Professor Marston & the Wonder Woman

A beautiful love story! This based-on-a-true-story bio-pic shows us the origin of Wonder Woman.

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We first meet two researchers and professors of psychology, Mr. and Mrs. Marston, right about the time they decide to hire one of Mr. Marston's students to help them with their research. The chemistry between the three of them help the Marstons fit the final piece in place in their discovery of the science behind the earliest polygraph machine.

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All three of them were curious people - intellectually, emotionally, and sexually - and while this research is going on, every person in the triangle is falling in love with each other.

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The creators of this movie did an excellent job with the casting because the actors who played the two women played their parts with nuance. The student loved Mr. Marston in a certain way, but the way she loved Mrs. Marston was different; much deeper. And the way Mrs. Marston loved her husband and the other woman, Olive, in certain ways; both intense and very present, but... different. In less capable acting hands, the inept portrayal of that subtlety could have ruined this film, but it’s very well done, very convincing.

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Eventually the university found out about the polyamory and the professors were fired. That event freed them to create a new life in which they leaned into their love, shacking up together, having children, and entering into new careers. This is when Mr. Marston began to write and draw Wonder Woman.

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Readers of old-timey comic books will remember that in the 40s, when the comic came out, Wonder Woman had a lot of bondage, sadomasochistic content, and girl on girl action. It was unlike other comics being published at the time - especially female-lead comics. Wonder Woman had agency, she had powers, and she was overtly sexual.

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This lead to some trouble for Mr. Marston who had to defend his work in front of The Child Study Association of America in 1945.

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When Mr. Marston died that year, the publishers took over Wonder Woman, scaling the sexuality all the way back and even removing her super powers!

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We learn from the notes at the end of this film that Wonder Woman did, eventually get her powers back, and that the two women continued to live with each other for another 43 years. We also learn that a grandchild of the Marston’s denies that anything sexual ever went on between the two women. Ummm, sure.

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The way this story is told makes it very easy for us to believe that the imagery in the early Wonder Woman comics was based, at least in part, on events that were happening in the life of Mr. Marston.

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From my perspective, it seems that the three people involved were just trying to live their lives as honestly and authentically as possible at a time when the morality of America was extremely stifling.

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This is a great story, well-told. I liked it.

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