Stan Lee, ever the showman, made himself so inseparable from his comic book creations that no film was complete without a gracious and knowing cameo from the man himself. Lee is perhaps the only household name in comic books, trademarked by his mustache, two-tone hair, and big sunglasses. Not a person alive today doesn’t cheer when they see him on screen. For other comic book writers, this isn’t the case. Few know that Superman was the creation of nerdy friends Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, or that behind Batman’s cowl was a bitter dispute between writer Bob Kane and artist Bill Finger over who should receive credit for the character’s creation.
Even fewer, though, would know that Wonder Woman, perhaps the most famous female comic book character, was created in strange and radical surroundings. The origin of Wonder Woman was depicted in the 2017 film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women by writer-director Angela Robinson. Its release coincided with the first major film outing for the character in Patty Jenkins’ groundbreaking action blockbuster Wonder Woman.
Robinson’s film posits that William Moulton Marston (as played by Luke Evans) was a radical feminist academic. His main area of concern was the DISC theory, a behavioural theory that dictated that there were four personality traits that people obeyed: Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance. Marston’s theory follows his belief that people are happier when they are willingly submissive to authority, that the four “stages” bring about an inner peace by the end. Marston and his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston (Rebecca Hall) also worked on perfecting the systolic blood pressure test, a precursor to the polygraph lie detector test. Along the way, Marston and Holloway hire Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote) as an assistant before they both discover feelings for her, learn that she reciprocates those feelings, and begin a polyamorous relationship. According to Robinson’s film, this was the catalyst for creating Wonder Woman. The comic books were Marston’s way of injecting his psychological theories into people’s minds via the ever-popular medium of comic books.
Meanwhile, Patty Jenkins’ 2020 blockbuster sequel Wonder Woman 1984 follows the titular hero living in ‘80s Washington, D.C., under the alias Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), curating history exhibits for the Smithsonian and occasionally stepping up as a superhero when injustice calls for it. Her life is made difficult when powerful businessman Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) steals a wish-granting stone that gives you your heart’s desire but takes something from you in return. Diana wishes for her lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) to come back to life, while her colleague and new friend Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) wishes to be more like Diana.
Robinson’s film suggests that Marston pulled much from his life, along with those of his wife and lover, to create the world of Wonder Woman. Jenkins’ sequel echoes this theory. Jenkins herself has spoken at length in documentaries about her admiration for Marston’s work and his progressive ideals that made Diana who she is. But the correlation between Robinson and Jenkins’ films appears to be all the more curious.
To begin, Robinson posits that the lives of Marston, Holloway, and Byrne were dictated by DISC theory. The film begins with Marston as a professor at Radcliffe College, the female-associated institution of the male-only Harvard. We learn that Holloway is unhappy that she can only be granted a doctorate from Radcliffe and not the more prestigious Harvard because of her gender despite the two schools being of equal academic rigor. In the same way, we meet Barbara Minerva as a new geologist who is unrecognized by her peers despite her work. In this case, Minerva’s lack of recognition stems from her looks: her mild-mannered appearance and meek personality contrast with the more dominant ideals of the time.
In conversation with her husband, Holloway comments that Byrne’s beauty is a burden. She recognizes that Byrne has intelligence and value beyond just being beautiful, but she also knows that men only see her physically and make their judgment based on this. Her assessment that Byrne has to be nice to men she has no sexual interest in is based on Byrne’s fear of being labeled a “slut.” Diana, similarly, is a gorgeous Amazon who people cannot stop looking at, but no one suspects her hidden depths as a result. At times both Byrne and Diana appear to use their physical beauty to mask their abilities and appear less threatening to men. They also do this to hide their own insecurities and self-doubt.
Byrne and Diana share other similarities. In a conversation between the Marstons and Byrne, Byrne quotes her aunt: “A woman must not be told how to use her freedom; she must find out for herself.” When informed by Marston that Byrne’s aunt is quoting Margaret Sanger, Byrne replies that her aunt is Margaret Sanger. We discover in this scene that Byrne is the daughter of radical feminist Rosetta Byrne and the niece of Margaret Sanger, both of whom the Marstons admire greatly. William is also amused that the child of a radical feminist was put into an orphanage and raised by nuns. The juxtaposition of Byrne coming from such a radical lineage and being raised in an environment known for conservative ideals is striking. Despite her radical heritage, Byrne has no real connection to her family, her mother having left her to an orphanage so she could carry on her activism. Diana, similarly, is the daughter and niece of two powerful feminist women: Queen Hippolyta and Amazon general Antiope. Themyscira, the homeland of the Amazons, is an all-woman island that exists in peace and harmony. Diana, like Byrne, is raised entirely around women without the influence of men but with deference to a higher authority. Despite the guidance of women, both the nuns of Byrne’s upbringing and the Amazons of Diana’s answer to a higher male authority — the nuns’ higher authority being God and the Amazons’ being Zeus. Both communities use the teachings of a male authority filtered through a matriarchal society.
In agreeing to a polyamorous relationship — one that is outside of the “norm” of monogamy — Holloway states they need to come up with a lie and stick to it. Holloway is acutely aware that society cannot accept what it cannot understand. The era of the ‘30s has no ability to fathom that three people can love one another equally and that it is not “perversion.” Robinson takes time to set up this double life. Marston and Holloway have children together, and they claim Byrne is a widow whom they have taken in out of kindness. Byrne’s children with Marston are attributed to her fictional dead husband. Similarly, when Marston begins to write his comic books, he decides to use a pseudonym: Charles Moulton. Robinson draws a line of correlation between Marston’s alias and cover story and the concept of secret identities. In WW84, Diana is shown to use an alias for her work, which allows her to learn more about the magic forces of the old gods that still exist in the world and to help those who need it. She, like Marston, is striving for something higher than herself while covering it up to protect both herself and anyone she might care about.
Jenkins’ main thematic issue is the truth. Her villain Max Lord discovers an ancient wishing stone and, in a moment of thought about her deepest desire, Diana wishes for her love Steve Trevor to return. But only Trevor’s soul has returned. His spirit has been placed into the body of another man. It is only Diana who can see Trevor, while the rest of the world sees the man he is inhabiting. Barbara’s wish to be more like Diana morphs her into an “apex predator.” The stone gives, but it also takes something from you. For Barbara, it is her compassion and humanity; the stone takes the things that drew Diana to her, the things that make Diana herself also.
This mirrors a scene in Professor Marston and the Wonder Women where the systolic blood pressure test is trialed with the increase of heart rates. At first, the lies used are harmless and so Marston, who is testing the machine, doesn’t have an increase in heart rate. However, it is Byrne who suggests stating “meaningful lies,” lies that Marston, Holloway, or Byrne might have a stake in keeping. Jenkins’ film similarly is about “meaningful lies.” The wishes that the stone grants are illusions that take away what you truly treasure most. The lie corrodes you physically and/or mentally. Similarly, the lie Byrne tells when she leaves the Marstons later, that she is happy with a new man and a life of monogamy, is corroding her emotionally. She is safe in her lie, but it is not bringing her happiness.
Robinson posits that Marston’s main antagonist in life was Josette Frank (Connie Britton), the head of the Child Study Association of America. Her questioning of the Wonder Woman comics and their appropriateness for children call into question Marston’s life and ethics. As Frank questions Marston about his part in the human lie detector test and its correlation to the lasso of truth, Marston states, “Your body will always betray you. Your heart pumps a record of the truth.” Over the course of WW84, Diana’s body physically begins to fail her, her wish to bring back Trevor stripping her of her powers and her ability to save people. As Lord’s power grows, she realizes that to reclaim her ability to help others she must renounce her wish and lose Trevor.
This is a literal manifestation of Marston’s quote. Diana’s powers leaving her body and her body becoming weak are proof of what is in her heart. Her heart’s desire will always be her ability to help people and so she must accept the truth, that she is Wonder Woman first and Trevor’s lover second.
Much of the objection to the early Wonder Woman comics is the blatant BDSM on show. Many times Marston is told by his editor Max Gaines (Oliver Platt) to tone it down and instead increases it, buoyed by meeting Charles Guyette (JJ Field) and being introduced to his BDSM shop. The lasso of truth is both a physical weapon and a psychological one, as Diana is able to bind her enemies and subdue them as well as physically best them in combat. Robinson makes a point of showing Byrne — the physical model for Wonder Woman — bound and tied up several times since the blood pressure test requires being strapped to a chair. The truth binds you physically.
Importantly, Marston has Holloway, who is more physically imposing than Byrne, bind Byrne’s wrists and chest with rope. Jenkins shows Diana frequently binding Barbara’s wrists with her lasso to subdue her instead of using physical force. Twice in the film Diana uses bondage as a means to dominate Barbara, bringing to mind the covert sexuality of Wonder Woman and Barbara.
Barbara is shown to be both physically and emotionally attracted to Diana, whose intelligence is as alluring as her physical beauty. Robinson makes a point of showing Byrne initiate sexual contact with Holloway first. Marston is the last person to be involved in sexual contact within the three. Byrne’s desire for Holloway is based not only on her attractiveness but her position as an intelligent and forceful woman. More than once, Marston describes Holloway as “dominant.”
Both Diana and Holloway are frequently shown to be the dominant person in their relationship with Barbara and Byrne, respectively. However, to come to an agreement, both have to understand that at times they must submit. Diana physically submits to Barbara when she is bound by her metal wings, while Holloway has to physically submit to Byrne by getting onto her knees to show that she has mutual respect for Byrne.
By the end, the creation of Wonder Woman and her on-screen depiction show that while DISC theory might have fallen out of popular use, the elements ingrained into the character of Diana remain true. The complexity of Wonder Woman’s sexuality isn’t simply a matter of physical contact but the psychology behind it. What Marston sought to show was that personality types shown in his theory can’t exist in a vacuum and that ultimately we each hold elements of the four and have to learn to coexist with them all.
While Marston did not live long enough to see his creation become a pop culture icon, what he imbued her with — a radical sense of feminism and boundary-pushing — remains today. Robinson and Jenkins, both women operating in a male-dominated field, are a testament to what Marston stood for. In his own biography and in the hit adaptation of his work, Marston’s legacy as a maverick of gender theory stands tall. For all the changes Wonder Woman has gone through, the complex and intriguing origins of her creation remain as groundbreaking today as they were all those years ago. But when your creator is a man like William M. Marston… is it any wonder?
