I really hate the policing of Gal Gadot’s body in Wonder Woman. It’s died down a bit, but still lurking. Consider this: the physique she has now was developed by intensive training in sword fighting, horseback riding, and martial arts, all the things Diana does in the movie. Robin Wright said the Amazons had to eat something like 3,000 calories a day while training. They obviously took their training seriously.
To be more muscular, Gal would’ve had to weight lift for mass, which wasn’t necessary for the things she trained her body to do in the film. She added 17 lbs of muscle to her frame while training.
We’ve really gotten hung upon the idea that massive muscles equates strength and athletic ability. This is clearly not the truth.
Hello from the Mad Max: Fury Road fandom. We’ve had this exact discussion with regards to Charlize Theron/Furiosa.
Here’s the thing. Women can get strong without adding lots of visible muscle mass. A lot of this is actually dependent not only on training volume, but also on genetics and hormones. I am a woman who builds muscle mass easily, I train with women who are stronger than me and just don’t pack on the mass. And some women can be quite strong and still willowy looking.
There are a lot of great graphics going around about how the male bodybuilding physique we see in the likes of Captain America and Thor is not really what a strongman body looks like. It’s similar with women. A strong woman is going to look softer than a fitness model, and is often going to have more muscle in her lower body (glutes, quads & hamstrings) than a really built upper body with broad, muscular shoulders. It’s exactly what you can see above, when Gal is dancing.
And yes. Some women, like Ann Wolfe who plays Artemis, or yours truly, actually will build a bulkier upper body after many years of physical activity. Thing is, casting agents don’t want women with that shape for the lead of a massively expensive comic book movie. The decisions of a lot of movie executives, with a lot of money on the line, come into play. Movie executives cast female leads with body types that don’t get bulky that easily, body types that male comic book fans (and movie executives) think are traditionally attractive, and that marketers think look aspirational for female fans. Those are the portfolios that get put in front of the executives, that’s the pool they’re choosing from. And if you have that body type, there’s a limit to the amount that you can change it in a couple of years while actually spending most of your time doing your job… which is acting not bodybuilding.
There’s a reason Gwendoline Christie is Brienne of Tarth and Captain Phasma while Gal Godot is Wonder Woman, and it’s not because Gwendoline is naturally blonde instead of dark haired.
Side note: I know we’ve all seen those “300″ type media articles where men pack on tons of muscle for a movie role, but female bodies just don’t do that without PEDs or testosterone. I find the idea that Gal gained 17 pounds of pure muscle absolutely ridiculous, even if she was lifting with a goal of massing. The only way women can gain that amount of muscle in a year is if they are totally new to strength training and are out of shape when they start. Gal Godot was a fitness instructor for the Israeli army. She was not out of shape when she started training for WW. If she was eating intelligently for all the stunt training (which I’m sure she was), she may have put on something like 10 pounds of lean mass (which is still hella impressive), but I’d like to see the citations on that 17 pound number.
(Unless, of course, that 17lbs was measured when she was pregnant and filming pick-up shots. She could have easily gained another 7lbs of “lean mass” just being pregnant, but that lean mass would mostly be the increased blood volume needed to support the pregnancy and a little bit of uterine mass. It’s not skeletal muscle.)
Thoughtfulfangirling 