Alicia Silverstone Somehow Both Praises & Shades Wonder Woman At The Same Time

Alicia Silverstone just compared Wonder Woman to Mean Girls and Clueless, and I am confused.

During a conversation with Variety Studio in Cannes Lions, the 40-year-old actress commented on the critical praise the female-directed superhero film, Wonder Woman, has been receiving, and her feedback is pretty surprising. The topic was brought up while the actress was discussing her upcoming role in American Woman, a television series based on the life of Kyle Richards (yes, from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills).

Silverstone did not say anything bad about the film, but rather chose to talk about it in a way that felt a little less than impressed, as Marie Claire points out. First she started by forgetting the title, and then confessed that she does not see why the film is such a big deal. (It has already made $571.8 million at the box office, earned a 92% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, and been heralded as the "energizer bunny" hit of the summer by Forbes.)

"Before Wonder Woman...Wonder Woman? Before Wonder Woman, there have been many movies with female leads, so I get a little confused," she said, seated next to her American Woman co-star, Mena Suvari. "We have made strides, of course."

The context of the conversation seemed to be around "women in massive hit movies," of which Wonder Woman is clearly a prime example. But Silverstone instead pivoted the conversation to highlight the amount of female-driven comedies. And she has a point — while Gal Gadot is extremely impressive as an ass-kicking superhero, there are plenty of real-life characters (mere mortals that we are) that deserve praise, too.

"I think about, what about all those wonderful comedians who are females who have had massive hits?" she asked. "There's Bridesmaids. There's a movie out right now...with tons of girls. I'm sure it's killing it, right? I don't know. I just feel like over the years...there was Mean Girls. There was Clueless. Over the time, we have had...there's been so many movies that have been female-driven, but we have also always had these pay issues."

Silverstone's main point (which is a little convoluted, because it's clear she starts getting a little nervous) is that it is harder for talented female actors in smaller films or niche television shows to see the same amount of recognition as a major film like Wonder Woman. But what she needs to remember is that there is room for both — and Wonder Woman is a key ingredient in making that happen.