I sort of fell asleep during the midnight showing of Wonder Woman last week during the "slower parts," but luckily rewatched it this weekend.
One of the things I missed the first time made me glad I rewatched it with less diehard friends who were fine catching it the second weekend. And it was still 90% full.
Diana performs a super feat that only someone like she could do -- and not as a goddess or demigod, but as a slightly naive person with a code of honor in battle. It really takes a true Amazonian to do what she did, due to her codes and sense of honor.
So, we all know she's a fish out of water, experiencing modern civilization for the first time. One of those jarring moments would be her realization of what Battle means to Amazonians and what it means to current humans.
There are plenty of examples, like running into No Man's Land, but one example stood out.
Before their first mission, Steve is assembling his team of Sameer, Charlie, and Chief.
It's Charlie whom Diana saves. And it goes under-appreciated beyond her cute "who will sing for us?" line.
Let's recap.
Sameer has signed on.
Attention goes to Charlie, who's pointed out in the middle of a fight.
Diana muses that at least he can fight. Of course, most of us already know he's the skinny dude getting the shit kicked out of him.
He saunters on over and introduces himself to familiar friends and Diana. She asks why they fought. He drunkenly says that he picked up someone's drink on accident. Strike 1. This dude is a major alcoholic. Combined with his inability to fight, which is probably an embarrassment to Amazonian women, certainly should be to a man of Man.
But then she finds out his...trade. She has to find out. He can't fight. He's not particularly smart. He's not a smooth talker like Sameer. So what is he?
He brags that he's a sniper, and not just a sniper, but a sniper who's so good that he can kill people before they even know it -- i.e. he makes headshots. And he is seemingly proud of this, so much that he brags that his range is so long that often he doesn't even know if he kills his own side, and he admits he pretty much NEVER SEES THEIR FACE. He takes pride in this face. At least he pretends to.
Diana calls him out.
She calls him dishonorable, to not face the one he kills or allow the one he aims to kill to face him.
He seemingly brushes it off with more bragging. Then I think he says something about being incredulous that this "lassie" is joining the operation -- so he's sexist on top (though for 1920s, it's on par, since if they can't vote, what place does a woman have on a battlefield?)
Then, he has PTSD night terrors that his friends are used to, and know he's no harm to himself or others -- but he clearly has PTSD, but they just don't know what that is back then. Back then, he was probably thought of as "a bit crazy" or worse, "he's a bit broken from the war, and hasn't been able to be put back together." Which sounds kind of true.
Next morning arrives and then go meet Chief before the mission. He's a smuggler. Diana sarcastically says that her team is made up of "a spy, a liar, a murderer, and a smuggler."
Charlie being the murderer. That's how dishonorable Charlie is to Diana. He's not a "sniper" in modern language, he's not even an "assassin," which implies some sort of skilled killer who hunts a target. He's not even a soldier.
Not. Even. A. Soldier. Let alone a warrior. He was a murdering psychopath to Diana. A coward. Someone who seemingly likes killing people from afar. Dishonorable to her.
He's a freaking murderer. A murderer. As in, someone who commits unlawful and immoral, unethical homicide. In War. A World War. The War to end all Wars. 24 million have died. But he's the MURDERER. Not an assassin or mercenary but a murderer.
Here's the thing: do we know that Charlie's hurt by Diana? Does he disagree? Is he upset? Is he ready to shut her up? Or is he pained by all the lives he has taken, and what helps is the fact he can't see their faces?
We know this: Diana sees him as an alcoholic, unreliable, borderline mad and deeply troubled, arrogant, cold blooded, dishonorable murderer.
Now, in the 4 years of war -- you think anyone said that to him? If anything, in 4 years, he developed a reputation for his sniper ability. It's why he could be piss drunk and getting the shit beaten out of him and still be coveted for his skills why?
Because he gets the job done despite his troubles.
Despite his troubles.
Or because of the job, he IS troubled?
Gameday is on, and Wonder Woman does her thing. She takes over Veld by leading the battalion across No Man's Land, which has been a death trap for a year.
But one German sniper remains.
It's Charlie's time to shine.
And given that he was the number one choice, and this was the minimum distance for a sniper, it was easy for him, especially with Wonder Woman drawing fire for him to train his eye on the sniper.
But he chokes. Twice. He can barely hold his service weapon. He's useless. Utterly useless. He doesn't even prop up the shield jump for Diana. She asks Chief what was up, and he plainly says that he's got his own personal battle, likely PTSD that has been drowned and number for years.
But something funny happens. As everyone celebrates that night, Steve and Diana pause to see that Charlie is singing "for the first time in years." Charlie isn't beating himself up for NOT killing someone via sniper. He's not getting HAMMERED over letting Diana take out a sniper which is generally another sniper's job or perhaps some brave mortar men.
Next day, Sir Patrick's funds have been doled out. Job was clearly defined, funds were dispersed (and likely nothing to Diana, so payment for 5 was given to 4... while Diana did 95% of the work since it required 0 smuggling, 0 lying, 0 spying, 100% sniping, which choked, but they still fired their rifles while Wonder Woman was a bullet and mortar magnet, allowing them to overrun No Man's Land and take Veld.
Steve Trevor reluctantly spits out that there's another viable mission -- the gala. Seeing as none of the 4 actually did their jobs, and this job actually required a spy, an actor/liar, a smuggler....Steve said that they all got paid and no one was even really being asked to join him, since it was all risk but no reward other than honor and the feeling of accomplishment (which, in the end, was priceless, Even for Steve, as he did more in the process of dying than literally 99.9999% of people accomplish in living, if you count success as not just saving millions of lives, but UK's society and culture as they know it, as the attack would have been 9/11 x Pearl Harbor x Holocaust x Bio Warfare war crimes x 10 since this would have basically changed the way the UK would be, especially if Germany occupied it, however unlikely. It would be like attacking the Eastern Seaboard of the US to the Mississippi and wiping everyone out).
Anyway, everyone quickly jumps aboard...except Charlie. Not out of shame. But out of legitimate fear of endangering his buddies.
That's when we get the infinitely endearing "but who will sing for us if you're not there?" which lifted Charlie to the heavens.
To most, it's that line that was the most poignant. To me, it's the simple fact that he reveled in the victory without killing anyone the day before.
Why does he "take pride" in killing people he can't even see? Because he isn't proud. He hates killing people. He stopped singing once he started killing others. He was cursed with the gift of being a sharpshooter. Why? Because a sharpshooter 100 years ago was basically real-life cheat codes. He "preferred" long range kills not for the bravado he got out of it, but because it figuratively and literally put as much distance between him and the dead.
Why did he "take pride" in people getting killed before they knew it, ie headshots that are instant kills? Because they didn't have to suffer to death.
He has severe nightmares. Night terrors. As a sniper, he likely doesnt see many of his friends get killed up close, even after years. I mean, he and the other 3 guys have been together for 3-4 years. So the PTSD didn't come from him witnessing death up close.
No, his PTSD came from him being the MURDERER with NO HONOR as Diana -- and only Diana -- could put it. Any other soldier would be reprimanded for saying that to him. Any woman would likely get smacked, but after Diana showed she prevented Sameer's murder by throwing a guy across the room, no one was going to dismiss her words, and certainly not incite a fight. Any woman of nobility wouldn't even know to say that because such a woman has zero warrior training or idea of honor in fighting and warfare.
Only Wonder Woman could say such words to a soldier.
In a span of 48 hours, Diana herself saw Charlie as an alcoholic, idiotic, arrogant yet cowardly, dishonorable, broken, murderer.
The problem? Charlie likely felt the same about himself. But not only couldn't he shed it, he had to embrace it, because it was War and snipers were coveted. It's why he was the first to come to mind.
Diana called Charlie out. It was tough love.
But it came from a HEROINE. A superhero. Or something. Someone. Someone the group and an entire town reveres. Someone who gets him.
Someone who turned the pace of advancing one inch per year in no man's land to the entire field in 15 minutes. The town was captured within likely a few hours at most.
And Charlie was A OK with that. If anything, then more validity and respect she earned, the more her words meant to Charlie and the group.
So, when Diana sees that Charlie is finally doing something honorable -- bowing out to not endanger the group on the next mission -- even though Diana doesn't want him to fight dishonorably, she doesn't want to make him feel worthless.
That's when the "who will sing for us?" question comes in -- it does more than endear her to them, it shows compassion and most importantly, it's sort of code between the two that he won't put himself into dangerous situations that could get his friends killed, while he won't have to do any sniping, while still remaining a part of the group that has been his family away from home for 4 years. He's been so broken than he hadn't sung in YEARS. NOT A SINGLE DRUNKEN NIGHT OF HIM SINGING IRISH DRINKING SONGS.
WHY?
He had no song in his heart until Diana showed up.
And that's a fucking superheroine feat. He may not be whole, but he's not so broken anymore. And that's what a hero does. Sure, she killed dozens and claimed territory and defeated officers and a Greek god.
But she also saved the life of a young man. A hundred lives is a statistic, one life is personal? Or a story? Whatever the case, that little relationship and the character progress in basically 5 script pages was monumental to me.
She fixed a broken man as much as she could. And only she could. No man could. No woman could. Only Diana could.
Much love to her for recognizing that War wasn't about just defeating Ares -- but trying to help those victimized by war...and not just the injured, but the broken hiding behind a facade that sounds bad ass, but to her, he's as much a murderer as a secretary is a slave back then. Obviously, both are exaggerations. Etta was obviously a free woman. Snipers are not murderers (though American Sniper Chris Kyle bragging about sniping Katrina looters makes him seem like a sociopath who couldn't live without a war zone). Charlie couldn't live in a war zone. He hated that he could shoot well -- but to him, in beat shooting people from 40 yards away or bayoneting someone or being on the battlefield and seeing dead eyes.
TLDR -- Charlie was initially arrogant and cowardly, considered dishonorable, and he loved to brag about killing those he couldn't see, and killing people with head shots. But he didn't have a song in his heart until Diana showed up and basically saw through his soul and saw a broken man who saw no glory or honor in sniping people, she saw a murderer, and Charlie felt the same -- which is why he finally sang. By the end, they even had a winking understanding that he would still be a part of the group just outside of trouble, but just inside the circle, by being the "group singer." No "but who will be the sniper?" "Who will sing?" clearly refers to his place in the group as their war buddy you don't discard just because he's useless. And Diana is ever he superheroine for that.