WONDERLAND • The Ultimate Wonder Woman Site

	As a general rule, women, especially extraordinary women, have never maintained a strong hold on the media. Whether from a lack of interest or a lack of inspiration, the role of the super woman was a relatively insignificant embellishment to the established entertainment trends. In the past two years, this entire structure, in television, films and to a lesser degree in comic books, has experienced an unprecedented reversal.

	The most striking example of renewed interest in the superwoman can be seen in television shows such as Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman and, to a lesser degree, Charlie's Angels. There are others, most notably Police Woman. Yet these three aforementioned programs have almost single-handedly created a renaissance in the role of women on television, generally relegated to supporting male leads outside of singers and comediennes. In looking at these very diverse programs a number of significant patterns can be discerned.

	Wonder Woman is perhaps the most flamboyant of the trio. The initial attempt to transform the classic comic book heroine to the TV screen in the early 1070's was a grim and boring failure. Trying to capture the spirit and the intensity generated by a combination of a weakly diluted women's lib attitude coupled with the sheer physicality of an updated Emma Peel, the new Wonder Woman floundered in a sea of pretentiousness and incongruity. The role of the "jump-suited" amazon was played without the vaguest physical presence by Cathy Lee Crosby. Her characterization lacked the sex appeal and flash of television's earlier female super hero, Emma Peel of The Avengers and even April Dancer - The girl From UNCLE.

	It remained for a second, more imaginative venture to rekindle an interest in Wonder Woman. The approach was simple: return to the original Wonder Woman in the imaginary past of comic book Second World War and utilize a woman who personified the original creation. Combining a touch of camp, a bit of nostalgia and a sizeable chunk of raw sex-appeal, the second version of Wonder Woman became a comparatively major television success.

	The prime reason was Lynda Carter, whose statuesque beauty and heroic proportions outclassed even the original amazon.
Lynda Carter's career has been varied. Starting off as a singer and a beauty contestant, she ultimately tried her hand at acting (her stint as a beauty contestant landed her the title of Miss World-USA in 1973). After studying acting on both the East and West Coasts, she appeared in several films and TV series. Her big break came when ABC invited her to test for their second version of Wonder Woman. The rest is history.

Lynda Carter is Wonder Woman. Not only did she capture the essence of the original comic book creation, she instilled a new exoticism to the character. One of the great injustices of the television media, however, is its deplorable double standards. Lynda Carter was a pin-up creation. Her wild costume - strapless, red bodice adorned with a golden eagle, brief blue shorts with white stars, and red boots - was an image worthy of the best good girl art comics of the 1940's. She was able to give a sexual identity to a character created by child psychologist Charles Moulton, who simply tried to treat young girls to a female hero.

In the past thirty-odd years since her inception, the comic book character of Wonder Woman was basically an asexual creation. Though there was an endless parade of bizarre villainess to battle the Amazon princess as well as outrageous examples of bondage and highly sexually sadistic impasses, Diana Prince has managed to remain virginal. Lynda Carter has changed all that. Not to suggest that the new approach has perverted the original creation giving Wonder Woman a male-sexist appeal, rather Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman is just that - a three dimensional woman.

During the lull between the first and second Wonder Woman pilots, Lynda Carter modeled for a Playboy centerfold. The session produced considerable excitement and was proposed for an upcoming issue. However, television producers, frightened that this "exposure" would break the mystique surrounding their newfound success in the "child-oriented" Wonder Woman, managed to have the photo feature tabled.

After almost two years as Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter may hang up her magic lasso and store her invisible plane. the occasional TV series has not, at this time, been rescheduled for next season, according to information gleaned from ABC and Warner Brothers, where the series is produced. That may change. Television is an ephemeral business at best, and is constantly re-establishing its priorities.

But whether or not Wonder Woman continues, Lynda Carter seems firmly entrenched as a new icon - a super woman, if you will - for the Seventies. Her approach is sincere and genuine. "From the start, Wonder Woman to me wasn't just another TV character. I'm living out a fantasy. Since I first read about her, it's as if Wonder Woman were part of my being. I don't see myself as a sex object. It's a side effect, and it's OK I guess, but I don't want to dwell on it. My approach is that I'm trying to do something that will make people feel pleasure."

Another actress who manages to project the same feeling is Lindsay Wagner. Starring as Jaime Sommers, the Bionics Woman, Lindsay Wagner manages to instill a breath of freshness to prime-time television banality. Created in response to the immensely popular Six-Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Woman is much more fanciful than Steve Austin's (Lee Majors) transistorized chivalry. In terms of her bionic replacements, this technologically improved human possesses cybernetic legs, right arm and improved hearing. In effect she has been made into a super woman capable of running 60 mph, lifting materials weighing a ton and more, as well as being able to hear whispered conversations from a distance of a half-mile away.

Lindsay Wagner portrays this cybernetic wonder with a great deal of freedom. "Since this is science fiction", she reveals, "I can play a wide span of roles - anything form school teacher to Mata Hari. This was appealing because in most series you get locked in one type." The personality and physical iconography are not as tightly structured as Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. There is no bionic costume or reliance upon specially endowed accoutrements (the Bionic Woman has her built in). The lack of strong visual identity coupled with he lighter content of the show contributes to a lessening of the Bionic Woman's sex appeal. Lindsay Wagner is an unquestioned beauty; the producers utilize her feminity, do not exploit it.

As producer Kenneth Johnson puts it, "Jaimie Sommers is someone we'd all like to come in contact with, sensitive and witty, curious and intelligent, vulnerable and strong. The complete woman." Lindsay Wagner is quick to add, "I don't want the character to turn into a Wonder Woman type. Jaime leads a double life as a teacher and a secret agent, but I want to keep her as real as possible."

A group of actresses who, in their TV series, maintain little relationship to reality are Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Jaclyn Smith - Charlie's Angels. These extraordinarily attractive women portray ex-police personnel who, after finding the routine of police busy work extremely boring, become operatives in a private investigation firm. The tone of the show is low-key. The plots are banal, flimsy. There is often little doubt that the only reason for continuing with a particular situation is to create a backdrop which will showcase their well-endowed charms.

This entire show is set up as a contemporary fairy tale, complete with a once-upon-a-time introductory sequence. The premise worked on by producers Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts was women as decoration, in much the same way as obligatory females in Fiction House comics. The shows have remained popular for different reasons: Wonder Woman may be viewed as a tribute to nostalgia, The Bionic Woman as soft-core science fiction. Charlie's Angels, however, can only be considered from one position. The show is little more than a pin-up calendar transferred to the TV screen.

The one factor that remains consistent among all three shows is the lack of a real sex life among these super women. In the case of Wonder Woman, her mythology does not permit such frivolities on penalty of forfeiting her powers. The Bionic Woman, with her impaired memory, has yet to remember her love for Steve Austin. Lindsay Wagner admits, "Adults began tuning in because they were fascinated by the possibility of a sex life between two individuals who are part human and part Timex." No Soap. It even appears that Charlie's Angels have nothing better to do than sit around the office chit-chatting, waiting for boss Charlie to call fresh from some sexual escapade. Again, TV's double standard rears its head.

The question that recurs is whether these shows are an indication of a renewed interest in the role of the female hero or rather are they mere accidents. The answer is complex and well hidden within the folds of popular culture. In the past few years, interest in women culture has been on the upswing.

Even comic books have received a renewed input in terms of major female characters: Isis, Starfire, Ms. Marvel and Red Sonja. All these new creations hint at a changing cultural climate. Society is attempting to recognize women as potent individuals. The success of these publishing ventures is echoed in the appearance of a "Sonja Con" to honor Marvel's barbarian super woman. The response in filmic terms has been more extravagant.

The three major prime-time shows discussed have provided the impetus to inject a strong female identity into television. Saturday morning "kid shows" now have their own super women. Isis and Electro Woman and Dyna Girl, are designed for children. Yet the implications are all too obvious. It is the thrill of having women placed in compromising situations that excites. Whether they wear strapless - "headlight" - bodices or skin-tight costumes, the reaction is the same. It is a chauvinistic philosophy that has been used in film as far back as The Perils of Pauline. It works.

In theatrical films the atmosphere is much freer to create super women who are indeed larger than life. Unfortunately most lend themselves to exploitation. Cleopatra Jones, Big Zapper, Coffy, Superchick, Foxy Brown, TNT Jackson and Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS are recent examples by motion picture producers to create super heroines on film. It traces back to the 1060's and the attempts at transferring sexual comic strips into wild motion pictures. Barbarella starred Jane Fonda at the height of her beauty, while Monica Vitti seductively portrayed Modesty Blaise.

The seeds were planted in various low-budget films, culminating in the rise to super-stardom of Raquel Welch in thrillers like One Million Years B.C., Fathom, and Kansas City Bomber. Recently, Universal Studios was toying with the idea of making a feature length movie based on the comic book character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. The studio's choice for this good-girl art role was Raquel herself. The fate of the production has not been determined at this time but simply its consideration is significant.

The action-oriented super woman is being firmly entrenched in the minds of the general public. The flamboyant sexual escapism of Barbarella has been replaced by the suggestive eroticism of Wonder Woman and Charlie's Angels. The ultimate response is difficult to determine. The most interesting possibilities rest in the complete acceptance of these new female stereotypes. The sad reality of this entirely new phenomenon is that some producers seem unaware of the reasons for the success of these ventures.

Marvel Comics is seriously talking about plans to place Spider-Man in a prime-time television series. Their decision to do this has risen from the success of the Wonder Woman show. They are functioning under the assumption that if one comic book character can make the big time, then there must be room for more. The simple fact is that Spider-Man does not have the same measurements as Lynda Carter. And no matter how many webs he slings, he will never be able to elicit the same response as Wonder Woman straining against her sexy costume.

The contemporary super woman is a sex object. The appeal lies in the vernacular of A Chorus Line's profound song, "Tits and Ass." The sooner everyone realizes this situation the easier it will be to find satisfaction in these mild excursions into super woman sexuality.