The Pathos Of Steve Trevor: Why Wonder Woman Is The Greatest Superhero Movie Of This Century

 Wonder Woman (2017) tells the story of a goddess, Diana (Gal Gadot), who seeks to end WWI (which in the movie is driven by the god Ares) and prevent the use of chemical weapons by the German Empire to turn the tide of the war in their favour. She is joined in the mission by the American spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), who discovered this plot, and who in my view takes the film from good to great.

Because Steve Trevor is human. A talented one, yes, but after all still human, with all the limitations that that carries. And I believe that his inclusion, contrasting with the literal goddess Diana, serves in some way as an audience surrogate and adds a dimension not usually found in superhero movies.

This is seen nowhere better than in the celebrated "No Man's Land Scene". Diana and Steve are making their way to the front line when they come across a woman with a young child, who has fled from a nearby village that was attacked by the Germans. She has nothing, and those who couldn't flee have even less, being taken as slaves.

 


Diana is of course outraged by this, and wants to help (which she does, to much audience applause). But Steve is pushing for her to move on. It's not because he doesn't want to help these people -- he does, and as soon as she makes it possible he goes over the top -- it's because he can't. As he points out, the soldiers there have been there for nearly a year and made no progress. In the face of suffering and tragedy, he is impotent, and the only thing he can do is keep on mission in the hope of preventing any more.

As he says, "We can't save everyone in this war." Not "we won't", but "we can't". Because unlike Diana, he is only a man, who would be cut down in seconds by the machine guns of the German Army. Like us, he is condemned to be primarily a spectator.


At the end of the movie, Diana is disillusioned by the inhumanity she has seen and (briefly) drops out of the fight. Steve begs her to re-enter it, to come with him and help stop the war. His appeal is not based on humanity being good. It is pure grace he is asking for -- he does not try to deny the words of Diana's mother, that "the world of men do not deserve our help". But when she doesn't come with him, he goes to try and stop it anyway, whatever the odds.


And that is why Wonder Woman is the greatest superhero movie made this century. Because it isn't just a superhero movie, it's also a hero movie. Iron Man can respond to injustice by flying over there and shooting the bad guys. Superman can leap into action and save people.

Steve Trevor cannot, just as we cannot.

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