During Thanksgiving break I decided to go see the new Justice League movie. Overall, I was impressed and I thought it lived up to the hype. However, this film was not perfect. I found a huge flaw in it–directors Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon somehow managed to sexualize Amazon warriors.

In the Wonder Woman film, the Amazon warriors were wearing battle armor that was appropriate for battle, minus the skirts. What a shocker, warriors wearing real armor.

In Justice League you can clearly see some of the Amazons in a brass or leather bikini. Please try and explain the logic of this, because I can’t find it. I also caught several shots in the film focusing on Wonder Woman’s butt. Like, her entire butt. It is no secret that men are attracted to specific parts of a woman’s body, and there are even studies that show that some films are meant to be seen from a male’s perspective.

Movies based on comic books are meant to bring to life the characters that many of us read about as kids. While I understand that they have to be a little mature to make them more interesting and to make more money, sexualizing strong warriors is not something that should be included. Quite honestly, it’s disgusting that Snyder and Whedon did this. I wanted to see Wonder Woman kick a bad guy in the face, not look up her skirt while it happened.

Wonder Woman and the Amazon warriors are amazing and are powerful figures in both “Justice League” and “Wonder Woman.” It was a highlight in “Wonder Woman” that the women were powerful and inspiring to a new generation of stronger women.

But it doesn’t end there, because Snyder and Whedon also decided to sexualize Superman. That’s right, the Man of Steel was turned into a Ralph Lauren model.

Without spoiling anything for readers who haven’t seen the film, Superman is shirtless for about ten minutes. Please explain to me why a dead guy comes back to life shirtless? Now I understand that the actor who plays the last son of Krypton is physically fit, but did we need to look at his abs for ten minutes?

It wasn’t even like Snyder and Whedon tried to hide it either, because there was emphasis on the scenes where he was shirtless. Somehow a guy that comes back from the dead awakens and tears off his shirt? Come on Snyder and Whedon, does that even seem logical?

It’s incredibly frustrating to me when these directors take the heroes I grew up with and make them into something else. It’s nothing against Henry Cavill or Gal Gadot, because they’re just the actors doing what they’re told. But they shouldn’t be sex icons; they should be the on-screen heroes that the youth of America sees.

We have seen Marvel have great success with their characters and there is little to no sexual influence. Sure, some of it is implied, but we don’t actually see Scarlett Johansson in lingerie or Chris Evans in a speedo. But DC is not Marvel, and for some reason they decided to try and ignite hormones when they did not need to. 

They are literally portraying superheroes that kids are going to look up to for years to come, and it would be great if they weren’t sex icons as well. Sure it’s okay to find the actors or heroes attractive, but they shouldn’t be sexualized just to try and appeal to a male director and a male audience.

Leave the Amazons in battle gear, stop focusing on Wonder Woman’s butt, and don’t make Superman unnecessarily shirtless for the majority of his screen time. The stories that superheroes can tell are really inspiring and I think that the big screen can do those stories justice. Let’s just not make those stories into pornographic films.