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briarwoodI saw Whip It yesterday and it's a mega pass. All about women's roller derby, it stars Ellen Page as Bliss aka Babe Ruthless, a small town girl, veteran of numerous beauty pagents courtesy of her mother's obsession who becomes a star of the local roller derby scene. Women majorly outnumber men in this movie, and they all have names! And real personalities! And real conversations! Conversations about sport, and college and money and each other and family...and yeah, sure, about boys, too, but mostly not.
It's a pretty good film, too. I have a fondness for the whole coming-of-age-movie trope, so I'm a little biased, but I really enjoyed it. The relationships Bliss has with her friends and family have real depth. The rivalry between teams works well, though the more personal rivalry between Bliss and Iron Maven felt a bit contrived. There's a central love interest, too, which ironically has less depth, but I liked the way that played out: he was important, but never central to Bliss' life. The one black mark on the film is that despite the mega-pass and the underlying girl-power theme, the movie still manages to leave an impression that the women can only succeed through the intervention of men: the male coach (would it have been so hard to put a woman in that role?) and the inevitable fatherly support which enables Bliss to skate in the final match.
A great movie!
It's a pretty good film, too. I have a fondness for the whole coming-of-age-movie trope, so I'm a little biased, but I really enjoyed it. The relationships Bliss has with her friends and family have real depth. The rivalry between teams works well, though the more personal rivalry between Bliss and Iron Maven felt a bit contrived. There's a central love interest, too, which ironically has less depth, but I liked the way that played out: he was important, but never central to Bliss' life. The one black mark on the film is that despite the mega-pass and the underlying girl-power theme, the movie still manages to leave an impression that the women can only succeed through the intervention of men: the male coach (would it have been so hard to put a woman in that role?) and the inevitable fatherly support which enables Bliss to skate in the final match.
A great movie!