For the past couple of years, there have been debates from various filmmakers in the industry regarding the value of superhero movies in cinema now that they're dominating the box office today and the audience continues to flock to movie theaters to see them.
One of the directors who have criticized superhero movies is Avatar: The Way of Director James Cameron, whose films have also dominated the global box office alongside some of the MCU movies. The filmmaker has fired shots at the genre in the past due to the characters acting "like they're in college."
However, despite the award-winning director's criticism of the genre, there is one title that he admitted to being a fan of in a recent interview with Time. That film is 2017's Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins. While he had an issue with its "objectified paradigm," he eventually grew from it.
"I don’t have an issue with Wonder Woman. I loved the movie. What was elusive to me at the moment was it’s OK if the woman wants to be beautiful and dress well not for the male gaze, but for her own gaze in the mirror, right?," he said.
"I had maybe missed that part of it at the time. You know, life is about stumbling and people push back and we talk about it and things get better."
Cameron also iterated the importance of having female directors direct action films and he cited his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow as the person who has done it frequently before.
"It was necessary to have a female director own a major action movie, though Kathryn Bigelow had been doing that for a while," he added.
"She would have turned down any superhero movie she was offered if it was a female lead. And that’s the healthier perspective, I think, personally. Why not have women direct male characters? Have a woman direct Batman. Now, you’re talking."
It is great to see Cameron show his appreciation for at least one of the films in the genre despite his criticisms in the past. After all, whether you like superhero movies or not, you do have to acknowledge the great works that were done to elevate them and it's not just all about a person in a suit with powers.
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