But, when a movie like Wonder Woman comes along, one which sports a woman of enablement, propriety and a noble heart, it probably does make some women feel good (some men, too) ...
I'm sure it does. As I said, I enjoyed it.
... they too have a God-given right ...
I'm going to go on at length about your word choice. I doubt you were implying what I'm about to say, but it's a nice opportunity to grab the podium and give a speech.
The idea of a "God-given right" is an American idea, not a Biblical idea. One of the oft-missed lessons of Joseph's imprisonment is that God never promised freedom and prosperity for all at all times. Sometimes taking the place God has appointed for you means suffering.
Women should most definitely be treated with respect, and God does have a plan for them, and the idea that a woman's place is barefoot and pregnant is nothing more than a male fantasy. However, the moment a woman (or a man) begins to demand a certain place they have run off the tracks.
I'm a bit of a cinephile (and I guess this is the forum for that), and I recently saw an interesting article about Jennifer Lawrence. Aside from some disagreements with her choices, I think she has amazing talent as an actress. She also has become the focus of wage disparities. It's not like she's hurting for cash, but as was said in
Moneyball, it's not about the money - it's about what the money says - that you're worth it. Until maybe recently, JLaw has definitely been a box office draw, and is therefore "worth it" in that sense.
But the movie
Passengers is a curious example - as this article pointed out. In entertainment, there is no objective measure of an actor's value. There is no good way to pay actors "fairly" (whatever that means). Superhero movies are the big draw right now, and males - typically 20s & 30s - are the target audience for that movie style. If that is the target audience, and that audience (unfortunately) views women as trophies, then Hollywood is going to pander (unfortunately) to what that audience wants. The result - if that's going to be Hollywood's business model - is that the smart business decision is to pay Robery Downey Jr.
a lot of money to keep playing
Iron Man as well as continuing to drape pretty (unknown, and therefore a dime-a-dozen) models from his arm.
So, back to JLaw, who is both very talented and very famous. The movie
Passengers centers on the character of Jim Preston (Chris Pratt), not Aurora Lane (JLaw). She doesn't even show up until the second act of the movie, and has much less screen time. "Fair", then, would seem to say Pratt should receive top billing and be paid more. But that's not what happened. JLaw was paid more and received top billing. And that's the way Hollywood works - you pay the actor you think will put more butts in the seats. And I would have made the same guess - that JLaw is the bigger draw.
Interestingly enough, when that news came out, feminists were touting
Passengers as a victory. They were claiming it demonstrated equality. Huh? Paying JLaw more than Pratt when she has a smaller role is equality? Then, when the movie started getting slammed as misogynistic (something I completely disagree with), feminists started backtracking and withdrawing their support for the movie. Yeah. A great example of lifting up women.
But Hollywood is
not about lifting women up, as the latest revelations about Weinstein make clear. They're also not about being "fair". Hollywood is a business, and at this time one of the worst places to look for Biblical examples.
I'd like to change that, but I don't think
Wonder Woman is the place to start.