This was my first Wonder Woman movie and I liked it (I noted the plot holes left, but what the heck). I have never been the one to follow Marvel superheroes, but I have always loved to have her around, as a strong female heroine in her own right.
Diana Prince is beautiful, smart, confident and humble. I think she's the epitome of the standard for every girl out there (well, for me at least). I like her personality. But this article is about Barbara Minerva, the geeky but nice lady who comes to work for her.
Barbara, played by Kristen Wiig, is a geeky lady who comes off as...socially awkward. She dresses in baggy clothes is all covered up, and can't walk in heels (just like me, ha-ha). It was evident that she had low self-esteem.
Her workmates treated her like she didn't exist. She was not treated humanely, let alone in a cordial manner. However, she is kind-hearted and has a good friendship with a hobo whom she passes by every day.
Diana treats her like the actual person she is and tries to know her better over lunch and friendly chit-chat over work.
Without ending up writing the plot of the movie, I'll go ahead and share why I could relate to Barbara. Even understanding why she turned out to be the villain in this film.
She admired Diana for the qualities she did not possess. Having your wish come true in a bizarre manner...(depending on what it is), you might never want things to go back to how they used to be. At least that's how I'd want to live. That happened to Barbara. She woke up effortlessly confident, was noticed by her workmates for the first time and it made her feel good about herself. She most obviously would not want to go back to who she was!
I saw a part of Barbara in me. Watching that movie, I couldn't ignore that I could relate. Sucks that she's the villain, but I relate. Here goes nothing.
I have been working on my self-esteem.
It took a lot to say that.
What makes it harder is that my family is full of people who are confident and seem to have zero esteem issues. It kind of is a reason for shame.
Watching this movie with them felt like I was being stripped of my clothes right in front of them. Barbara was the girl I was that they hadn't met. I didn't want them to ever meet her, too. Ever.
Seeing this article in my unfinished work pile... got me thinking. It's okay to be a work in progress. It's okay to have not been the most confident kid when I was a child. It is not my fault that I happened to be having self-esteem issues.
Psychology Today states that in our past, there could be several scenarios that have made us who we are today, especially in the early years of our lives. You don't choose that it becomes part of your story.
Barbara was envious of Diana. It gets like that when you see someone who is in a place you'd like to be. If you appreciate your progress, that ceases to be the case. Understanding that people are on different life journeys is calming, you know. You just journey on your path, because that's your only concern.
What I tell myself is that this is not something that defines me. I am a work in progress, and it is entirely okay to feel like that sometimes. Someday, I'll be the lady I want to be. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all:).
I won't feel so bad, after all.
I am a work in progress. That is enough.