The Princess Blog

Big-shot director James Cameron  recently made some controversial comments regarding the recent  Wonder Woman  movie, referring to her as "an objectified icon" and calling the movie "a step backwards." He used this as an excuse to pat himself on the back for his character Sarah Conner from the Terminator  movies. James Cameron is notoriously full of himself, so it's no surprise to see him bring down another movie in order to promote one of his own. His comments rubbed many people the wrong way , including Wonder Woman  director Patty Jenkins , who retorted with: "James Cameron's inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for...is unsurprising as...he is not a woman...If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren't free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven't come very far have we. There is no right and wrong kind of pow...

In my "Queer Princesses" post , I mentioned that NBC had announced a potential reboot of Xena: Warrior Princess that would explore Xena's relationship with Gabrielle. Last week, that reboot was officially cancelled . There are many reasons this was the wrong decision for the NBC executives to make. A big one is the recent rise of the  warrior princess genre . With the recent releases of  Wonder Woman ,  DC Super Hero Girls , and  Mysticons , there is a clear opening for a darker and more mature warrior princess series that Xena would have filled. Also, in the modern age of reboots, now would have been a perfect time to revive this piece of iconic '90s nostalgia. The reason for cancelling the reboot was very vague. In fact, NBC President Jennifer Salke is still  open to the possibility of one further in the future , claiming "Never say never." Don't forget this is the same network that failed to give  The 10th Kingdom  a well-deserved sequel and m...

It almost sounds like a paradox. Not very long ago, "warrior" and "princess" were two opposing archetypes. Princesses wore big dresses, were dainty, delicate and needed to be rescued. Warriors were the ones who rushed in to save them, clad in armor, weapons bravely drawn, letting nothing stand in their way. The Amazons, the original warrior women, have been around since  ancient Greek mythology . One particular Amazon princess has existed in comic book form since the '40s and has just gotten her own theatrical film. I'm talking, of course, about Princess Diana.  No, not that one! It's Wonder Woman. As the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, Diana is very much a princess, and as an Amazon and DC superhero, she is also very much a warrior. The fact that she was created in 1941 makes this disassociation even more significant because it was not at all customary for women to be portrayed as warriors at that time, let alone princesses. She was created by  Willia...