This guide and all of my reviews contain occasional bits of rude language,
and opinions some people might find offensive but for which I won’t apologise.
Don’t read any further unless you are open-minded.
As hard as I try not to give away too much, I can't guarantee there are no spoilers.
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Professor Marston and the Wonder Women – Movie USA 2017 - 108 mins
Beautifully made story of a polyamorous romance – with twists
This is the story of William Marston, creator of Wonder Woman, and his wife Elizabeth Marston.
They were both psychiatrists working together when, amongst other things, they found a way to build a working lie detector. It’s also the story of their relationship with Olive Byrne.
Angela Robinson, who wrote the script as well as directing the film, has possibly run the facts through an artistic tumbler a few too many times to claim this is a real "true story", but the story as re-imagined is so beautifully made it should be true. Had Robinson not had a specific picture in mind this story could very easily have become tacky, but thanks to her it doesn’t.
A story need not be historically accurate to still have some truth in it, and the underlying truths still apply; All three were, as shown, radical thinkers for their time, and heavily influenced by suffrage and birth control movements. If we can think they might have approved of this telling, perhaps that is enough.
I guess it helps the B Plot in Robinson's script supports the A Plot – something that is always soothing in a story but not a rule scriptwriters invariably follow. Robinson deserves another gong for the attention the script pays to the matter of consent.
From L to R the parts of Elizabeth, William and Olive are played by Rebecca Hall, Luke Evans and Bella Heathcote respectively. The level of credibility and chemistry they brought to the story is impressive.
You can tell from the beaming smiles in this still the movie is like a rom-com but without the com. The romance began sometime around 1928 and the film focuses on the beginning and the next 20 odd years or so, so it’s a period piece with interesting sets, music and clothes to die for.
As for the hypocrisy of the invisible “they” who set social standards: The U.S. has always been proud of its commitment to tolerating religious freedom and, as a result, has been tolerant of polygamy. Odd then that the culture should be so ridiculously opposed to the exercise of personal freedom only because arrangements (consensual or otherwise) don't satisfy some religious claim.
Intolerance of polyamory (i.e. non-religious polygamy) would be easier to understand if all levels of society were committed to caring for everyone, including the poor, the orphaned or indigent, because then there would be a reason to fight "reckless reproduction", but the truth is few levels of society seem to consistently give a toss. (Am I assuming monogamous marriages are financially stable here? I must have drunk the KoolAid at some point.)
In this movie as in "the real world", when the bigots decide to bigot they hide behind their children. They couldn't possibly admit to themselves or anyone else that they are personally responsible for their own minds and beliefs.
I laughed when Molly decided to introduce herself to her new neighbours. People are probably the same everywhere around the world – they need so desperately to pin down everybody’s relationships to everybody else that if they can’t work out what’s happening they will make something up. For this reason I’ve always made a point of deflecting when people are treaclebeaks, just on principle. A blunt question like “Is that your brother/ sister?” demands a blunt response like “Hasn’t got a lot of hair, has he/ Short, isn’t she?”
This was an era when even privileged white women couldn't get into Harvard, so no surprise this film is all white bread. (Speaking of bread, its focus is mainly on the upper crust.)
Piece of Trivia – Angela Robinson, Director and Writer, is also the woman who gave us the movie D.E.B.S.
MA15+ Rating PM & TWW is about a polyamorous relationship, and it shows why the comic book character is not just a feminist but seems to have a bondage fetish. If you are down with that, there is nothing here that will scare the horses, folks.
