Like a gazillion people worldwide, I entered my local movie theater to indulge in some fantasy for a few hours. With my friends Ondreah and Lisa, I sat, mesmerized as the drama unfolded on screen. I was familiar with the legendary DC Comics character of Wonder Woman and saw her as an icon throughout my childhood. A woman who knew her own mind, who answered to no man, who was raised to be strong and resilient, with a solid social conscience.

Wonder Woman is directed by Patty Jenkins and is written by Allan Heinberg, Geoff Johns, and Zack Snyder. The film stars Gal Gadot (Diana Prince/Wonder Woman), Chris Pine (Steve Trevor), Robin Wright (General Antiope), Connie Nielsen (Queen Hippolyta). The stellar cast puts their all into recreating the characters who came to be when psychologist William Moulton Marston devised an embodiment of divine feminine energy, combined with pin-up model imagery. The book entitled The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore tells the fascinating back story of the Amazon, daughter of Queen Hippolyta who grew up on an island populated by women.

In an interview on Fresh Air, even more compelling details were revealed about Marston’s personal life and the socio-political inspiration of Margaret Sanger and the suffragettes who paved the way for women’s empowerment. This is the man credited as the creator of the systolic blood pressure test, which became one aspect of the polygraph invented by John Augustus Larson. It caused me to ponder whether the iconic Lasso of Truth was inspired by the lie detector test. In its grip, no human could speak a falsehood.

I have some random thoughts after seeing Wonder Woman. Although I am an avowed pacifist, I really wanted her to kick ass…she did not disappoint as she ran roughshod over marauding WWI German soldiers whose weaponry she fended off at lightning speed as they lobbed them her way.

I have little patience for bullies and meanies who want to kill people.

I appreciated the overarching theme that love is the most powerful force on the planet; stronger than hate, stronger than war.

I like that she was her own woman who answered to her conscience and inner guidance.

Another piece was about free will. People have the choice to do good or evil. We all have our shadow side. We decide what to do with it.

Each person has it within them to be a peacemaker or warmonger.

My favorite quote from the film:

“It’s not about what they deserve. It is about what you believe. And I believe in love.”

What do you believe?