Whip It

[osprey_archer]

You guys, I just saw Whip It and it is amazing. It's about roller derby, and beauty pageants, and mothers and daughters, and is AWESOMELY AWESOME and everyone should see it.

I especially love Bliss's relationship with her mother, which has the complexity usually reserved for father-son relationships. Bliss: admires her mother's strength, but rejects her mother's specific beauty pageant goals for her, yet craves her mother's approval for her passion in roller derby; while Bliss's mother adores her daughter so much that she has trouble seeing past her own goals for her. They're both so strong; and they have such different values that they can't help but clash.

I was a little worried that the roller derby/beauty pageant contrast would devolve into a dichotomy between awesome tough tomboys and icky girly girls, but I thought the movie did a nice job avoiding that trap. Beauty pageants are clearly not the right thing for our heroine, Bliss, but the girls who take part in them are not portrayed in an "EW ICKY GIRL COOTIES!" kind of way.

AND THE ROLLER DERBY SCENES ARE SO MUCH FUN OMG. Tense, exciting, fast-paced but easy to follow! And the team has the greatest esprit de corps. When they lose they chant "We're number two! We're number two!" as passionately as if they'd just won the Superbowl. And they have food fights!

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing about this and thinking it sounded interesting, and now your positive review makes me think even more so. I'll look for it!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It's a lot of fun! I hope you like it.