Avatar: The Way of Water and Terminator director James Cameron has always put female heroes front and centre in his movies, and clearly views himself as something of an expert when it comes to putting strong women on screen.
Honestly, it's hard to disagree with that, especially when his movies have turned characters like Sarah Connor and Ripley into icons.
However, rather than celebrating Wonder Woman's success in 2017, Cameron proved to be one of the movie's biggest critics.
That earned him scorn from fans and even director Patty Jenkins, and he was quoted at the time as saying, "All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon."
During a recent interview with TIME, Cameron reflected on his criticisms and admitted that, while he still views Diana Prince's costume as "an objectified paradigm," it's not his place to critique the work of female directors.
"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? 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," he continued. "It was necessary to have a female director own a major action movie...though Kathryn Bigelow had been doing that for a while."
"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's an interesting perspective and one which makes it relatively easy to appreciate where Cameron is coming from. His latest comments are likely to be every bit as divisive as the last time he spoke about Wonder Woman, though we'd say the fact he agrees with Thanos' genocide in Avengers: Infinity War could be greater cause for concern!
What do you guys think?