Entertainment

'Wonder Woman' Director Patty Jenkins Rejects This Seemingly Empowering Term

by Kristie Rohwedder
Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Think the person who directed a certain superhero movie that happens to be crushing the box office and making audiences cry empowered tears must certainly feel like a badass right now? Eh, not exactly. In an interview for fellow Bustle writer Taylor Ferber's site, Stripping Down Celebs, Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins said she does not feel like a badass. Oh, and she also rejects the term altogether. When asked if she identifies with that word, the director explained why she doesn’t consider herself — or anyone else — to be one.

“No, I'll never think that," Jenkins told Ferber. “That's a dangerous thing to think. Nobody is a 'badass' and nobody’s a 'boss.' We all can only try. And that’s the secret. Because if everybody in every couch in America can try their best, the moment never comes when you're done with any struggle, and it never will... You never arrive, and that’s OK.”

If Patty freakin’ Jenkins says never arriving is OK, then it must be OK. Yeah, life can feel like an impossible and unrelenting Sisyphean task, but giving it our best shot regardless is probably better than twiddling our thumbs in a complacent daze, you know? The “try” is where the important stuff happens. At the risk of sounding like a T-shirt with a motivational sports quote screen-printed across the back: Embrace the journey and the work that comes with it, because the second we stop trying, we plateau; without struggle, we cannot grow.

You can watch the interview with Jenkins here:

May we all strive to be as un-badass as Jenkins.