“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
―Robert F. Kennedy
Almost twenty years ago, I found myself in a heated argument with college friends over how realistic some superheroes are. While Batman simply uses his wealth to fight crime (more realistic), someone like Superman is an alien from another planet who uses superpowers to fight crime (less realistic). So when everyone (all men by the way) starting claiming Wonder Woman could never exist, I not only claimed she could, but started a blog to prove she was realistic by documenting the most badass and inspiring women from history who proved how realistic Wonder Woman really was. I didn't know it at the time, but that blog led towards a major paradigm shift in my life that led me to learning about important women from history even I had never heard of- and I was a history major!
For over ten years, I ran that weekly blog- Wonder Woman of the Week- as a way to teach myself and others about the real-life inspiring women of history from fields of politics, war, science, and sports who proved how strong, compassionate, leaderly, and courageous every woman is capable of being if given the opportunity to be the best version of themself. In a world where several countries are currently rolling back women's rights and countless women are voluntarily surrendering their rights to return to traditional, oppressive lifestyles; I know it was no longer enough to make a blog about women from history- I knew the world needed Wonder Woman the same way I needed that character to become the person I am today.
But obviously due to copyright laws, I can't just make my own Wonder Woman show. I also for years had some frustrations about how Wonder Woman was (rarely) depicted on the screen. (Not the Lynda Carter series- that was obviously 10/10.) For months I thought about what I would do if I could do anything with the character if I could write a show about a strong, female superhero that emphasized the real women of history. When I started thinking about some of my favorite historical figures spotlighted in my blog, I finally came up with my idea, which could blend both the historical elements of real history with the mythical elements of Greek Mythology.
Iris the Amazon tells the story of an Amazon warrior haunted by the grief of being the sole survivor of an ancient war self-exiled to the library of Themyscira to spend the rest of her days reading about more courageous women than herself as the other Amazons of the island enjoy life in their mystical land. But when Iris begins noticing Amazons losing memory of important women from history and finding their names disappearing from the history books, Iris must don the Crown of Eunomia- goddess of justice and the changing of the seasons- to travel back in time and save important women from history from being lost forever.
Each episode is designed to teach viewers about lesser known women from history and the struggles they faced in their times to stand up for the ideals that guided them, strike out against injustice, or act to improve the lot of others- all through the eyes of a character whose lost all hope and learns to believe again in the possibility of a better world. Along the way, Iris not only faces the very real villains of man's world from oppressive Roman centurions to corrupt politicians but also characters from myth and legend like gods and demons intent on leaving their own mark on history.
One of the biggest challenges for developing the story was not writing the script of deciding which historical figures to spotlight, but finding the right cast and crew to take on the roles. I interviewed dozens of candidates for the role of Iris- our Amazonian heroine- and spent weeks going over their pre-recorded casting applications before choosing a candidate. The last question I asked all of the candidates what one woman from their own life has been their greatest source of inspiration. It was my favorite question to ask as someone who has spent over a decade reading about famous women from history to hear all of the candidates- all incredible women in their own right- talk about the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, teachers, and others who made them the women they are today.
The actress I cast to portray Iris said her greatest inspiration was her mom who was the perfect role model because- while imperfect- never lost the capacity to love or be loved, always kept going in difficult times, who never gave into fear, and who refused to ever feel shame. (Personally I almost want to meet this actress' mom more than I want to meet the actress!) At it's heart, Iris the Amazon is a story not only meant to educate audiences about important women from history, but to do so in a way that can inspire all of us to send forth out own tiny ripples of hope and bring down the mighty walls of oppression around the world today, and I'm confident our lead actress Sarah Iranca is perfect for the role.
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