Wonder Woman of the Week: Patty Jenkins

Every once in awhile, we spotlight an actress who has brought the character of Wonder Woman to life in film, print, or television; but one woman has worked tirelessly to bring the character to life on the silver screen at a scale never before seen (literally, in the 75 years of the character's history- this will be the first feature film devoted to Wonder Woman herself) by directing the Wonder Woman film premiering later this week. The task was no simple one, but by understanding director Patty Jenkins' previous work- it's no "Wonder" she was certainly up to the task.

Patty Jenkins' first full-length film as a director- Monster- told the story of a serial killer on the run. The indie film won an Oscar Award for Best Actress in a leading role as well as winning twenty-nine other awards and twenty-five award nominations. After the film, Jenkins retreated from the silver screen to direct episodes for four television series (including The Killing and Arrested Development) as well as one made-for-tv film before being tapped to direct the now hugely anticipated Wonder Woman film. (In reality, the film has actually received the award for most anticipated film of 2017.)

Both cast and crew of works directed and produced by Patty Jenkins agree on her on-sight presence as a charismatic leader- and many actresses agree on the need for more female directors in Hollywood. When the industry began in the early 20th Century, the ratio of male and female directors was almost identical, but those numbers have since dropped to a male-female ratio of 96-4 when it comes to Hollywood directors.

While there are certainly a handful of male directors who could have made great Wonder Woman films, the character's first- and long overdue- live action film needed not only the perfect cast, but a perfect crew to lead the character into the movie theaters. Patty Jenkins' directing coupled with Gal Gadot's lead role and the various other incredible cast and crew working on the film will no doubt be heralded as everything the film has been hyped to become. (And just in case I haven't made the case for why you should go see the film, check out one final trailer before viewing the premier this weekend.)

"Patty Jenkins." IMDb.com; nd. Web. 31 May 2017.