everywhere. In my experience, that could mean multiple things.

When I got to the theater with my daughter, with her brand new Wonder Woman shirt, she was so excited she could barely keep still! I will admit, I was probably just as excited. It was Daddy/Daughter date night, and this was awesome. Nothing better than a Geek Dad with his Geek Loving Kid!

For the first part of the movie, she was quiet.. except for a few laughs. But for Moira (That’s my daughter’s name btw), this means she was very intently watching everything. When the movie got to the scenes of medical tents in WWI, I glanced over to see the expression on her face. I was a bit shocked. I wasn’t sure how she would handle the scenes, but her face said it all. It was a look of horror. Not horror in gore, or scared, but of horror mixed with bewilderment. She noticed me watching her and leaned up to whisper in my ear, “Daddy, I know Wonder Woman isn’t really real… but are all the army men real? Did that really happen?”

For any parent out there, I’m sure you can put yourself in my shoes at this moment. So many ways to answer this. I know my daughter though, this conversation wasn’t going to end here. “Yes baby girl, it really did…”

She sat back in the reclining seat and went back to eating her popcorn, but I could see the wheels turning.

An hour later, the movie ended and my daughter was clapping along with half the theater. I was mildly surprised with how well I thought they did with the movie! I really liked it! Not to mention, they did such a fine job of allowing a Female lead to be vulnerable, have a ‘love interest’, but not make her look weak or needy. I was really pleased that my daughter got to see it!

As we walked out to the car, Moira held my hand and skipped the whole way, telling me all her favorite parts and what she thought was the best. It wasn’t until I got into the car and started the engine, that things got “deep”.

“Dad, why would people do that to other people?”

I turned around, “Do what?”

“Why would people hurt other people like they were hurting the army men in the movie? Why would people do that for real?”

It took a moment for me to process just how serious of a question my six year old was asking me. Great, one of those dad moments again. I tried to keep the answer as simple as possible.

“Well, because there are people in this world that are bad… people do bad things. Sometimes they think it is right, but sometimes they just aren’t nice people.”

She gave me this look like, yeah dad, I get it. Then she says, “Wonder Woman said that love can fix things.. if people just loved other people, they wouldn’t do that.”

I sighed inwardly. I should consider this a dad win, right? My six year old was trying to solve world peace! But then, she continued…

“She forgot something though. She forgot God. If everyone loved God, they would know how to love everyone and be kind to everyone else..”

OK, before any of you reading this that are NOT Christians, get offended, please take this for what it is. It’s a six year old girl understanding that what her family believes and practices, actually has substance. Believing that God commands us to treat our neighbors how we want to be treated, or to love one another, or to show kindness, is exactly what we believe. The incredible thing about all this? Is that Moira was right…

If everyone DID believe exactly that, it would be the foundation to world peace. Even Wonder Woman had to admit, Humans are a mess… and it is their capability to LOVE that sets them apart from everything else.

I couldn’t have been more proud or awed. My six year old geek daughter, was discussing world peace with me because of Wonder Woman… and she was doing it with only the clarity that a child can have.

So, thanks Gal Gadot.. and thanks Linda Carter, for taking the lead in getting a strong female put in the correct light. Thanks for letting my daughter have a ‘safe’ movie, free from agendas. Thanks for allowing me to watch my daughter enjoy a superhero the way I have always enjoyed them, and for provoking a conversation I never thought I would have with a 6 year old.