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sync & correction by f1nc0
~ Addic7ed.com ~

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Wonder Woman is awesome.

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What I cared about the most

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was trying to make a movie
true to the character

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that has lasted for 75 years
for a reason.

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But, for many years, I've been saying

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"There is a massive following
of Wonder Woman,"

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and it was baffling to me

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that she, the biggest
female superhero in history,

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was not on-screen.

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We think today of
seeing an action heroine

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in a movie as a big risk.

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But can you imagine, back in 1941,

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at the start of World War II,
how risky it was

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to be encouraging women
to be powerful?

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It still astounds me that I never
thought to explore earlier,

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"Well, who was it that made this
character? Why does she exist?"

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When I learned
a little bit about the creators,

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it made me love the comic
even more.

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It definitely wasn't the conventional.

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If you look
at the history of Wonder Woman,

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especially in the '40s,

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there was so much of these three
people put into that character.

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Their life journey
inspired a comic book fantasy.

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That had to have been pretty
spectacular for all three of them.

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They created one of the most
iconic characters of our time.

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But what strikes me is the
salaciousness of his personal life.

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I know the real story...
and that stunned me.

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I said, "Excuse me?"

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_

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_

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Before she was
a box-office smash in 2017

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and a television hit in the '70s,

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Wonder Woman
was a comic book trailblazer

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armed with a very unique weapon.

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What the hell is this thing?

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The Lasso of Hestia
compels you to reveal the truth.

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From her earliest days, Wonder
Woman was a character built on truth.

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But the irony is her origins
were all about lies and deception.

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Cambridge, Massachusetts,
the 1920s...

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it may seem an unlikely place

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for the birth of the most iconic
female superhero ever...

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...but this is where
Wonder Woman began.

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In order to understand
how Wonder Woman has

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withstood the test of time
and where she came from,

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it's important to understand more

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about the creator,
William Moulton Marston,

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a progressive psychologist,

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and the two women behind him.

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The more I read about Marston,

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the more I liked him, actually.

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I thought
he was super interesting.

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And he was
a valiant free-thinker.

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These are the things
that I really adore.

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And he was really into girl power.

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Marston met the woman
who would become his wife

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when they were very young,

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and William Moulton Marston
wouldn't have been anywhere

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near the success he was
without Elizabeth Holloway.

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Every step of the way,
she was the strength behind him.

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This is a guy
who had some sexual proclivities

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that would have been considered
scandalous in the day,

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certainly considered scandalous now,

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who had the good fortune
of marrying a woman

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who understood him,
and stood by him,

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and saw that they could
be great together.

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William and Elizabeth

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had both been very heavily
involved in the suffrage movement.

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They wanted women
to have the right to vote.

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I think that he was, obviously,

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a very forward-thinking,
feminist mind,

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and he was also
very interested in truth.

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Those two things are fascinating
because it's got

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everything to do with the
hero that has been created

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and everything to do
with what equality takes.

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Elizabeth routinely
collaborated with William

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on his psychology career,

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and nearly 20 years before
the creation of Wonder Woman,

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she also inspired
his first notable success.

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Elizabeth says to Bill one day,

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"You know, I kind of notice
when we girls get excited,

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our... our pulse starts racing,
our hearts start beating."

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And William says, "Oh, so your emotions
somehow trigger something else?"

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He became convinced
that blood pressure could be a way

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to tell whether
a person was lying or not,

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so he created
the systolic blood pressure test

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that is what we now think of

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as one of the major elements of
polygraph, or lie detector tests.

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By 1925, William is
building an impressive academic career,

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and is a professor at Tufts University.

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He is a professor
of Experimental Psychology,

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and he's a hot professor
on campus, very popular,

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and in one of his classes
is a very interesting young woman,

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and her name is Olive.

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There is something I'd like you
to consider... really think about.

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Are you a normal person?
Probably for the most part, you are.

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But your biggest fears,
deepest desires,

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you keep to yourself,
hidden away... don't you?

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Olive Byrne was my grandmother,

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and I remember speaking with her,

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especially about the time where
we were going off to college,

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and she always wanted us
to go to Tufts.

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She loved the school.

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But aside from the fun
and the parties,

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that's where she met William Marston.

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However... let me summarize,
as I'm out of time.

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I've found people illustrate
their emotions in four ways:

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dominance...

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inducement...

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submission...

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and compliance.

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And we will focus
on these emotions next class.

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Thank you.

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That was bold.

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Encouraging to hear
from a young lady.

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Olive. Olive Byrne.

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William Marston.

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- If you like, I can show you more.
- Of what?

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Of your four emotions.

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When she was
at Tufts University,

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Olive Byrne introduced Marston

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to some of the strange
and unusual practices

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that were going on at her sorority.

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And anybody
who's been in college

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and in a sorority
or a fraternity knows,

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there's some strange stuff
that happens.

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No, I didn't think so.

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You broke each
and every one of them today.

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Sit down in the line.
Now!

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She introduces him

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to these "baby parties"
at her sorority,

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where he becomes fascinated with,
you know, these sorority girls

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acting like babies
as part of the party.

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You were seen on campus
without your bottle.

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Bad girl!

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This eventually made
it into the pages of Wonder Woman,

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where Wonder Woman's
friend Etta Candy

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and the sorority girls
of the Holiday College

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engage in a baby party.
It was very strange material.

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Who's next?

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So at this point,

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Olive became Dr. Marston's
assistant in his work.

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She's fascinated in this work
with the lie detector,

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but she's very, very, uh...
unconventional.

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She's spontaneous.
She's very alluring.

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And then what happens?

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You have the professor falling
in love with his student,

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and she certainly has fallen
in love with the professor.

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They became linked,
both professionally and romantically.

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Olive was publicly portrayed
as Marston's assistant,

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but really, she was his mistress.

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And as we know, younger
people sometimes have more

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progressive ideas, and they
might bring things to the table

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that even super-progressive
thinkers might not think of,

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and so Olive might have
opened some eyes

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and opened some doors
in that relationship.

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Marston was interested in BDSM.

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He was interested
because he had a kink,

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because bondage and submission
was sexually exciting to him.

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And Marston had
fallen in love with Olive.

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Elizabeth saw this.
Had they been found out,

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it could've been disastrous
for his career, for everything.

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It could have ruined him.

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Olive and William,
their relationship grew,

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and it was taboo.
It just didn't happen.

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But then, as odd as it was,

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William Marston
spoke with Elizabeth and said,

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"I've fallen in love with her,
and I want her to move in with us."

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This is the 1920s, realize.

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It was not the time for
any progressive psychologist

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to publicly have a wife and
a mistress that all lived together.

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It was not only unheard of,
it was possibly dangerous.

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Elizabeth Marston

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has been happily married
to William for over 10 years,

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but now she has
a difficult decision to make.

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William fell head over
heels in love with Olive Byrne,

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and told Elizabeth Marston
that he wanted her to live with them.

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If having another woman
live in the house

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is what's going to
make you happy, then...

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I'm okay with it.

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The story I heard
was that after some time,

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Elizabeth told William Marston
that she wanted him to be happy,

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and soon after that,
Olive moved in.

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To allow the man that she loves
to express love for another woman,

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she had to be
a very strong woman to do that.

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I've heard inklings of this, uh...

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bohemian-like, 1930s figure

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who lived, you know,
'70s-style Three's Company

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with two broads.
There was an open-mindedness to it,

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and if you look
a little bit deeper, you know,

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following the conventional
wisdom of what society

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is pushing on you
may not necessarily be the route.

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Listen, we all have lives,
complicated lives.

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They seemed to be living
a really loving, beautiful life,

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which was embracing of truth
and in celebration of equality.

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Whether there's two of them
or three of them

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- is not really the point.
- The trio of them,

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the ménage à trois,
the household of three

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had to go to great lengths
sometimes to keep the views

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of the outside world from
intruding on their family.

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We do know
there are deceptions involved

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when they would list her
in one census as a cousin,

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another census
as a different relative.

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It's just so awesome

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that they were so not beholden
to society's morals.

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They were so, um... honest

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about the dynamic
between the three of them.

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They didn't let society's norms
define them or their work,

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because they were obviously
great partners intellectually.

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In 1928,
William is working on his book,

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Emotions of Normal People.

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He has the lie detection thing,
which everybody talks about,

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but there's this D.I.S.C. theory...

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"D.I.S.C." for "dominance, inducement,
submission, compliance."

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And Olive legitimately
was his research assistant.

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Do you know what it became
for William Marston?

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I absolutely believe it,

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their home became a living
laboratory of human emotions,

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and how they interacted,
and behavior...

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of jealousy,
of control, of dominance.

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Olive and Dr. Marston
are doing some very odd work

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with the reactions of women,

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to see how they would respond
to these emotional scenes.

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From what I've studied,
from what I've read from the text,

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is that Marston believed
women were "love leaders,"

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and he truly believed
in this idea of loving submission,

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which is to say, if men were
to give themselves over entirely

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to the power of women,
they would be less destructive people.

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I mean, the bondage

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is very much related
to his ideas about feminism,

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and that kind of happens
throughout the comics,

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where Wonder Woman is...

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tied up with her own rope,
and then has to obey,

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but then she gets power back,

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and she forces
other people to obey.

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Marston, in his later work,

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says not only should women
be emotional leaders,

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they should be leaders
in a political, global sense...

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that they're better suited
to lead the world as a whole,

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and he actually predicts
that a matriarchal

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revolution will come about
in the next 100 years.

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In the 1930s, the
Marston trio start a family.

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At one point, Elizabeth and Olive

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are even pregnant at the same time.

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Elizabeth gives birth to two children,
Pete and Olive Ann.

246
00:14:23,290 --> 00:14:27,058
So does Olive,
to Byrne and Donn.

247
00:14:27,060 --> 00:14:31,099
But as their family grows,
so does their deception.

248
00:14:33,032 --> 00:14:34,465
Olive creates a husband

249
00:14:34,467 --> 00:14:37,368
by the name of
William Kendall Richards,

250
00:14:37,370 --> 00:14:40,205
and these children
were the sons of this man,

251
00:14:40,207 --> 00:14:42,841
and that he had died.

252
00:14:42,843 --> 00:14:46,277
From all the research I have done,
he never existed.

253
00:14:46,279 --> 00:14:47,579
There was no such person.

254
00:14:47,581 --> 00:14:52,350
But it protected Bill,
it protected Olive and the sons,

255
00:14:52,352 --> 00:14:56,352
so it was done strategically
to make life work.

256
00:14:57,057 --> 00:15:00,458
So the direct result
of having this whole facade

257
00:15:00,460 --> 00:15:02,093
and a fictitious name,

258
00:15:02,095 --> 00:15:05,496
Donn, who's my father,
was teased a lot.

259
00:15:05,498 --> 00:15:09,434
He would walk home from school
and he would be taunted by others,

260
00:15:09,436 --> 00:15:13,436
and he was called one of
the bastard Marston children.

261
00:15:14,107 --> 00:15:16,007
You know, it bothered him.
It bothered him a lot.

262
00:15:16,009 --> 00:15:18,243
He was not a happy person
growing up.

263
00:15:18,245 --> 00:15:20,945
And when the boys were young,

264
00:15:20,947 --> 00:15:24,846
William Marston officially
adopted the children...

265
00:15:24,987 --> 00:15:27,738
but he was their father anyway.

266
00:15:31,557 --> 00:15:33,424
The Marstons
are mostly successful

267
00:15:33,426 --> 00:15:36,227
in keeping their unusual
home life a secret.

268
00:15:36,229 --> 00:15:37,662
But rumors abound

269
00:15:37,664 --> 00:15:40,565
that William carried on
an affair with a student,

270
00:15:40,567 --> 00:15:43,234
and his teaching career vanishes.

271
00:15:43,236 --> 00:15:46,337
Meanwhile, his greatest claim
to fame, the lie detector,

272
00:15:46,339 --> 00:15:50,141
is largely discredited,
and by the late '30s,

273
00:15:50,143 --> 00:15:52,410
Marston's career is at rock-bottom.

274
00:15:52,412 --> 00:15:54,145
Elizabeth is the breadwinner.

275
00:15:54,147 --> 00:15:55,580
Olive's raising the kids.

276
00:15:55,582 --> 00:16:00,438
He's got time to explore
his variety of huckster ideas.

277
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,255
He writes a novel.
He gets work with a film company.

278
00:16:04,257 --> 00:16:05,556
There's a Gillette razor ad

279
00:16:05,558 --> 00:16:07,959
where he hooks someone up
to a lie detector,

280
00:16:07,961 --> 00:16:09,961
and so he's got his fingers
in a lot of pots,

281
00:16:09,963 --> 00:16:12,230
none of them really stickin'.

282
00:16:12,232 --> 00:16:15,566
As Marston struggles
to reverse his fortunes,

283
00:16:15,568 --> 00:16:17,669
the world is on the brink of war.

284
00:16:17,671 --> 00:16:19,971
Hitler is terrorizing Europe...

285
00:16:21,540 --> 00:16:23,641
and the fears are felt in America,

286
00:16:23,643 --> 00:16:28,191
where a new type of hero
is about to come to the rescue.

287
00:16:28,514 --> 00:16:32,083
DC Comics debuts Superman in 1938.

288
00:16:32,085 --> 00:16:35,520
Superman's an instant hit,
and it kind of explodes from there.

289
00:16:35,522 --> 00:16:37,155
You get Batman,
you get Captain America,

290
00:16:37,157 --> 00:16:39,023
Captain Marvel.

291
00:16:39,025 --> 00:16:41,125
Kids are readin' them,
millions a month.

292
00:16:41,127 --> 00:16:44,062
But, um, the backlash
is near instantaneous.

293
00:16:44,064 --> 00:16:46,130
The rebellious nature
of the heroes,

294
00:16:46,132 --> 00:16:48,633
the crime and violence
in some of the stories,

295
00:16:48,635 --> 00:16:50,268
were starting
to concern some people.

296
00:16:50,270 --> 00:16:54,105
The quick popularity of comic
books, it's an easy scapegoat.

297
00:16:54,107 --> 00:16:57,208
The emotional impact of
something they read in a comic book

298
00:16:57,210 --> 00:17:00,678
may be much the same as
a real-life situation they witness.

299
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,082
The overnight
popularity of Superman

300
00:17:04,084 --> 00:17:06,684
has made publisher
Max Gaines a rich man.

301
00:17:06,686 --> 00:17:09,187
But the public backlash
against comics

302
00:17:09,189 --> 00:17:13,446
is threatening to take away
his main audience... children.

303
00:17:17,029 --> 00:17:20,732
It was a Sunday
when Olive and Bill started saying,

304
00:17:20,734 --> 00:17:24,168
"God, it's really quiet in this house.
It's too quiet."

305
00:17:24,170 --> 00:17:26,604
And they realized
the kids were reading comics.

306
00:17:26,606 --> 00:17:29,040
So Bill became fascinated,

307
00:17:29,042 --> 00:17:32,010
and he spent a year studying comics

308
00:17:32,012 --> 00:17:36,180
to understand how it was written,
what were the visuals.

309
00:17:36,182 --> 00:17:40,251
It was not a mistake.
It was strategic.

310
00:17:40,253 --> 00:17:41,586
So William Marston

311
00:17:41,588 --> 00:17:47,291
had Olive write an interview
with him about comics.

312
00:17:47,293 --> 00:17:49,660
They very carefully
construct this interview

313
00:17:49,662 --> 00:17:51,396
between, you know,
a Family Circle writer

314
00:17:51,398 --> 00:17:55,533
who's not presented as a member
of his household on her byline.

315
00:17:55,535 --> 00:17:58,202
She's just listed as "Olive Richard."
That was her pen name.

316
00:17:58,204 --> 00:18:02,457
They constructed this
in order to get the attention

317
00:18:02,458 --> 00:18:04,175
of the comic book company.

318
00:18:04,177 --> 00:18:06,210
Okay, this is how it goes...

319
00:18:06,212 --> 00:18:09,658
I travel to the famed psychologist
Dr. Marston's home for a visit.

320
00:18:09,693 --> 00:18:12,715
Dr. Marston is
approachable and intelligent

321
00:18:14,788 --> 00:18:18,189
- and open with me.
- That's good.

322
00:18:18,191 --> 00:18:21,626
I ask him, "Do you think
comics are good for children?"

323
00:18:21,628 --> 00:18:26,664
And he answers, "Yes. Superman
is certainly the soundest of all.

324
00:18:26,666 --> 00:18:29,634
Mr. Gaines at All Stars Publishing
has done a good job in that..."

325
00:18:29,636 --> 00:18:31,469
Yeah, but what about other comics?

326
00:18:31,471 --> 00:18:34,072
Some of them are filled with torture.

327
00:18:34,074 --> 00:18:38,074
Oh... Unfortunately, that is true,

328
00:18:38,144 --> 00:18:41,779
but when the heroine is tied up...

329
00:18:41,781 --> 00:18:46,184
...the reader is sure
that she will be saved just in time.

330
00:18:46,186 --> 00:18:48,419
So the reader isn't able
to enjoy suffering.

331
00:18:48,421 --> 00:18:52,256
How about a heroine
who doesn't need to be saved?

332
00:18:52,258 --> 00:18:55,738
There's a Superman,
why not a Superwoman?

333
00:18:57,529 --> 00:19:03,401
According to William's
son Pete, it was Elizabeth who said,

334
00:19:03,403 --> 00:19:05,882
"You'd better make that
new character a Superwoman."

335
00:19:06,772 --> 00:19:11,399
William actually named Gaines
in the publication.

336
00:19:11,744 --> 00:19:15,744
So of course,
this reaches Gaines' desk,

337
00:19:15,815 --> 00:19:18,683
and he's very excited
to see his name in there.

338
00:19:18,685 --> 00:19:21,652
"Oh, we need to bring on
this guy as a consultant."

339
00:19:21,654 --> 00:19:23,855
William's plan works.

340
00:19:23,857 --> 00:19:27,758
And once he has his foot in
the door, he makes the pitch

341
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,462
that he's been waiting
a lifetime for.

342
00:19:33,265 --> 00:19:37,235
- A woman?
- Yes! A woman! Mr. Gaines...

343
00:19:37,237 --> 00:19:38,569
It's not gonna work.

344
00:19:38,571 --> 00:19:41,672
Every female pulp
and comic heroine has failed.

345
00:19:41,674 --> 00:19:42,840
But they were just women.

346
00:19:42,842 --> 00:19:44,242
They weren't superwomen.

347
00:19:44,244 --> 00:19:49,213
They weren't superior to men.
Listen.

348
00:19:49,215 --> 00:19:52,550
Let me create something
that has both...

349
00:19:52,552 --> 00:19:56,552
a female superhero
with all the power of Superman,

350
00:19:56,689 --> 00:20:00,958
but the allure
of a beautiful woman.

351
00:20:04,563 --> 00:20:06,831
It'd double sales.

352
00:20:06,833 --> 00:20:10,168
- Double?
- Comics are read by young boys, right?

353
00:20:10,170 --> 00:20:14,071
- Yeah.
- Well, let's hit young girls.

354
00:20:15,207 --> 00:20:18,943
I took a chance on Superman
when everyone else passed on him.

355
00:20:19,811 --> 00:20:23,825
I'll take a chance on your
Wonder Woman, Dr. Marston.

356
00:20:31,857 --> 00:20:34,292
William Marston
wanted to introduce

357
00:20:34,294 --> 00:20:37,695
a strong female protagonist
into the world of comics,

358
00:20:37,697 --> 00:20:40,765
and in 1941,
that's exactly what he did.

359
00:20:40,767 --> 00:20:43,467
William Marston
gave her everything...

360
00:20:43,469 --> 00:20:46,737
power, beauty,
great intelligence.

361
00:20:46,739 --> 00:20:48,839
Wonder Woman
happens to be a woman,

362
00:20:48,841 --> 00:20:51,342
but is a grand superhero for all.

363
00:20:51,344 --> 00:20:54,412
She's a superhero.
She's the real deal.

364
00:20:54,414 --> 00:20:58,482
Wonder Woman flips the paradigm
of how comic books have worked.

365
00:20:58,484 --> 00:21:02,314
All of the successful superhero
comics at the time starred men,

366
00:21:02,349 --> 00:21:04,987
and here's this woman
out there doing the same things

367
00:21:04,988 --> 00:21:07,625
as good as, even better,
than the men do.

368
00:21:07,627 --> 00:21:08,926
Throughout the next year,

369
00:21:08,928 --> 00:21:11,896
she debuted in three different series

370
00:21:11,898 --> 00:21:14,665
because she was
so immensely popular.

371
00:21:14,667 --> 00:21:18,369
The sales figures on her books
went up and up and up,

372
00:21:18,371 --> 00:21:22,371
from 2.5 million to 5 million
copies of her books.

373
00:21:22,675 --> 00:21:25,509
Wonder Woman didn't
look like other superheroes,

374
00:21:25,511 --> 00:21:28,246
and it wasn't written
like other comic books.

375
00:21:28,248 --> 00:21:30,881
While other creators
told action-packed stories

376
00:21:30,883 --> 00:21:33,317
that were pure entertainment
and escape,

377
00:21:33,319 --> 00:21:35,386
Marston filled the pages
of Wonder Woman

378
00:21:35,388 --> 00:21:39,388
with psychological theories
and ancient mythologies.

379
00:21:39,659 --> 00:21:43,427
What's very unusual
about her is her mythic origins.

380
00:21:43,429 --> 00:21:47,429
She's born to a virginal queen
of the Amazons,

381
00:21:47,433 --> 00:21:50,768
and even the deity
that is her other parent,

382
00:21:50,770 --> 00:21:55,373
Athena, is female...
and this is so feminist.

383
00:21:55,375 --> 00:21:59,980
There's no other character in
comics whose creation is like that.

384
00:22:00,545 --> 00:22:05,383
He creates this powerful
but very feminine woman,

385
00:22:05,385 --> 00:22:07,485
following Elizabeth's suggestion

386
00:22:07,487 --> 00:22:08,986
that that's what
the character should be.

387
00:22:08,988 --> 00:22:12,890
The guy was a visionary,
as they all were, clearly.

388
00:22:12,892 --> 00:22:15,311
They were visionaries, and they were

389
00:22:15,312 --> 00:22:18,200
challenging what is
truth and what is love.

390
00:22:18,331 --> 00:22:23,401
They knew they had an
opportunity to do a new superhero

391
00:22:23,403 --> 00:22:28,891
that came out of
their view on feminism.

392
00:22:28,926 --> 00:22:31,642
In the panels of Wonder
Woman, panel after panel,

393
00:22:31,644 --> 00:22:34,078
you can find a blueprint
from their lives.

394
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,314
And Betty and Olive
were very involved

395
00:22:36,316 --> 00:22:37,882
in the creation of Wonder Woman.

396
00:22:37,884 --> 00:22:39,884
It wasn't just
that they were an inspiration.

397
00:22:39,886 --> 00:22:43,354
They had input
to the development of stories.

398
00:22:43,356 --> 00:22:45,623
I saw notes from Betty in Greek!

399
00:22:45,625 --> 00:22:48,492
As she read the scripts,
she gave notes.

400
00:22:48,494 --> 00:22:51,629
She studied Greek and
really fell in love with the language

401
00:22:51,631 --> 00:22:53,397
and the poetry of Sappho,

402
00:22:53,399 --> 00:22:56,801
and one of Wonder Woman's chief
expressions is "Suffering Sappho!"

403
00:22:56,803 --> 00:22:58,536
I remember my grandmother,

404
00:22:58,538 --> 00:23:01,572
she used to wear these
big bracelets on both arms,

405
00:23:01,574 --> 00:23:03,374
and the story that we were told

406
00:23:03,376 --> 00:23:06,510
was that the character Wonder
Woman was based off of her look,

407
00:23:06,512 --> 00:23:08,079
and that's where they got the idea

408
00:23:08,081 --> 00:23:09,714
of the bracelets for Wonder Woman.

409
00:23:09,716 --> 00:23:12,616
Marston
and his wife are credited

410
00:23:12,618 --> 00:23:14,418
with helping create
the lie detector test.

411
00:23:14,420 --> 00:23:17,488
And Wonder Woman's magic lasso,

412
00:23:17,490 --> 00:23:20,558
everyone knows, forced anyone
within its confines

413
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:21,460
to tell the absolute truth.

414
00:23:25,931 --> 00:23:29,500
Wonder Woman
becomes a comic book sensation,

415
00:23:29,502 --> 00:23:31,135
and William Marston finally has

416
00:23:31,137 --> 00:23:33,904
the lucrative,
attention-grabbing success

417
00:23:33,906 --> 00:23:36,540
he's been chasing his whole life.

418
00:23:36,542 --> 00:23:41,094
But with the attention
came fierce criticism.

419
00:23:41,580 --> 00:23:45,883
The problem came when the
critics started seeing a pattern,

420
00:23:45,885 --> 00:23:47,518
which was that every other page,

421
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:48,552
Wonder Woman was getting tied up,

422
00:23:48,554 --> 00:23:49,987
or chained up, or gagged,

423
00:23:49,989 --> 00:23:52,623
or tied up, chained up, and gagged.

424
00:23:52,625 --> 00:23:54,759
There was a lot of bondage
in Wonder Woman.

425
00:23:54,761 --> 00:23:57,528
Getting tied up
is kind of an occupational hazard

426
00:23:57,530 --> 00:23:59,096
of being a superhero.

427
00:23:59,098 --> 00:24:01,465
But if you count up
how often people get tied up

428
00:24:01,467 --> 00:24:04,635
in Captain Marvel,
it's about 3%.

429
00:24:04,637 --> 00:24:06,904
If you look at how often
people are tied up

430
00:24:06,906 --> 00:24:10,608
in the panels of Wonder
Woman comics, it's 27%.

431
00:24:10,610 --> 00:24:14,610
It's a quarter of every book
in the Marston era.

432
00:24:14,747 --> 00:24:16,914
If you look at those old comics

433
00:24:16,916 --> 00:24:18,182
when Wonder Woman is tied up,

434
00:24:18,184 --> 00:24:20,918
she's smiling,
she considers it a game.

435
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,789
The "Holiday Girls" were
having spanking parties.

436
00:24:24,791 --> 00:24:27,191
It was kind of a bizarre fantasy world

437
00:24:27,193 --> 00:24:31,128
in which submission
and bondage was fun.

438
00:24:31,130 --> 00:24:32,830
These things

439
00:24:32,832 --> 00:24:36,066
that he was doing in his
personal life has a lot to do

440
00:24:36,068 --> 00:24:38,669
with how those dominance-
submission relationships

441
00:24:38,671 --> 00:24:40,704
were presented in the comics.

442
00:24:40,706 --> 00:24:42,606
I mean, it's kind of amazing
that they got published,

443
00:24:42,608 --> 00:24:43,874
when you think about it.

444
00:24:43,876 --> 00:24:45,042
There's lots of bondage.

445
00:24:45,044 --> 00:24:48,913
There's lots of lesbian overtones.

446
00:24:48,915 --> 00:24:52,915
There's real, sort of like,
ideological feminism,

447
00:24:52,919 --> 00:24:55,430
which I think has also
made people uncomfortable.

448
00:24:56,755 --> 00:24:59,457
Wonder Woman
has been a massive success.

449
00:24:59,459 --> 00:25:01,058
But with critics attacking the comic

450
00:25:01,060 --> 00:25:04,728
as sexually provocative
and inappropriate for children,

451
00:25:04,730 --> 00:25:09,970
the future of Marston's creation
is in serious danger.

452
00:25:10,068 --> 00:25:12,291
Take a look at these.

453
00:25:12,326 --> 00:25:15,105
Max... you can't have
a female character

454
00:25:15,107 --> 00:25:17,208
without setting off a few fantasies.

455
00:25:17,210 --> 00:25:21,879
- Cut down on the chains by 75%.
- It's harmless.

456
00:25:21,881 --> 00:25:24,181
Everybody likes a good fantasy, Max.

457
00:25:26,652 --> 00:25:29,787
Wonder Woman has
five million readers.

458
00:25:29,789 --> 00:25:32,623
It will affect sales, Max.

459
00:25:32,625 --> 00:25:35,546
With growing
accusations that Marston's comic

460
00:25:35,581 --> 00:25:39,041
is exposing children
to strange sexual perversions,

461
00:25:39,098 --> 00:25:42,233
publisher Max Gaines
will have to make a choice...

462
00:25:42,235 --> 00:25:44,902
change William Marston's mind,

463
00:25:44,904 --> 00:25:48,131
or change the voice
behind Wonder Woman.

464
00:25:49,674 --> 00:25:51,609
With pressure
mounting to do something

465
00:25:51,611 --> 00:25:55,279
about his successful but controversial
female superhero,

466
00:25:55,281 --> 00:25:57,748
Max Gaines does the unexpected.

467
00:25:57,750 --> 00:25:59,817
He doubles down on Wonder Woman,

468
00:25:59,819 --> 00:26:02,586
adding her to more
of his comic book series...

469
00:26:02,588 --> 00:26:06,588
only this time, she won't be
written by William Marston.

470
00:26:06,659 --> 00:26:10,628
One of her early appearances
as part of the Justice Society,

471
00:26:10,630 --> 00:26:13,814
writer Gardner Fox doesn't quite
know what to do with the character,

472
00:26:13,849 --> 00:26:16,700
so he decides to make her
the secretary of the team.

473
00:26:16,702 --> 00:26:19,637
All the other male heroes
go about saving the day,

474
00:26:19,639 --> 00:26:22,273
and Wonder Woman stays
behind to keep the notes.

475
00:26:23,008 --> 00:26:26,010
It's a shame that her
position in the Justice League

476
00:26:26,012 --> 00:26:29,647
ever became secretary.
Of course, that's... that's a bummer,

477
00:26:29,649 --> 00:26:34,391
particularly when on paper, she's
the best fighter in the DC Universe.

478
00:26:34,719 --> 00:26:37,688
There have been a lot of men

479
00:26:37,690 --> 00:26:39,890
who have been able to step
into her shoes completely,

480
00:26:39,892 --> 00:26:42,660
and then there are some that just can't.

481
00:26:42,662 --> 00:26:45,880
It was very, very clear
that Marston and Elizabeth

482
00:26:45,881 --> 00:26:49,300
had a vision for Wonder Woman
as this "love leader,"

483
00:26:49,302 --> 00:26:52,570
this transformative goddess,
this powerhouse,

484
00:26:52,572 --> 00:26:55,652
and the creators and editors
of the Justice Society

485
00:26:55,687 --> 00:26:58,004
had a very different idea
about what a woman could be

486
00:26:58,039 --> 00:26:59,601
and what a woman should be.

487
00:26:59,679 --> 00:27:03,347
Match point!
Alice needs this to clinch it.

488
00:27:03,349 --> 00:27:06,175
Marston's
response is to use the pages

489
00:27:06,176 --> 00:27:08,719
of the Wonder Woman
comic that he does control

490
00:27:08,721 --> 00:27:10,955
to make her even more of a feminist,

491
00:27:10,957 --> 00:27:14,258
creating the segment
"Wonder Women of History"

492
00:27:14,260 --> 00:27:17,294
with tennis champion Alice Marble.

493
00:27:17,296 --> 00:27:20,664
Each segment
featured a "wonder woman,"

494
00:27:20,666 --> 00:27:23,734
a real, live wonder woman...
Annie Oakley.

495
00:27:23,736 --> 00:27:25,069
Florence Nightingale.

496
00:27:25,071 --> 00:27:28,872
It had scientists.
It had women writers.

497
00:27:28,874 --> 00:27:32,910
"Wonder Women of History"
really made kids realize

498
00:27:32,912 --> 00:27:36,614
that there had been women
who had done amazing things,

499
00:27:36,616 --> 00:27:38,816
and they had been human beings,

500
00:27:38,818 --> 00:27:40,985
not beautiful, glamorous Amazons.

501
00:27:40,987 --> 00:27:43,220
Like, how cool and refreshing

502
00:27:43,222 --> 00:27:46,357
to have that message being
zoomed out to young girls,

503
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:50,327
that it's okay for you to be
a woman with... with morals

504
00:27:50,329 --> 00:27:53,097
and friggin', you know,
some backbone to ya.

505
00:27:53,099 --> 00:27:56,300
And so he was using
comic book as a medium

506
00:27:56,302 --> 00:27:58,902
to send out his message
about feminism,

507
00:27:58,904 --> 00:28:04,802
and that feminism was going
to be the path to peace.

508
00:28:04,837 --> 00:28:07,745
Yanks, led by General Eisenhower,

509
00:28:07,747 --> 00:28:10,214
gathered for a joyful
liberation celebration,

510
00:28:10,216 --> 00:28:13,217
as shown by these Air Force pictures.

511
00:28:13,219 --> 00:28:15,653
World War II ends.

512
00:28:15,655 --> 00:28:18,389
Now, this is a good thing
that the war has ended.

513
00:28:18,391 --> 00:28:20,257
His idea with Wonder Woman
from the beginning

514
00:28:20,259 --> 00:28:23,027
was that this is the model
of the kind of leader

515
00:28:23,029 --> 00:28:26,964
who will emerge and run the
world for us after the war.

516
00:28:27,666 --> 00:28:29,767
But after the war,
the guys came back.

517
00:28:29,769 --> 00:28:32,102
They wanted their jobs back,

518
00:28:32,104 --> 00:28:36,104
and women were not so subtly
pushed back to the kitchen.

519
00:28:36,142 --> 00:28:39,243
But he resisted that,
Marston resisted that.

520
00:28:39,245 --> 00:28:41,912
His Wonder Woman
remained a feminist,

521
00:28:41,914 --> 00:28:48,385
and the message was always
that "women can do anything."

522
00:28:48,387 --> 00:28:50,354
While his creation,
Wonder Woman,

523
00:28:50,356 --> 00:28:53,390
stubbornly remained
a strong, feminist force,

524
00:28:53,392 --> 00:28:58,547
William Marston
would soon face his own crisis.

525
00:29:05,737 --> 00:29:07,171
Hey, there's something
you're not telling me.

526
00:29:07,173 --> 00:29:09,373
What's wrong?

527
00:29:14,746 --> 00:29:17,775
I won't be able to keep up.

528
00:29:22,087 --> 00:29:26,087
When this man finally
had the joy of true success,

529
00:29:26,392 --> 00:29:30,961
this is what takes him down
is cancer.

530
00:29:30,963 --> 00:29:33,263
I think it was a terrible,
terrible shock to them

531
00:29:33,265 --> 00:29:37,835
that they were losing
him so young. So young.

532
00:29:37,837 --> 00:29:40,437
Marston was really
dedicated to Wonder Woman,

533
00:29:40,439 --> 00:29:43,407
and he continued to work
throughout his illness,

534
00:29:43,409 --> 00:29:47,211
and was writing Wonder Woman
even until his last day.

535
00:29:47,213 --> 00:29:52,147
May 1947, and one week
before his 54th birthday...

536
00:29:52,450 --> 00:29:54,017
Bill dies.

537
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,521
I do remember
my father telling me

538
00:29:57,523 --> 00:30:01,325
the day that his father died,
that it was hard on him.

539
00:30:01,327 --> 00:30:04,094
Of course, at this time, he didn't
know that he was his father.

540
00:30:04,096 --> 00:30:06,196
It was just
the man who adopted him.

541
00:30:07,532 --> 00:30:10,834
Elizabeth said
that right before Bill died,

542
00:30:10,836 --> 00:30:14,371
she promised him that she would
take care of Olive forever,

543
00:30:14,373 --> 00:30:17,374
and so I think that was
kind of a promise to him,

544
00:30:17,376 --> 00:30:22,446
but, um, you know, to each other,
'cause they were family.

545
00:30:24,182 --> 00:30:27,017
Wonder Woman
was incredibly popular,

546
00:30:27,019 --> 00:30:31,388
but Marston had been so identified
and his voice was so singular

547
00:30:31,390 --> 00:30:34,424
in how Wonder Woman
was being created,

548
00:30:34,426 --> 00:30:38,866
but without his voice to guide her,
what now?

549
00:30:39,964 --> 00:30:42,366
William Marston
imagined Wonder Woman

550
00:30:42,368 --> 00:30:45,502
as a revolutionary character...

551
00:30:45,504 --> 00:30:50,250
but she was about to undergo
a drastic transformation.

552
00:30:52,477 --> 00:30:56,313
With William
Marston's passing in 1947,

553
00:30:56,315 --> 00:30:59,149
Wonder Woman faces an uncertain future.

554
00:31:03,521 --> 00:31:09,092
In 1950s America, women are
expected to live a domestic life,

555
00:31:09,094 --> 00:31:11,228
find a husband instead of a job,

556
00:31:11,230 --> 00:31:14,531
start a family instead of a career.

557
00:31:14,533 --> 00:31:17,601
Wonder Woman
changes with the times.

558
00:31:17,603 --> 00:31:19,937
Suddenly, all she really wants

559
00:31:19,939 --> 00:31:23,607
is to settle down with
her boyfriend, Steve Trevor.

560
00:31:23,609 --> 00:31:27,544
Wonder Woman became
almost like a sappy love comic.

561
00:31:27,546 --> 00:31:31,114
Her creator is gone,
and anyone who wants to

562
00:31:31,116 --> 00:31:33,350
can take her over and change her.

563
00:31:33,352 --> 00:31:35,152
When Marston passed away,

564
00:31:35,154 --> 00:31:37,554
"Wonder Women of History"
was replaced.

565
00:31:37,556 --> 00:31:42,459
The segment became wedding
customs around the world.

566
00:31:42,461 --> 00:31:45,162
But I think
that she was at her worst,

567
00:31:45,164 --> 00:31:48,567
poor Wonder Woman,
in the late '60s.

568
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,903
In 1968, Wonder
Woman lost her costume.

569
00:31:52,905 --> 00:31:55,539
She lost her powers,
and she became

570
00:31:55,541 --> 00:32:02,312
a boutique-owning
super-spy, and it destroyed

571
00:32:02,314 --> 00:32:05,115
everything that fans loved
about Wonder Woman.

572
00:32:05,117 --> 00:32:06,450
Wonder Woman was no longer

573
00:32:06,452 --> 00:32:09,019
this sort of robust,
"Rosie the Riveter,"

574
00:32:09,021 --> 00:32:11,121
world-changing
protofeminist "love leader."

575
00:32:11,123 --> 00:32:13,156
She was a dress shop owner.

576
00:32:13,158 --> 00:32:16,894
She was a romance-column writer.

577
00:32:16,896 --> 00:32:20,597
A lot of the gender politics
disappeared, and that, I think,

578
00:32:20,599 --> 00:32:23,166
would make Marston
turn over in his grave.

579
00:32:23,168 --> 00:32:25,335
Every decade that passed,

580
00:32:25,337 --> 00:32:29,139
people try to second-guess
William Marston's Wonder Woman.

581
00:32:29,141 --> 00:32:31,108
We're afraid of her having

582
00:32:31,110 --> 00:32:33,377
beauty at the same time
that she has strength,

583
00:32:33,379 --> 00:32:36,046
or softness at that same time
that she has toughness.

584
00:32:36,048 --> 00:32:38,248
There's really been
a struggle for her

585
00:32:38,250 --> 00:32:41,318
to maintain all of those things
over the years.

586
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,520
As this new
Wonder Woman developed,

587
00:32:43,522 --> 00:32:46,223
Elizabeth Marston and Olive Byrne

588
00:32:46,225 --> 00:32:49,192
wrote letter after letter
with objections

589
00:32:49,194 --> 00:32:52,129
to the ways in which
they were changing Wonder Woman,

590
00:32:52,131 --> 00:32:56,300
but in the end,
DC owned the concept,

591
00:32:56,302 --> 00:32:59,369
and Marston's voice
receded further and further

592
00:32:59,371 --> 00:33:02,940
into the background.

593
00:33:10,415 --> 00:33:13,317
I believe there is a love
between Elizabeth and Olive.

594
00:33:13,319 --> 00:33:14,985
They raised children together.

595
00:33:14,987 --> 00:33:17,120
The two of them lived together.

596
00:33:17,122 --> 00:33:19,556
I know that we told everybody
they were sisters,

597
00:33:19,558 --> 00:33:21,625
but obviously
there was much more.

598
00:33:21,627 --> 00:33:24,580
I know that there's been stuff said,
I don't know if I should say this,

599
00:33:24,615 --> 00:33:26,005
but I know there's been stuff said about

600
00:33:26,006 --> 00:33:28,895
even if they had
a relationship together.

601
00:33:31,703 --> 00:33:33,603
Olive's son Donn
questioned his mother

602
00:33:33,605 --> 00:33:35,973
who his father was
for years and years,

603
00:33:35,975 --> 00:33:38,542
and she never changed her story.

604
00:33:38,544 --> 00:33:43,749
My dad threatened to sue her
to find out who his father was,

605
00:33:43,784 --> 00:33:48,318
and eventually, Elizabeth
Marston came to my mom and dad

606
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,320
and said if Olive knew
that the secret was out

607
00:33:52,391 --> 00:33:54,758
about who
her children's father was,

608
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,729
that she would take a vial
of morphine and kill herself,

609
00:33:58,731 --> 00:34:04,701
and so Elizabeth Marston told
my mom the whole secret of, um...

610
00:34:04,703 --> 00:34:07,170
William Marston
having these two women,

611
00:34:07,172 --> 00:34:10,140
and who their father was, so...

612
00:34:10,142 --> 00:34:12,743
I don't know if my dad
was ever at peace with that.

613
00:34:12,745 --> 00:34:16,246
I mean, I think that he assumed
that that's probably what it was,

614
00:34:16,248 --> 00:34:18,382
but I think
all the secrets and the lies,

615
00:34:18,384 --> 00:34:20,916
you know, was hard on him.

616
00:34:29,761 --> 00:34:33,730
By the early '70s,
feminism was on the rise.

617
00:34:33,732 --> 00:34:36,333
We're supposed to dig
that we're sexual objects,

618
00:34:36,335 --> 00:34:38,535
and we don't want to be
sexual objects anymore.

619
00:34:38,537 --> 00:34:42,506
Women had to say,
"This is wrong.

620
00:34:42,508 --> 00:34:45,409
We cannot be
discriminated against."

621
00:34:45,411 --> 00:34:48,545
They had to make noise.

622
00:34:48,547 --> 00:34:51,181
The majority of the people
in this country

623
00:34:51,183 --> 00:34:53,350
support the Equal Rights Amendment.

624
00:34:53,352 --> 00:34:56,720
We had all read
Wonder Woman as girls.

625
00:34:56,722 --> 00:35:00,690
Gloria Steinem talks a lot
about that, and she talks about

626
00:35:00,692 --> 00:35:03,527
how they felt they had
to rescue Wonder Woman

627
00:35:03,529 --> 00:35:06,229
from what
was being done to her.

628
00:35:06,231 --> 00:35:09,599
The new domesticated
Wonder Woman of the early '70s

629
00:35:09,601 --> 00:35:13,336
had become one of DC's
worst-selling comics.

630
00:35:13,338 --> 00:35:15,105
But women who grew up with her

631
00:35:15,107 --> 00:35:18,775
longed to see Wonder Woman
return to her feminist roots.

632
00:35:18,777 --> 00:35:21,778
We had gotten the rights to publish

633
00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:25,082
one of the original stories
of Wonder Woman

634
00:35:25,084 --> 00:35:28,752
in our Volume One, Number One
issue in July 1972,

635
00:35:28,754 --> 00:35:32,489
which was an election year,
and Marston had a comic

636
00:35:32,491 --> 00:35:35,325
that had "Wonder Woman
for President" on it.

637
00:35:35,327 --> 00:35:39,162
It was just such a perfect cover.

638
00:35:39,164 --> 00:35:41,364
So you had these feminists

639
00:35:41,366 --> 00:35:44,501
taking a character who was
created as a feminist icon,

640
00:35:44,503 --> 00:35:46,703
and putting her on the cover
of a major magazine

641
00:35:46,705 --> 00:35:50,173
that was being marketed to women
and feminists across the nation.

642
00:35:50,175 --> 00:35:54,611
The feminist message was
equality and peace and strength,

643
00:35:54,613 --> 00:35:58,315
and William Marston's Wonder
Woman represented all of that.

644
00:35:58,317 --> 00:36:00,417
With Ms. magazine

645
00:36:00,419 --> 00:36:03,353
bringing Wonder Woman
back into the spotlight,

646
00:36:03,355 --> 00:36:05,589
DC Comics
gives Diana Prince back

647
00:36:05,591 --> 00:36:08,758
her super-abilities and her costume,

648
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:10,727
setting the stage
for Wonder Woman

649
00:36:10,729 --> 00:36:12,596
to make her biggest conquest yet...

650
00:36:18,769 --> 00:36:20,871
Wonder Woman's comeback

651
00:36:20,873 --> 00:36:23,840
started with Gloria Steinem
and Ms. magazine,

652
00:36:23,842 --> 00:36:29,546
but in 1975, a television series
would catapult her to new heights.

653
00:36:32,351 --> 00:36:33,850
And for a new generation
of fans,

654
00:36:33,852 --> 00:36:36,653
Lynda Carter would
transform Wonder Woman

655
00:36:36,655 --> 00:36:39,890
from a superhero into an icon.

656
00:36:39,892 --> 00:36:41,925
Being a young actress,

657
00:36:41,927 --> 00:36:46,630
you could be a secretary,
or a waitress, or a stripper,

658
00:36:46,632 --> 00:36:49,752
or some little part, or
whatever, but certainly,

659
00:36:49,787 --> 00:36:52,769
they didn't think a woman
could hold a television show.

660
00:36:52,771 --> 00:36:54,504
Star-spangled bathing suit,

661
00:36:54,506 --> 00:36:58,105
raven-haired beauty, the
lasso, all of it...

662
00:36:58,140 --> 00:37:00,410
like, the fabulousness
of Wonder Woman...

663
00:37:00,412 --> 00:37:02,646
it was that moment
and that actress

664
00:37:02,648 --> 00:37:04,381
and that embodiment
of the character

665
00:37:04,383 --> 00:37:07,951
that turned her into a visual
and pop culture icon.

666
00:37:07,953 --> 00:37:09,753
I was, like, mesmerized

667
00:37:09,755 --> 00:37:12,789
by how damn beautiful she
was in those hot pants,

668
00:37:12,791 --> 00:37:14,457
spinning, like...

669
00:37:14,459 --> 00:37:16,459
"How do you get that figure?"

670
00:37:16,461 --> 00:37:19,596
I was five, I think,
when the show came out,

671
00:37:19,598 --> 00:37:22,666
and it had a huge effect on me.

672
00:37:22,668 --> 00:37:25,969
I found that the Lynda Carter
series was very, very true

673
00:37:25,971 --> 00:37:27,837
to the spirit of the original run

674
00:37:27,839 --> 00:37:29,706
of William Marston's
Wonder Woman.

675
00:37:29,708 --> 00:37:33,708
I got quite a bit
of early blowback.

676
00:37:34,213 --> 00:37:36,346
From the networks, I got

677
00:37:36,348 --> 00:37:37,981
"Oh, there's too many
feminist messages."

678
00:37:37,983 --> 00:37:40,850
And then from the feminists,

679
00:37:40,852 --> 00:37:44,852
I got "Wonder Woman
wasn't feminist enough."

680
00:37:45,224 --> 00:37:48,625
You know?
It's like...

681
00:37:48,627 --> 00:37:51,294
What a country this is.

682
00:37:52,631 --> 00:37:55,632
After a successful run
on television in the '70s,

683
00:37:55,634 --> 00:37:58,001
Wonder Woman
would continue to evolve

684
00:37:58,003 --> 00:38:02,302
in the pages of DC Comics
and in animated series.

685
00:38:02,388 --> 00:38:06,965
And while her male superhero
counterparts dominated the box office,

686
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,705
Wonder Woman
would have to wait until 2017

687
00:38:10,740 --> 00:38:13,750
for her chance
to conquer the big screen.

688
00:38:13,752 --> 00:38:16,620
Thank God I finally have company.

689
00:38:16,622 --> 00:38:19,856
It is kind of astounding.

690
00:38:19,858 --> 00:38:23,365
I know for a fact
how much Gal delved

691
00:38:23,366 --> 00:38:25,895
into the heart and soul
of this character.

692
00:38:25,897 --> 00:38:28,398
The fact that Patty Jenkins

693
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,500
has taken the reins
of that Wonder Woman movie

694
00:38:30,502 --> 00:38:32,902
- literally makes my heart beat faster.
- Cut!

695
00:38:32,904 --> 00:38:34,604
It's a voice of a woman

696
00:38:34,606 --> 00:38:37,907
giving voice to a woman
who's out to change the world.

697
00:38:37,909 --> 00:38:40,277
Like, that's what it's all about!

698
00:38:40,279 --> 00:38:43,280
In many ways,
I think that's Marston's dream.

699
00:38:43,282 --> 00:38:44,614
When this movie came out,

700
00:38:44,616 --> 00:38:46,349
this Wonder Woman movie,

701
00:38:46,351 --> 00:38:48,551
I was just, like, "Thank God!"

702
00:38:48,553 --> 00:38:51,688
We need so much moral
backbone today

703
00:38:51,690 --> 00:38:53,923
that, like, you know, it's refreshing.

704
00:38:53,925 --> 00:38:58,534
It is about that mother,
nurturing, spirit energy

705
00:38:58,569 --> 00:39:01,777
that's guided by love,
unconditional love.

706
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:04,034
The first movie
was really about

707
00:39:04,036 --> 00:39:06,970
bringing Wonder Woman to our
world, and now she's here.

708
00:39:06,972 --> 00:39:09,472
The future of Wonder Woman for me

709
00:39:09,474 --> 00:39:12,575
is the idea that there's
this incredible character now,

710
00:39:12,577 --> 00:39:15,078
this one, this one
that I'm involved with,

711
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:20,450
who has many more stories to tell
because now she's here.

712
00:39:20,452 --> 00:39:23,453
Over 75 years after her debut,

713
00:39:23,455 --> 00:39:26,323
Wonder Woman
is more visible, more popular,

714
00:39:26,325 --> 00:39:30,364
more admired than ever
before, and it all started

715
00:39:30,399 --> 00:39:34,538
with a unique bond shared
by three amazing people.

716
00:39:34,573 --> 00:39:38,013
Looking back at the 75
years of Wonder Woman's history,

717
00:39:38,048 --> 00:39:42,939
certain elements have remained solid
throughout all that time.

718
00:39:42,941 --> 00:39:46,643
She's still a heroine
who chose to become a hero.

719
00:39:46,645 --> 00:39:48,445
She's still a strong woman.

720
00:39:48,447 --> 00:39:50,647
She still has the Lasso of Truth.

721
00:39:50,649 --> 00:39:55,555
Those were core elements
to what Marston wanted to do.

722
00:39:55,590 --> 00:39:57,615
He felt that women
were the wave of the future,

723
00:39:57,650 --> 00:39:58,922
and she represented the best of that.

724
00:39:59,469 --> 00:40:00,824
Bill Marston said

725
00:40:00,826 --> 00:40:02,459
"When a woman
is in the White House,

726
00:40:02,461 --> 00:40:04,461
we will have a better world.

727
00:40:04,463 --> 00:40:06,096
We will have a loving world.

728
00:40:06,098 --> 00:40:08,898
Women are the love leaders
of society."

729
00:40:08,900 --> 00:40:11,843
That's what he believed.
That's what he lived.

730
00:40:11,878 --> 00:40:17,089
Two love leaders in his life...
Elizabeth and Olive.

731
00:40:17,376 --> 00:40:21,044
How it has evolved,
what my part in that was,

732
00:40:21,046 --> 00:40:25,046
I pay homage
to Elizabeth and Olive.

733
00:40:25,050 --> 00:40:27,951
I believe that
Elizabeth and Olive's legacy

734
00:40:27,953 --> 00:40:31,054
should be that they
were two very strong,

735
00:40:31,056 --> 00:40:34,524
very bright, very amazing women,

736
00:40:34,526 --> 00:40:37,093
and as for
the Wonder Woman piece,

737
00:40:37,095 --> 00:40:40,733
I believe their names should be
right up there with William Marston.

738
00:40:42,566 --> 00:40:43,873
Whatever
lifestyle they were living,

739
00:40:43,874 --> 00:40:45,835
and however they found
their truth in their love,

740
00:40:45,837 --> 00:40:47,670
is something I have respect for

741
00:40:47,672 --> 00:40:51,641
because what came out of it
spiritually was beautiful and pure.

742
00:40:51,643 --> 00:40:54,511
No matter what the story is,

743
00:40:54,513 --> 00:40:56,946
it doesn't change
what was accomplished.

744
00:40:56,948 --> 00:40:59,482
To one degree or another,

745
00:40:59,484 --> 00:41:02,152
they were his muses and partners.

746
00:41:02,154 --> 00:41:05,188
We don't know all the details,
and we never will,

747
00:41:05,190 --> 00:41:07,157
because they are all gone...

748
00:41:07,159 --> 00:41:11,094
but it's also fun that there
is this lingering mystery,

749
00:41:11,096 --> 00:41:14,030
and it helps us
keep wondering about them,

750
00:41:14,032 --> 00:41:17,200
these people
who created Wonder Woman.

751
00:41:17,202 --> 00:41:18,868
She's not about being a woman

752
00:41:18,870 --> 00:41:21,938
any more than Superman's
about being a man,

753
00:41:21,940 --> 00:41:24,107
and she's doing all of these things,

754
00:41:24,109 --> 00:41:26,443
and the fact that she happens
to be a woman is the victory.

755
00:41:26,445 --> 00:41:27,977
You're like,
"Oh, that's secondary."

756
00:41:27,979 --> 00:41:29,546
Like, "don't worry about that part."

757
00:41:29,548 --> 00:41:31,347
Stay here. I'll go ahead.

758
00:41:31,382 --> 00:41:33,516
What a great
thing for little girls,

759
00:41:33,518 --> 00:41:35,118
to see themselves in that way...

760
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:38,888
to feel not like they have to be
a "female" something.

761
00:41:38,890 --> 00:41:41,130
They can just be a hero.

762
00:41:46,597 --> 00:41:52,701
sync & correction by f1nc0
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