A petition for the female superhero “Wonder Woman” to come out as bisexual in the action flick’s sequel has more than tripled its original goal of 500 signatures since its launch Tuesday.
Organizer Gianna Collier-Pitts, a Harlem resident and GLAAD ambassador, boosted the goal for the third time Thursday, holding out hope for 2,500 fans to jump on board.
“I’m really surprised by the numbers,” said Collier-Pitts, 22. “I’ll keep raising [the goal] slowly, but surely.”
She said she started the petition to help the “Wonder Woman” series serve as a platform to raise awareness about bisexual representation in the media.
“Very few films have such a broad range of audience when it comes to age” and other factors, the “Wonder Woman” fan said, explaining that the character is a favorite for her grandmother, who grew up reading the comic, as well.
The DC Comics franchise film, starring Gal Gadot in the title role as Diana Prince, was a breakout hit, grossing $816.4 million worldwide. It was the first stand-alone film focused on a female superhero since the release of “Elektra” (2005), and the first directed by a woman, according to Reuters.
The Patty Jenkins-directed movie was instantly popular, particularly among young women “who finally saw an image of themselves reflected in a superhero on the big screen,” Collier-Pitts wrote on the petition’s Change.org page. “Needless to say, it was a success for everyone . . . except the bisexual community.”
Months after its June release, the film was picked up for a sequel, which many fans see as the perfect opportunity to reveal the “true” sexual identity of the princess of the Amazons. Given that she grew up in a land inhabited solely by women, the petition explains that any romantic encounter Diana would have had before meeting Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) would have been with a female.
“I want to see Wonder Woman represented for who she is, especially for younger fans who might have trouble coming out and don’t have anyone they can see themselves on the screen,” Collier-Pitts said.
While the representation of bisexual characters on TV and in movies is moving in a positive direction — thanks to shows like “The Bold Type” on Freeform — spotting a bi script, and an accurate one at that, is still rare.
“A lot of the time if I see any mention of bisexuality at all, it’s usually shown as a character that seems to be very promiscuous or shown as cheating on someone. We’re never really shown as being trustworthy,” Collier-Pitts added. “Even compared to other LGBT folks in the media, we’re given the short end.”
Once a substantial number of signatures has been achieved (an end goal hasn’t been set yet), Collier-Pitts hopes to present Warner Bros. with the petition, and is even trying to gain attention of actress Gadot.
“Warner Bros. has the power to change this and make it a reality,” she said. “When it comes to a decision like this, people would still go out and see the film. It would still be just as big a hit as the first ‘Wonder Woman,’ just showing another facet of who she is.”
The “Wonder Woman” sequel is to be released Dec. 13, 2019, and will be directed by Jenkins, who has been called the highest-grossing female director in Hollywood after her work on the film.
