You're forgetting a few things in regards to the story:
- She's been sheltered her whole life on an island hidden from the world. She only knows what she had been taught, and understood. So, the first time she sees a man could be quite questionable.
- Her mission is entirely different than his. She's focused on destroying Aries, while Pine is focused on his mission for WW2. She has no concept of what life is like outside of her island. She has a lot of misunderstandings, etc. Think of how you would be going to someplace completely foreign, with societal rules and laws which are completely foreign to you which has more technology than you can comprehend.
- Superhero stories are filled with bad puns, misgivings, and not exactly politically correct things. Not to mention the storylines have huge holes in them. Thus, why I say sometimes it's better to "just watch" a movie and not compare it to what you perceive in real life.
As to your comparison between just watching a movie without critical thinking, and women "should just enjoy being raped or accept sexual harassment" is... I'm just going to not respond to that.
But what she has been taught is that men are evil and not to be trusted, so why she might have had mixed feelings surely she would be more cautious than "ooohh a sexy man!". As far as she is aware this is the enemy that enslaved her people and the entire reason for them leaving the world. If you had been taught that message your entire life would you really act so doe eyed? While yes, she has been sheltered on the island, you have to remember that many strong communities within the world have been at points sheltered from others, but that did not make them any less fiesty when war did hit. Especially not in a community where she has been taught about war and trained to fight since childhood. The Amazons may have remained on the island, but they are not a small or peaceful people (while they have peace with one another).
I have been to many completely foreign places and have been in many situations with things I do not understand, while I have not been sheltered to the point of remaining on an island my entire life, cut off from the rest of the world, there are some places that I have been sheltered from my entire life. I did not wander around doe eyed like a tourist naively following anyone around, and I most certainly have responded appropriately in situations where violence has struck, even though I had no previous experience with that. Sure there might be new things that she would be working out and trying to understand, but she follows Chris Pine around like she's a little girl and he's her dad.
If you are referring to the DC superhero movies, then yes, because they are produced and directed by Zak Snyder who is notoriously sexist and pretty much produces lousy movies. I thought this was by far the worst that I have watched though. I did not find any problems with the Marvel female characters, black widow for example is a great character and Scarlett is a great actress. While it would be dark, it would be nice to see a movie dedicated to her.
Let's just put this film into a different category, say that the film is about a black person who lives within a community that has been isolated because they were enslaved by white people. All they have been taught is that white people are evil and will enslave them if they come here. If you swapped that entire movie around and you made the main character as white looking as a black person could be and gave them nearly every racist gender stereotype within their personality, then moved them away from their community and had the rest of the film being them and only white people around them save a couple of people (including the baddie), and that they basically mostly blindly do what the white people tell them. In this situation the film has been planned by white people, but they brought in a black director basically so they didn't get accused of racism, yet everyone else making was still white. And then they deliberately advertised the film as being great for black rights and pro equality. People might celebrate that a black director finally got to film something, but I can't believe that people would not be up in arms about that and would point out the film is racist. Nor would it be seen as a "just enjoy the film" situation. You're talking about a raw subject of slavery and stereotypes causing casual racism which is a real part of some people's lives. Women as a gender have only recently come out of enslavement which lasted thousands of years. Barely 50 years ago women in western culture were still not legally able to own or do certain things without their husbands permission. Even if a husband were abusive he could take her children from her if she decided to leave. Sexism may not be apparent for most men, but it is still very much there. It is a sensitive subject and not something which should be mocked. This may not be a big deal for you, and it's really easy to sit from your viewpoint and tell me to not take this film as a slap in the face, but from my viewpoint it is just reciting all the things that I have been fighting against my entire life. The major problem I have with this film is there are many men and women I have spoken to who now think this is what feminism looks like. Feminism seems to have a new face, and it's not Emma Watson speaking proudly about her beliefs and the hurdles she has faced. Nope, it's a sexy, scantily dressed supermodel who reverts back to ideals which women have been speaking out against for years. The creators of this icon? A group of notoriously sexist white men hiding behind the female director they hired for the role.
I don't think it's a bad thing to question what movies put in the content and what messages they send. The media has a huge impact on how people see themselves as they are growing up and once they are adults. We should not pretend that movies are "just movies". If you normalise racism or sexism in the media it does have a ripple effect. You could say that James Bond is just an innocent movie and that because it's an enjoyable film it's ok that he rapes Pussy Galore and it's seen as being romantic. Yet children watch that and idolise him as a character. One of the subjects I have studied is the media's effect on people, and it does across all ages change behaviour. While in adults that is very short term, with children that can be long term (remember that personality and free will always exist).
Feminism for example is an important campaign that focuses on a huge amount of issues, ranging from boys being bullied for not being macho enough to campaigning against negative gender stereotypes portrayed by the media and a whole load in between. But it is also a very fashionable campaign right now, many young men and women are excited about the changes with are coming about and are not accepting what was once seen as acceptable. I have noticed a lot of films made in the last five years have ceased to sexualise women and normalise violence against women. It's really incredible to watch, but scary to watch some films in similar categories made ten years ago which seem like one disgusting sexist joke after another as well as glorifying treating women like objects. Some directors and film makers understand what feminism means, but there are also many who have adopted the label to make more sales. The word and campaign is being hijacked by people who just don't give a fuck, which is not positive for anyone. It devalues the cause.
So I will question it, as I will question "just banter" or "just a joke" or "just trying to have fun, don't be so prude" after responding to a guy grabbing me sexually.
I am not someone to say that being male means you cannot have an opinion on this film or on my views, but please understand that what to you is just a silly film, it means something different to me. You are also a white American male, and in this film the white American male was the clear hero from the start. He appeared to have no flaws, was intelligent and strong and got the girl. There were frequent moments where he undermined her or told her to shut up and was shown as being right. While everyone else from other culture or gender basically got mocked or shown as disgustingly sexual, sexist pigs. Though I actually found his sexism to be more true to real life as it's the underlying sexism, not what is obvious to look at. You'd probably only notice it if you were the recipient. The person you are most likely to relate to was shown as being a great character through the movie. That was what I wanted when I watched the movie. I wanted to watch someone of my gender who was strong and funny and who seemed comfortable within their own skin. I wanted someone who's looks were secondary to their personality. You got that, I did not, and I have every reason to be disappointed. You probably think my comment about the politicians and enjoying sexual violence is extreme, and it is. Of course this is not on the same level, but it is of the same mindset. It's "well we're enjoying ourselves, why can you not just enjoy it?" without thinking of it from the other person's perspective. The film was more of a Chris Pine war movie with Wonder Woman thrown into the mix as a glossy side character and Bond girl type, which was not what it was advertised as.
