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 When
Wonder Woman first appeared on network television four years
ago, it was Cathy Lee Crosby who portrayed the amazing Amazon in
a fairly comic bookish manner. Today, of course, it's Lynda
Carter who has become famous for her portrayal of the voluptuous
crime fighter; rescuing distressed citizens week after week from
the clutches of ever present evil.
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This
year, however, Wonder Woman has liberated herself from the
stereotypical superheroine roll both on and off screen. This
past summer, star Lynda Carter unveiled a Las Vegas lounge act
that had the critics cheering. Discarding her Wonder Woman image
for that of an experienced singer/dancer, Carter warbled her way
through a headlining set which began with. a no-holds-barred
version of Steven Stills' "Love the One You're With,"
and included several dance numbers, laser light effects, movie
montages and a rhumba routine backed by a 24-piece orchestra.
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Shortly
thereafter, Carter released her first Epic Records long player,
Portrait. The LP features 11 toe-tapping numbers
performed by the TV wonder lady, including Billy Joel's
"She's Always a Woman" and the golden oldie,
"Just One Look." Carter
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even shows herself as a
songwriter extraordinaire, co-penning several tunes including
"Toto (Don't It Feel Like Paradise)'" "Want to
Get Beside You" and "Fantasy Man."
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Meanwhile,
back on the tube, Carter's alter-ego Wonder Woman, is in the
midst of a maturation process as well. According to the show's
producer, Bruce Landsbury, the 1978-79 season will show a new
side of the female crime fighter.
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"We're
making less reference to her background on the island and her
Amazonian past. We use it if we want to, but we don't
concentrate on it. We're trying to give her meaningful male
relationships. They don't have to be romantic. But," he
adds, "we're trying to give her people to talk to on a
one-to-one basis."
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This
humanizing of the superheroine has led to other changes too.
"Her relationship with Steve Trevor," continues
Landsbury, "has diminished because he was only being used
as a sort of birddog. He'd have to get himself rescued by Wonder
Woman every show. It was a pretty bad trap. Under those
circumstances, it seemed that they didn't work too well
together. But when you get her off with another guy and allow
Steve to do his thing, their chemistry works better. We made
Steve sort of an Oscar Goldman kind ot guy-someone who gives her
the assignments and covers the home office.
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"Intrinsic
to our Wonder Woman character is a love of country. The IADC
operates in the interests of America's security, however you see
it: morals, national institutions, or defense. It makes it a
natural haven for Diana Prince. She is also a proponent of
feminism. Her philosophy was and i.. that men have been using
women and it's time for women to stand on their own and take
care of business."
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Both
on the screen and on the Vegas stage, Lynda Carter seems to be
doing just that.
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Date and Issue:
Issue
# 3, 1978.
