1
Burn them! Burn them! Burn them!
Ms. Frank, I'd like to remind you
that I came here voluntarily.
No, you came here
because your superiors will fire you...
...unless I tell them to do otherwise.
As you know, we are reviewing
your handling of Wonder Woman...
- ...given the current controversy.
- You're gonna give her to someone else?
She's a smash success
because of me. I created her.
Dr. Marston,
Wonder Woman has drawn criticism...
...for being full of
depictions of bondage...
...spanking, torture, homosexuality,
and other sex perversions.
Would you say that's a fair assessment
of your work?
I can see how people with a fairly limited
understanding of my work...
...could arrive
at these simplistic descriptions.
They'd be wrong, of course.
Would you care to explain yourself?
Are you normal?
What is normal?
Psychology is a young science
at Harvard...
...and here at our sister school,
Radcliffe, with you fine young ladies...
...we have only just now broken away
from the philosophy department...
...into our very own
distinct field of study.
Emotion's what we will be
studying this semester...
...specifically as it relates to deception.
I've invented a model of human emotion...
...which will guide us
through our investigation.
DISC theory.
I will be testing my theory on you.
I make a vow to you all
to discover the truth of who we are.
And I look forward to undertaking
this adventure with you all.
And students who wish to volunteer
to help assist me...
...and my notable associate and wife,
Mrs. Elizabeth Marston, please...
...add your names
to the sign-up sheet, thank you.
Dean is insisting
we give him receipts again.
I don't know
why he doesn't go work in a bank.
The cocksuckers denied me again.
I'm smarter, more rigorous...
...more accomplished than any
of the so-called "men" in this department.
They will issue you a degree
from Radcliffe.
That degree is a load of horseshit.
You know it.
It is not. It is taught by the same
professors, it has the same standards.
Precisely. If it is the same work...
...then why can I not receive
a PhD from Harvard?
- Because I have a vagina?
- Elizabeth.
Where did you hide the liquor?
We will make a great discovery.
We will make a great discovery...
...and then they will be forced
to acknowledge us.
You are very brilliant.
I know.
Smarter than me.
I know that too.
Dear, we... We can't fuck
in the laboratory like animals.
Why not?
I'm going to resubmit my application.
I'm taking it all the way
to the board of trustees this time.
I'd appreciate it if you stop drooling.
She signed up to assist us.
Her application was first-rate.
Look at the boys and girls circling.
He's gonna do it.
Her beauty gives her
an advantage over the other girls.
No, you can't be serious. Her beauty?
- Beauty is an albatross.
- Ha.
No, she's at war right now. See?
Watch how she averts her eyes.
If she makes eye contact
with that boy for too long...
...he will misunderstand
and think she's interested in him...
...and then when she invariably rejects
his advances...
...he'll think that she's a slut.
Meanwhile, the blond girl next to her
fancies the same boy.
Oh, the blond girl hates our girl
with a passion...
...so fierce she can barely sit there.
But they both have to...
...sit there, and smile, and pretend...
...because that's the life they've chosen.
And what have you chosen?
I've chosen you.
I want to study her.
She'll break your heart...
...leave you eviscerated in a pile
of your own expended semen and bile.
- Oh, please, dear, the hyperbole.
- Ha-ha. It wouldn't be her fault either.
She'll just be surviving,
like an animal in the jungle.
They're given fur and claws
and teeth to survive.
- Well, then, do it.
- You won't be jealous?
No, I don't experience sexual jealousy.
Who am I to fight nature?
I'm your wife, not your jailer.
It's a lie detector.
Or it would be,
if we could get it to work.
Right now it's just a pile of crap.
I'm Olive Byrne,
the new teacher's assistant.
Yes.
- Why doesn't it work?
- Uh...
Can't determine what exactly to measure.
We need a physiological unit of analysis.
Should I call you
Professor Marston as well?
Mm. Possibly, if Harvard would give me
a fucking PhD.
- Sorry?
- Your duties are to assist...
...me and my husband
with our research.
We keep our papers
in the filing cabinet along the wall.
Please familiarize yourself
with our current research notes.
- Do you have any questions?
- I have many, but I'm sure I'll manage.
Oh, and if you fuck my husband,
I'll kill you.
- Excuse me?
- Heh.
Look, I feel sorry for you.
No, really, I... I do, it's not your fault.
It's, um, your beauty, it's like a...
Well, it's like a handicap.
It's like having three legs or something.
- Mrs. Marston, I...
- No, there's no need to be defensive.
I'm just asking you the courtesy
of please not fucking my husband.
Can you do that for me?
Yes.
Thank you.
Now, if you wouldn't mind,
Professor Marston and I like...
- ...to have coffee in the afternoon.
- Of course.
--gracious lady...
...the fairest of all the virgins
who live on Mount Olympus.
This is for you, dear lady...
...Diana the huntress, Diana the pure.
I've plotted this garden for you,
gracious goddess...
...a meadow where no shepherd
brings flocks to graze...
Sorry to interrupt. I'm Olive Byrne,
the new teacher's assistant.
Yes, hello.
Uh, Mrs. Marston said
you liked coffee in the afternoon.
Oh, good. You met my wife.
- Yes.
- Please, sit.
- Oh, no, I really should get back to...
- No, no, no, please. Sit.
Well, I'm very glad you could join us.
Are you all right?
Yes.
So tell me a little about yourself.
Uh, I'm afraid there's
not much to tell, really.
You're engaged.
Yes.
So, what makes you interested
in the field of psychology?
Uh, I don't know, I...
The girls, my sorority sisters...
...they, uh, said your lectures
were interesting, and it...
- What?
- Fit in my schedule.
I find the human mind fascinating. I...
I'm sorry.
I don't think this was the best idea.
- What is?
- I don't know why...
...she would say such awful things.
Excuse me.
But you said you had
no sexual jealousy.
But I do have professional jealousy,
and the work that we're doing right now...
...well, it's critical,
I can't have you panting after some coed.
- Before, you said it was all right.
- I changed my mind.
If you desperately want
to understand the mind of a woman...
- ...you can start with that.
- You made the poor girl cry, Elizabeth.
When I asked you not to fuck
my husband...
...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you.
- I've done nothing.
- No, I know, you're right.
I just don't know why women and men...
That's why I wanted
to work for you both...
...because I thought
you could tell me why.
I never do anything,
and yet, nobody sees me or hears me.
It's just all noise and hostility and lies.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.
I wanna learn.
I admire you, I...
...read your paper on the correlation
of color and emotional states.
You read my paper?
It's criminal
that they will not give you a degree.
You know,
you don't need to feed me a line.
I'm not. God, what is wrong with you?
She's neurotic, also compulsive.
I'd say that's accurate.
Hmm.
Would it be possible
to get some whiskey with this?
It's illegal.
Come on.
Where?
How are you going to learn anything at all
about life if you refuse to live it?
Oh, no, darling,
I have to disagree with you.
- Oh, surprise, surprise.
- No, Freud is full of shit.
- No. What would I want with a penis?
- Heh.
Seriously, it would be exhausting
to have one organ...
...constantly directing the course
of your life. Olive, do you want a penis?
- No.
- Do you think that you have penis envy?
I don't understand
what that means, sorry.
Will you stop apologizing?
Do you know how many times
a minute you apologize?
Sorry.
Elizabeth, peach, penis envy is figurative.
It means a woman experiences
an envy of the male position in the world.
His dominance. His ability to penetrate
not just the woman, but...
- ...life.
- Oh, penetrate life?
- Yes.
- Well, that's very interesting.
You should've read the book.
- You do not think I...
- Then perhaps I do have it.
I do envy men's position in life,
their physical strength, their entitlement.
My aunt said, "A woman must not be told
how to use her freedom...
...she must find out for herself."
Your aunt, my dear,
is quoting Margaret Sanger.
My aunt is Margaret Sanger.
- The Margaret Sanger?
- I don't know her very well.
My mother and her...
There are sore feelings, I think.
Are you joking?
Your mother is Ethel Byrne?
We were very active
in the fight for women's suffrage.
When she did her hunger strike for birth
control, we rallied in her support.
I didn't grow up with my mother.
She, uh, left and I was put
in a convent school.
- What, she abandoned you?
- My father was a drunk...
...and wouldn't divorce her,
and she had to earn a living...
...and she had the movement to think of.
So, what you're saying is,
you are descended...
...from two of the most famous
radical feminists in the world...
...and yet you were raised by nuns?
- Yes.
- I thought you were just a...
What?
I don't know, not that.
So will you stay?
- Hmm.
- Will you join us?
- Yes.
- Yes! Wonderful.
Dominance, inducement, submission...
...and compliance.
All human relationships break down
into the interplay...
...between these categories of emotion.
A person is most happy when they are
submissive to a loving authority.
It is essential that a person submits
to an authority willingly...
...that it is their idea.
We get into trouble when people feel
forced to do something...
...they don't want to do,
and that is merely compliance.
People who comply instead of submit...
...are unhappy and repressed...
...and this can lead to resentment.
Taken to its extremes...
...it can lead to crime, war, fascism.
How do you avoid compliance?
It seems like...
- ...that is built into most situations.
- Inducement.
Inducement is the act of seducing
somebody to your way of thinking...
...dominating them so completely...
...that what you want
is what they want...
...and they love giving it to you...
...and that, ladies, is the key to life,
to love, to happiness...
...to peace.
Women are better
at inducement than men.
Are you all right, Dr. Marston?
Yes, I'm fine, thank you.
And how did you develop
this DISC theory?
Well, I started to observe student life.
Mating rituals and the like.
We gather here together
Can't believe I let you talk me into this.
It's research.
You're not allowed to be here.
I could get kicked out of the house.
They're dressed as babies. Ha-ha.
- We're gonna be fine.
- If you're all supposed to be babies...
...then do you also have
to wear the diapers?
- Please don't.
- Should we stay here or go over there?
Please, please stay here. Please.
- Just stay here.
- Okay. We'll stay here. We'll stay.
I for you
And you for me
- We are here for one another
- Shh.
And together we can fly
We stand by one another
At Alpha Omicron Pi
Welcome, pledges...
- ...to the AO Pi Annual Baby Party.
- Pfft.
Pledges, you will now pair off
with your assigned big sisters.
Pledge Master Olive.
It's okay.
Honestly, I don't get all this.
- It's just for fun.
- Are you back-talking...
- ...Pledge Sara?
- No.
You aren't to speak
unless you are spoken to.
- I realize that. I just...
- Pledge Master Olive...
...discipline your charge.
Pledge Sara, on your knees.
Come on.
Harder.
She's a baby
and needs to be punished.
Twenty.
Stop.
That's enough.
Thank you, Pledge Master Olive.
- I don't wanna talk about it.
- Well, how'd it make you feel?
She doesn't wanna
talk about it, Bill. Why harp on it?
- Because she is blocked. Can't you see?
- Fine.
How did it make you feel?
- I'm the one asking the questions.
- Oh, why should that be?
Go ahead, ask him questions.
How did it make you feel?
How did what make me feel?
Watching me spank that girl.
Excited...
...repulsed...
...nervous...
- ...aroused.
- Huh.
But my experience
as a spectator is meaningless.
You actually participated. It is
your experience that is worth cataloging.
How did it make you feel?
- Terrible.
- What else?
Ashamed.
- What else?
- Nothing, nothing else.
She won't tell you the truth.
Look at her. She's practically shaking.
Why the hell not? This is the substance
of what we are dealing with.
Because you wanting to know
is perverse, Bill.
If you cannot actually have sex with her,
you'll force her to admit what?
That she experiences desire,
that she was aroused? Oh!
Yes, exactly.
Don't talk about me
as if I were some test subject. I'm here.
Then be here.
You are not still in a convent.
Stop defending her
like she's some wilting violet.
I happen to think there might be value
to keeping one's thoughts to oneself.
Bill...
...when she lies, her...
Her voice shakes.
Wait, come here.
Her hand sweats.
Galvanometer skin tests
were too inconsistent.
Bill, her rhythmic breathing increases.
- Benussi already exhausted that avenue.
- Her heart beats faster.
- Her systolic blood pressure would rise.
- Her systolic blood pressure.
- You could measure that.
- Oh, you could fucking measure that.
- You could measure that. Oh, my God.
- Ha-ha-ha.
- Think of it sooner...
- Oh, my God. We did it!
The link to the lie-detector
test was there the whole time.
It doesn't matter what you say
or what you think.
Your body will always betray you.
Your heart pumps a record of the truth.
So how did the two of you meet?
Well, I'm in SAE,
and Olive is in Alpha O, so...
And all the fellows had
their eyes on her, but I quizzed Mary.
Mary's the AO social chair.
And she told me
that Olive loved begonias...
...so I sent her a bouquet every day...
...till she finally agreed
to take a walk with me.
Smart man.
So Olive tells me you were
a spy in the Great War?
I spent a few years in the OSS.
I shrunk soldiers' heads.
- He's a hero.
- That war was not heroic.
The men I saw,
they experienced unimaginable things.
- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...
- That's all right.
We're gonna fix it.
Path to peace is not
through finance or politics...
...it is to solve
the problems of man's heart.
Can't solve war
by simply studying men's feelings.
Of course, you're right.
Men's minds are far too limited.
That's why we need women.
Ha-ha. Come on.
We'll see if they'll give us all a ride.
Okay.
- Hey, how are you?
- Good, yourself?
I haven't told Brant...
...but I'm thinking about applying
for the school of journalism at Columbia.
Really?
Oh, well, you'll make
an excellent journalist.
I'll write you a letter
of recommendation, hm?
- Thank you.
- Mm.
Well, Bill and I went to grad school, law.
- Is that where you met?
- Oh, no.
We grew up together.
I've known him my entire life.
I actually came here when...
...I was 5, with my parents
from the Isle of Man.
It's a lovely rock
between England and Ireland.
Were you always sweethearts?
Off and on. Heh.
When were you married?
He came to visit me
at Mount Holyoke, and we... Heh.
We argued forever
about Jung's reaction-time test...
...and then he proposed.
I said no.
- When did you say yes?
- He was very determined.
I said yes eventually,
and then we were married.
Were you in love?
Yes.
Very much.
What made you hesitate?
I was afraid
I would always be in his shadow.
Then why did you say yes?
Because he respects me...
...and he loves me...
...and he's never boring.
I didn't think I'd find those things
in another man.
I see you in everything you do.
I think you're magnificent.
Aren't they beautiful?!
Professor Marston, are you ready?
- Yes, Mrs. Marston, I believe I am.
- Ms. Byrne, are you ready?
- Yes, Mrs. Marston, I believe I am.
- Very well. Right.
Here's to the maiden voyage
of the new...
...and improved lie detector.
Yes.
Is your name...
...William Moulton Marston?
Yes.
True. Where do you live?
Louisiana.
True. False positive.
Who is the president
of the United States?
- Babe Ruth.
- Ha.
True. False positive.
- It doesn't work.
- You've barely started.
Babe Ruth is not the president.
It's not working.
Are you sure you've hooked up
the sphygmomanometer properly?
Of course I hooked up
the sphygmomanometer properly.
Double-check this charge
because this connection is loose.
No, leave it be, you don't...
Perhaps the lies need
to be more meaningful.
What?
Professor Marston
is not invested in whether or not...
...he lives in Boston or Louisiana.
It stands to reason
his blood pressure would not go up.
She's right.
All right.
Do you love your wife?
What?
Do you love your wife?
Yes.
True.
When did you first meet
Ms. Olive Byrne?
She volunteered to work as
a research assistant three months ago.
True.
Are you in love with Olive Byrne?
No.
Hmm.
Well, I guess it works after all.
I don't love him.
- Heh. Of course you do.
- No.
Don't take me for a fool, Olive.
I'm many things, but I'm not a fool.
- I know that. You're brilliant.
- Don't you see? It's over.
- Whatever this is, was, it's over.
- I love you.
Get away from me.
I'm... I'm sorry.
Gather your things.
I want you out of here immediately.
The lie detector...
...it was your wife's idea, wasn't it?
- Well, the systolic-blood-pressure part.
- The important part.
- Elizabeth?
- She's gone.
- I'm sorry if she...
- I don't wanna talk about it.
I met her once years ago.
When she was law clerking.
Makes quite an impression.
Yes, she does.
Hmm.
You've incorporated the lie-detector test
into the Wonder Woman comic...
...her Golden Lasso,
it forces criminals to tell the truth.
That is correct.
Why is Wonder Woman an Amazon?
In Greek mythology, Amazons were
a powerful tribe of women...
- ...who lived without men.
- Without men?
It is important to me that young girls...
...realize they have the power within
themselves to create their own destiny.
To be president
of the United States if they want.
And Wonder Woman's catchphrase
is "Suffering Sappho."
Sappho is a famous poet
from ancient Greece.
Known for her love of women.
It is my belief
that passion and emotion...
...between women is perfectly natural.
Dr. Marston,
lesbianism is an emotional illness.
As a doctor of psychology...
...your endorsement
of this abnormal behavior...
...in the pages of your comic is reckless.
May I take a break, please?
I need to stretch my legs.
- What the fuck are you doing?
- That woman has been an enemy...
...of the Wonder Woman comic
from the beginning.
She's the head of
the Child Study Association of America.
Every parent in America listens
to what she has to say.
I told you to smooth it out.
I mean, we got politicians
sniffing around this thing.
They're talking Senate subcommittees.
You know what that would mean to us?
You got to go in there and play ball.
- And if I don't?
- Then I can't protect you anymore...
...or Wonder Woman.
You've been sad since she left?
I'm not sad.
Hmm.
Maybe I'm in love with her too.
Or maybe I just want her
because you do.
What is it that attracts you to her?
She is beautiful...
...guileless, kind, pure of heart.
And you are brilliant...
...ferocious, hilarious...
...and a grade-A bitch.
Together, you are the perfect woman.
Hmm.
Do you think it's possible
to love two people at the same time?
What we want can never happen.
- Why not?
- Because...
...the world won't let it.
The world can't stop us.
Ms. Byrne, would you mind staying
after class, please?
We've asked you here today
because we are...
Well, we are in something and, uh,
I don't know what it is...
...but we are in it...
...and I feel that I have violated
my raison d'tre as a psychologist...
...by running from alarming emotions...
...rather than confronting them,
so here we are.
We were thinking that we could confront
whatever these emotions are together.
Fuck you.
I'm saying,
I'm open to having sex with you...
- ...if you'd like that, as is my husband.
- I'm engaged.
Do you love Brant?
We miss you, Olive.
- We'd like to mend fences.
- Your aunt would approve.
She believed in free love.
Oh, crap. Very well.
If you... If you love this
Brant fellow, then...
Then we're happy for you. Heh.
Let's... Let's forget the sex part.
We can be friends, right?
Let's just all... All be... Be friends.
Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah.
"Olive Byrne is an exceptional student,
a quick study with a passion for learning.
She has a strong work ethic,
a keen mind...
...an unwavering moral compass...
...and a deeply instilled
sense of justice."
There.
Thank you.
Of course.
I'm writing a book. It'll be called
the Emotions of Normal People.
I think you're decidedly not normal.
- Ha-ha-ha.
- Who's to say? Hmm?
We play a sorority game where we guess
what the other person longs for.
- Should we play?
- Sure.
What do I long for?
I think you long
for an unconventional life.
Mm.
How about you, Brant?
What do you think Olive longs for?
I think she longs for your approval.
What is your intention towards Olive?
- I don't understand.
- I didn't ask you.
I know what your intention is,
you're rather obvious.
What is your intention towards Olive?
I don't understand the question.
I'm not an idiot.
You're filling her mind
with perverse ideas.
Olive is a good person with a pure heart
and you are trying to corrupt her.
You cannot corrupt somebody with ideas.
- It is ignorance that is corrupting.
- Do not lecture me, professor.
- I am not one of your students.
- Bill, Brant, this is unnecessary.
I am trying to see what you see in them,
but I'm sorry, I do not.
- They're my friends.
- They're reprobate.
Don't you see that?
Look, Olive is not a child,
you can't control her.
You can't stick a ring on her finger
and put her in a box for your mantel...
...a good little woman
behind her little man.
- I love her.
- Oh...
And I will fight for her.
Brant, please?
Olive and I are to be married,
so as her future husband...
...I would appreciate it
if you would confine your relationship...
- ...to the classroom.
- Is this what you want?
- Let's go.
- I'm sorry.
What are you doing here?
I don't know.
What is your name?
Olive Byrne.
That is correct. How old are you?
Twenty-two.
That is true.
Why are you here?
I don't know.
That is true.
What do you want?
I don't know.
That is a lie.
Are you in love with Brant?
Yes.
That is a lie.
Are you in love with me?
No.
Are you in love with Elizabeth?
No.
Do you want to have sex with me?
No. No.
Do you want to have sex
with Elizabeth?
No.
Well?
- Well, what?
- What do you have to say to that?
I'm flattered, I suppose.
For fuck's sake, Elizabeth.
What do you want?
One can want a great many things,
it doesn't mean they're going to happen.
Olive.
Olive.
Olive, wait.
I don't know
why I let you bait me like this.
I hate you.
I hate you with all of my heart.
Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River runnin' free
You know how I feel
Blossom on the tree
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feelin' good
Dragonfly out in the sun
You know what I mean
Don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun
You know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That's what I mean
And this old world
ls a new world
And a bold world
For me
Yeah, yeah
Stars, when you shine
You know how I feel
Scent of the pine
You know how I feel
Oh, freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
I'm feelin' good
Love leaders.
If the nature of men is
inherently violent and anarchistic...
...and the nature of women
is inherently loving and nurturing...
...then shouldn't women be
the ones to rule the world?
Wouldn't that be
a more reasonable choice?
But be warned, ladies.
We men will not give up
our power without a fight.
I wasn't expecting you until later.
Are you all right?
Everybody knows, Olive.
You haven't even bothered
being discreet.
- I don't know what...
- Please.
I could ask you
to stop seeing them again...
...but I know that you will not.
We've been fired.
I want to be with you.
I want to be with both of you.
- Yes. Yes.
- Are you both insane?
Do you not realize what has happened?
We are ruined. All of us.
You will not be able to marry.
You will not be able to teach.
I will not be able to do anything.
What kind of a world
do you think we're living in?
- We are in love.
- We cannot be in love.
- It's unorthodox, sure, but it's...
- It's preposterous.
It is a fantasy,
and we have to live in reality.
And in this world
and these lives, love...
- ...it doesn't matter.
- I don't believe that.
Well, then you're a fool.
A stupid, simpering dilettante.
I'm pregnant.
Dr. Marston?
- Sorry. What?
- You were saying that Wonder Woman...
...leaves Paradise Island
and enters man's world.
That's what you call it, right?
Man's world.
Yes.
We don't even have enough money
to pay for the electricity.
We still have some money coming in
from my book sales.
Oh, all five of them?
I'm sorry, dear, but nobody gives a shit
about DISC theory.
What about you? You're here now.
You can pull your weight.
- She's pregnant.
- Obviously.
- You said it was all right if I stayed.
- As if I had a choice.
- Then I'll go.
- No.
What about your famous feminist aunt?
She's rich.
She's worried that any association
with our situation...
...would be bad for the movement.
What a bitch.
I read in the paper
the Keelers are making money...
...selling the lie-detector machine.
Perhaps we could do the same.
That's an excellent idea, Olive.
Perhaps Bill should have patented it.
Science is for everybody,
for the greater good.
I was right to publish.
The greater good won't feed your child.
It's your child also.
- You'd be responsible too if you...
- What? Had a click?
You know what I mean.
Olive.
- How many words a minute do you type?
- Seventy-five.
- Can you take dictation?
- Well, I can learn.
It's just that there are
spurious rumors out there...
...maligning my reputation.
There has been talk of some
improprieties while you were at Radcliffe.
You have a degree in law
from Boston University...
...and a master's degree
in psychology from Radcliffe.
Harvard.
- And are you all still together?
- That won't get in the way, will it?
I don't see how my personal life
is anyone's business.
It's time to move on, Bill.
You don't think you're too good
for this line of work?
No.
I want him to grow up with a family.
I want more for him.
More than I had.
If...
If we do this, we can't let it
come back on our children.
We'll have to make up an explanation...
...a lie...
...and stick to it.
Wonder Woman has a secret identity.
- Yes, she does.
- Why is that?
She has to hide her true self
from man's world.
Hi, I'm Molly Stewart
from across the street.
- I wanted to come over and say hello.
- Hello.
It was silly
that you've been living here...
...for over a week and we haven't
been properly introduced.
Are you Mrs. Marston?
No, I'm Mrs. Marston, hello.
Hello. And you?
Oh, I just live here.
Oh. So Byrne is your son?
He wandered over yesterday,
wanting to play.
No, no, Byrne's my son.
I have two sons, Donn and Byrne.
My husband Richard passed away,
so the Marstons took us in.
You poor dear.
Pete is my boy.
Well, it's been good to meet you.
I'm sure we'll see you again.
- See you soon.
- Nice to meet you both.
Donn, Byrne, Peter.
Come on, boys.
Dear Aunt Margaret,
things are good here...
...and we're settling in to our new rental.
The kids are keeping me busy,
and we're very happy here.
I'm submitting writing samples
to publishers...
...and hope someone bites soon.
Would you say she was living a lie?
No, Wonder Woman assumes
an alter ego...
...so she can go to work
as Steve Trevor's secretary.
She's a secretary?
What's wrong
with being a secretary?
Nothing's wrong with that,
but I think it's odd...
...that Wonder Woman is all-powerful
and you have her hiding as a secretary.
She's a modern woman.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Hi, you look lovely.
- Oh, so do you.
- Hello, boys.
She has a career of
her own, she makes her own money.
- Where's Bill?
- In his office.
She is not dependent on a man.
"You too can be popular."
This one's going to sell. I'm sure of it.
So then why the elaborate charade?
This... This... This is for you.
- For me?
- From the two of us.
Oh.
So that you can play.
Oh!
It's beautiful.
Hey, kids, look at my plane.
- East of the sun
- Days bend to brightness
- And west of the moon
- We'll be diggin' a glow
- We'll build a dream house
- A righteous pad
- Of love, dear
- Where you can really lay it on me
- You should tickle him, boys.
- Tickle him. He's very ticklish.
- Near to the sun in the day
- We'll be jumpin'
- Near to the moon at night
- You'll be with me
She does it because she loves him.
- Living on love and pale moonlight
- Your fellow
- Just you and I
- We'll nix the squares
- Forever and a day
- So long, so long
- Love will not die
- We're together forever
- We'll keep it that way
- Forever
Up among the stars we'll find
She does it so they can be together.
I think it's a girl.
Really?
Well, if it is,
I shall name her Olive Ann.
Don't cry. Ha-ha.
Stop.
She does it for love.
What would happen if...
...Wonder Woman's
secret identity was revealed?
Everything would be lost.
Who's Charles Moulton?
That is my pseudonym.
Mm. Why don't you write
Wonder Woman under your real name?
Well, that's just my therapy practice.
It avoids confusion.
It's not because most Americans have
a low opinion of comic writers?
I do not care what most of America thinks.
Or is it something else?
I wonder if you're the one
with the secret identity.
Oh, good morning.
I'm, um... I'm looking for
a burlesque outfit.
For you?
Ha-ha. No.
My wife. For Halloween.
It's a surprise.
What did you have in mind?
Hmm... Uh, something Greek?
How about an Amazon?
That's fantastic.
May I?
- They are specially made in France.
- Heh.
I've never seen heels quite this high.
And how much
would something like this go for?
Are you a devotee?
- Excuse me?
- Of the high heel.
I don't know what that means.
Are you with the vice squad?
No.
Are you an officer
of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service?
No.
Hmm.
My name is Charles Guyette.
People call me the "G-string King."
Right. Heh-heh.
Honey, this is pornography.
Isn't this illegal?
Yes, yes, but look closely.
I don't understand
what we're supposed to be looking at.
Okay.
Dominance...
...inducement, submission...
...compliance.
This imagery is a metaphor
for DISC theory.
These pictures communicate
in an instant...
...what I've spent
my entire career trying to explain.
- This is what we should be doing.
- Sweetheart...
...this is pornography.
Notice the finesse of the knots.
Rope work is not an art for dullards.
People come to me all the time...
...lost, searching.
They ask me why the rope,
or costume...
...the role play.
I tell them we play roles...
...all the time in everyday life,
constantly.
Out there we are bound
by much stronger chains...
...than the ones we use in here.
But the truth is...
...men and women...
...long to control...
...and to be controlled.
It is...
...human nature.
Real life is full of pain
and disappointment...
...but fantasy, fantasy...
...is possibility.
Questions?
- Does it hurt?
- A little.
Who says there's no pain in love?
Love is painful.
We hurt the ones we love all the time
with our words, our deeds.
The nature of love is pain.
Would you like to try?
Yeah.
We'll start with something simple.
Please put your wrists
in front of you like this.
Now, wrap the rope around
as I instructed.
Olive, don't let him do this to you.
I don't mind.
You...
Why the fuck don't you mind?
Excuse me.
Of course.
You're the submissive.
Please, dear, have an open mind.
How much have you spent on this,
anyway?
- And the rest of that smut he sold you.
- It's research material.
When will you stop...
...justifying the whims
of your cock with science?
It's sick the way he controls that girl.
You know better than her
what she does in her sex life?
- Well, he's a criminal.
- So are we.
Our love is illegal.
What we do in the privacy
of our own home is our business.
I'm getting Olive,
and we're going home.
Elizabeth.
What do you think?
I...
I know you don't approve, but I...
Give me the rope.
Is this what you really want?
Then put your hands behind your back.
- Are you all right?
- Mm.
- A comic book, Bill?
- Well, it's perfect.
I'm going to inject my ideas right
into the thumping heart of America.
I mean, I'll get a real artist
to draw it properly.
She's an Amazon princess
that lives on an island of all women.
Paradise Island.
And a man crash-lands on the island?
- Yeah, Steve Trevor, the spy.
- And she wears a burlesque outfit.
Well, it's athletic.
And silver bracelets.
They deflect bullets.
And all her friends are sorority girls...
...who have spanking parties,
and everybody fights Nazis...
...and rides in an invisible plane?
Yes.
- Ahem.
- Heh.
- What?
- Bill.
We love you truly, so much.
But nobody...
I say this with all the compassion
and truth in my heart.
Nobody will ever publish this.
Yeah, so you tell that guinea, wop fuck...
...he wants to get paid,
get his ass into work.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for a Mr. Gaines.
Who's asking?
Dr. William Moulton Marston.
I have an 11:00.
You have five minutes.
You are the man
that discovered Superman?
Yup.
You're a man of considerable taste,
which is why I've come to you first.
Who said anything
about a fucking nun?
I've created a new type
of comic-book superhero.
Her name is Suprema,
the Wonder Woman.
- Lady superhero?
- No ordinary lady superhero.
I see Suprema
as the modern-day Athena.
The American woman of tomorrow.
Yeah.
Superhero comics with female leads,
they flop.
Well, she will be different.
- A new type of comic strip.
- They already tried that.
Invisible Girl.
- X-ray Girl.
- Excuse me.
This is not a gimmick.
Mr. Gaines,
please do not make the mistake...
...of lumping me into the cesspool
of riffraff with whom you usually deal.
I am a Harvard-trained doctor
of psychology...
...with nearly 25 years' experience
into the analysis of human emotion.
I'm also the inventor of the lie detector.
No shit.
Suprema, the Wonder Woman
will not be an ordinary comic book.
But instead, the start
of a powerful feminist movement.
She will be carefully crafted,
psychological propaganda...
...based on a lifetime of research
into the human mind...
...inserted into a populist medium
to further equal rights for women.
Hmm. You a professor?
I used to be, yeah.
I used to be a principal.
Heh. Well, then, as a fellow educator...
...you can see the potential
of this new medium.
Together, we can lift
the comic book out of the gutter.
Place it among the powerful
artistic movements of this century.
Do you always lay it on so thick?
Eh. Suprema, the Wonder Woman?
It's too wordy.
Why don't you just call her, uh,
Wonder Woman?
Wonder Woman...
Wonder Woman?
Wonder Woman.
I like it.
With war raging across Europe...
...there's a new hero in town fighting
for our freedom, and she's a lady.
They're calling her Wonder Woman.
She's the latest and prettiest sensation...
...in a superhero craze
that's sweeping the nation.
Sales are skyrocketing,
and she's outselling Superman.
But not everybody is as enthusiastic
about the new comic-book craze.
We've been banned.
- What do you mean?
- Put on a list, banned.
- Well, by who?
- By the National League of Decency.
- They're fascists.
- No, Catholics.
- Same difference.
- In every issue of Wonder Woman...
...women are being whipped,
spanked, chained, bound, gagged.
- We gotta cut the kinky shit by what?
- Fifty. Fifty to 60 percent.
Fifty to 60 percent,
we gotta cut the kink.
Doc, there's, like,
twice as much bondage stuff in here.
Three times. I tripled it.
Bye, Mom.
Hi.
Sweetie, I'm late.
- I don't care.
- No, I'm late. I have to go.
I'm just calling because, uh...
...I woke up this morning,
and I... I felt, um, terrible.
I don't think I'm gonna make it.
You don't even deny
that these images are overtly sexual.
An erotic component is necessary.
How else is submission supposed
to be pleasurable?
I am teaching readers to submit
to a loving authority.
And that submission is pleasurable.
Young boys must learn this...
...if they are to grow up
respecting powerful women.
What is powerful about a woman
running around in a bathing suit?
Yoo-hoo?
Olive?
Elizabeth?
Oh, dear.
Oh, my God.
Jesus. Um...
I'm so...
I think I was... I'm so sorry.
- Just get it off me.
- I'm trying.
Elizabeth.
Oh, my God. It's Donn.
Donn?
Sweetheart.
My God, your face.
- What...? Did you...? Did you fall?
- No.
- What happened?
- Charlie and the guys are telling lies...
...about you and Mom and Dad.
All right. Come here. Come here.
You're gonna be all right.
- Hey!
- Jesus Christ, Bill.
Your brat and his gang of hooligans
attacked my kid.
- Watch your tone, doctor.
- Oh, really?
Easy. We don't need
another school-yard brawl.
- I'm sorry the children got into a scuffle.
- A scuffle?
No easy way to say this...
...but we think it would be best
if you remove the children from school.
- What?
- Molly, you know us. We're friends.
- Olive, stop...
- Don't.
I'm sorry.
Your kids are a bad influence.
- That's not true. How can you say that?
- It's not the children's fault.
It's your fault.
You're passing your life off as normal,
and it's not.
You can live your life
however you want.
But when it comes to my kids,
I don't want them exposed to...
...people like you.
Elizabeth.
Fucking freaks.
- What did you call us?
- Called you perverts.
- No!
- Bill!
- Stop it!
- Get off of him. Get off!
- Violence.
- What of it?
Fred!
- Are you all right?
- Yeah.
Try to get up and be somewhat careful.
Don't. It's not worth it.
No more.
Wonder Woman is filled with violence...
...torture and sadomasochism.
You know, I was wrong to fight today.
But what you must understand
is what's more important than fists.
It's what's in here.
Ideas, thoughts...
...that's more powerful than force.
Do you understand
what I'm saying to you?
Yes, sir.
Good.
- Good night.
- Good night.
I landed a few.
The kids are asleep, finally.
And Bill?
Him too.
We can't keep doing this.
Are you blaming me for what happened?
- They had no right to...
- No, they did.
They have every right.
Their right to shun us...
...and perhaps their right to beat us.
Not because we fuck each other,
but because we're foolish enough...
...to think that we're better than them.
I'm not a scientist.
I'm a secretary.
And Bill is not a psychologist.
He writes comic books.
And you...
I don't know what you are.
Please don't do this.
You have to go.
Please don't.
I don't wanna go.
It's gonna be all right. It's okay.
I won't get in any more fights.
Sweetheart,
I told you it wasn't about that, okay?
You be a big boy, okay?
It's all right, Byrne.
You look after your brother, all right?
- Please don't do this.
- I didn't do this.
Love you, Mom.
Hey, Mommy.
I'll come pick them up on Sunday.
You gotta go to the review,
or they can shut us down.
- Absolutely not. This is un-American.
- I got this bitch on my ass.
- I don't care.
- I'm not gonna let you sink this ship!
Burn them! Burn them! Burn them!
Look, I have explained
my methodology.
What troubles me is
that you're trying out...
...your so-called
psychological experiment on children.
Children are our great hope.
Do you let your children read it'?
Your little girl?
I don't know
why your wife puts up with it.
- This and the other woman...
- You leave my family out of it.
Who are you to judge us?
Are you normal?
- Doctor, what is it? What's wrong?
- He's gonna be okay. Stay back.
Hello?
Hello?
Olive?
Bill, she's not coming back.
She said she'd come.
Sorry to be late.
Thank you for coming.
- Do you need help with your suitcase?
- No, no.
I...
I wanted to...
Dear, I was wondering
if it would be possible for me...
...to speak for three minutes
without you interrupting me.
Sure.
Olive...
...I've often thought
of what I wanted to say to you...
- ...what I wished I'd said to you.
- I'm sorry, this...
- This really isn't necessary.
- Please.
Elizabeth was wrong.
She can't live without you.
- Bill, will you shut it?
- Three minutes.
- Not if you're gonna misrepresent me.
- I'm dying.
Not yet. You don't speak for me.
I am not. I'm speaking for myself.
I'm sorry. I can't do this.
- You asked me to come. Now, I'm going.
- Please don't go.
I have made a new life for myself, Bill.
But are you happy?
- Does it matter?
- Of course it matters.
You gave up. The both of you.
I'm going to die...
...and you will be left all alone
with your bitterness...
...and your rage
and your knowledge that you loved her...
...and she loved you,
and you threw it away for them.
Our kids don't deserve to be attacked,
to be ostracized.
Our children are inheriting your shame.
Is that how you want them to live?
Is that the lesson you want
to teach them?
Now, do you love her?
- Yes.
- And have you always?
Yes.
So then ask her.
Olive...
...will you forgive me?
No.
- No?
- No.
- You need to submit to her.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
You cannot win every argument.
You cannot dominate all the time.
- Get on your knees.
- I will not. This is absurd.
- Get on your knees.
- I...
Olive, please forgive me.
More.
Please take us back.
I thought I knew everything.
I thought love wasn't enough.
But it...
It has to. It has to be enough
because we cannot...
We cannot live without you.
I cannot live without you.
Please...
...come back to us.
I want a new stove.
What?
The one you have is ancient,
and the back burners don't work.
We can get a new stove.
I want you to take the kids
on weekends.
I have to look after them all week,
and I'd like some time to myself...
...to go to the salon or read a book.
- Okay.
- And change Wonder Woman's outfit.
It's preposterous.
There I must draw the line.
I want you to love me
for all of my days.
All right.
My name is
Dr. William Moulton Marston.
And I am the creator of Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman is a love letter.
She is a fantasy.
She comes from a distant place
where there is beauty...
...and justice, and respect.
I write what I see
about women I know...
...women who are every bit as just...
...and strong,
and capable as Wonder Woman.
Now, we can debate
the length of her hemline.
But what is important...
...is the way
Wonder Woman reforms criminals.
She makes them tell the truth.
That is what she stands for...
...the truth.
To you...
...Wonder Woman is just a comic...
...but she's my life.
She's my love.