Because Shoes are a Gateway Drug
Baby Jem and I slipped away from the family yesterday to go watch some awesome roller derby goodness with some girlfriends. So many things to love about this movie, I hardly know where to start.
1. It's a sports movie. (I have a mad craze for sports movies)
2. It's a sports movie ABOUT WOMEN.
3. The majority of roles are played by women, and the few male characters (dad, love interest, coach) are not given priority over the women in screen time, story arc, etc. If anything, the opposite is true, and their stories are only important because of how it affects the women in the film.
4. Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis
5. The film is full of women of a variety of ages (many of the derby girls are in their late thirties and I suspect a few of the actresses are pushing forty) and physical types. The derby girls in particular range from 'tough and wiry' through to 'actually some meat on their bones' and 'whoa muscle'.
6. The progression from 'Bliss hasn't skated in years' to 'Bliss joins a team' is done pretty realistically. Also, Barbie skates!
7. Drew Barrymore, the director, insisted that all the actresses did their own stunts. You can really tell, as the entire movie fizzes with adrenalin and hysterical enthusiasm, and it's kind of awesome to know that every elbow, bash and crash was done in person. Particularly Drew and Juliette, who... well let's just say I'm surprised they were still walking by the time shooting ended! Those women know how to throw themselves around!
8. The 'Bliss gets a boyfriend' story is more about what she learns from the experience of her first love rather than anything to do with him, his needs, or what he thinks of her. The message from this sub-plot is about self-respect, and figuring out what you as a person deserve from the other person which is SO FUCKING RARE in teen movies, let alone with girl characters.
9. Kristen Wiig (kept wondering who she was and finally figured out she was Brahbrah in Flight of the Conchords), Alia Shawkat (Maebe from Arrested Development!), Zoe Bell (Xena's stunt double!)
10. the 'Bliss fights with best friend' subplot is done in a realistic way, without either of the girls being portrayed as unreasonable bitches. Just like in real life, they are equally at fault.
11. while a large amount of the film is about Bliss rebelling from her pushy, overbearing mother and resenting her 'head in the sand' father, issues are addressed/resolved at least partly through her being convinced to TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT. Ultimately it's not about Bliss or her mother compromising their values and opinions, but about them learning to live with and respect each other's priorities. Bliss hates beauty pageants and her mother is deeply uncomfortable with roller derby, but that doesn't have to change.
12. Seriously, what has to be one of the best food fight scenes ever.
13. The likeability of the male characters is graded on how well they are able to deal with strong women. The only case in which a man being railroaded by women is marked as inappropriate is the way that the Hurl Scouts show disrespect to their male coach, and the subplot about them learning to listen to him in order to become a less crappy team never places him in the position of the entitled male - if anything, it is the opposite, which makes him a much more interesting character. Bliss's dad has an awesome mini-arc in which he learns about roller derby and switches his viewing allegiance over from football. He is a very loveable character.
14. Yes the girls dress up in saucy costumes to play roller derby, but the emphasis is always on the empowerment they get from the way they present themselves. Also, protection is emphasised over presentation. They don't just wear helmets and knee pads, they wear MOUTH GUARDS. The sexual fantasy/titillation aspect of the derby girls is only addressed by the two least attractive/appealing male characters, especially the entertainingly grotesque Jimmy Fallon announcer, and the women rightly ignore such taunts, being far more concerned with psyching out the other team. The only character who worries about the *look* of the girls is Bliss's mother, and it's shown as an unsympathetic viewpoint along with 'but how will you get a husband'. We are repeatedly shown that the women ignore the blokes who only see them as a fetish object. Also, the genteel beauty pageant tradition that Bliss's mother idolises appears as far more of a meat market than roller derby could ever be.
15. How long has it been since there was a teenage girl movie with a message as awesome as 'Be Your Own Hero?' Seriously? And that's not the only brilliant feminist message in this movie. It's jam-packed with them.
16. Pretty much the entire movie is devoted to overturning assumptions about gender: about masculinity, femininity, motherhood, female friendships, teen romance, and women's sports. Because, why not roller derby? Sure, it's not a serious sport, it can't ever be a career, but let's face it. Most women's sports are treated like that anyway. So pack on the eyeliner and risk the fishnet burns!
17. Everyone involved in this movie looks like they are having SO MUCH FUN.
In short, yes I will be buying it on DVD and showing it to my daughters. This one's a keeper. I have little hope that it will balance out all the crap pop culture messages they will come across in their teens, but I am building my arsenal NOW, in advance. I might even have to forbid them from watching it in the hopes that they sneak it from the shelf... along with the Jessica Valenti and Kate Harding books.
1. It's a sports movie. (I have a mad craze for sports movies)
2. It's a sports movie ABOUT WOMEN.
3. The majority of roles are played by women, and the few male characters (dad, love interest, coach) are not given priority over the women in screen time, story arc, etc. If anything, the opposite is true, and their stories are only important because of how it affects the women in the film.
4. Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis
5. The film is full of women of a variety of ages (many of the derby girls are in their late thirties and I suspect a few of the actresses are pushing forty) and physical types. The derby girls in particular range from 'tough and wiry' through to 'actually some meat on their bones' and 'whoa muscle'.
6. The progression from 'Bliss hasn't skated in years' to 'Bliss joins a team' is done pretty realistically. Also, Barbie skates!
7. Drew Barrymore, the director, insisted that all the actresses did their own stunts. You can really tell, as the entire movie fizzes with adrenalin and hysterical enthusiasm, and it's kind of awesome to know that every elbow, bash and crash was done in person. Particularly Drew and Juliette, who... well let's just say I'm surprised they were still walking by the time shooting ended! Those women know how to throw themselves around!
8. The 'Bliss gets a boyfriend' story is more about what she learns from the experience of her first love rather than anything to do with him, his needs, or what he thinks of her. The message from this sub-plot is about self-respect, and figuring out what you as a person deserve from the other person which is SO FUCKING RARE in teen movies, let alone with girl characters.
9. Kristen Wiig (kept wondering who she was and finally figured out she was Brahbrah in Flight of the Conchords), Alia Shawkat (Maebe from Arrested Development!), Zoe Bell (Xena's stunt double!)
10. the 'Bliss fights with best friend' subplot is done in a realistic way, without either of the girls being portrayed as unreasonable bitches. Just like in real life, they are equally at fault.
11. while a large amount of the film is about Bliss rebelling from her pushy, overbearing mother and resenting her 'head in the sand' father, issues are addressed/resolved at least partly through her being convinced to TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT. Ultimately it's not about Bliss or her mother compromising their values and opinions, but about them learning to live with and respect each other's priorities. Bliss hates beauty pageants and her mother is deeply uncomfortable with roller derby, but that doesn't have to change.
12. Seriously, what has to be one of the best food fight scenes ever.
13. The likeability of the male characters is graded on how well they are able to deal with strong women. The only case in which a man being railroaded by women is marked as inappropriate is the way that the Hurl Scouts show disrespect to their male coach, and the subplot about them learning to listen to him in order to become a less crappy team never places him in the position of the entitled male - if anything, it is the opposite, which makes him a much more interesting character. Bliss's dad has an awesome mini-arc in which he learns about roller derby and switches his viewing allegiance over from football. He is a very loveable character.
14. Yes the girls dress up in saucy costumes to play roller derby, but the emphasis is always on the empowerment they get from the way they present themselves. Also, protection is emphasised over presentation. They don't just wear helmets and knee pads, they wear MOUTH GUARDS. The sexual fantasy/titillation aspect of the derby girls is only addressed by the two least attractive/appealing male characters, especially the entertainingly grotesque Jimmy Fallon announcer, and the women rightly ignore such taunts, being far more concerned with psyching out the other team. The only character who worries about the *look* of the girls is Bliss's mother, and it's shown as an unsympathetic viewpoint along with 'but how will you get a husband'. We are repeatedly shown that the women ignore the blokes who only see them as a fetish object. Also, the genteel beauty pageant tradition that Bliss's mother idolises appears as far more of a meat market than roller derby could ever be.
15. How long has it been since there was a teenage girl movie with a message as awesome as 'Be Your Own Hero?' Seriously? And that's not the only brilliant feminist message in this movie. It's jam-packed with them.
16. Pretty much the entire movie is devoted to overturning assumptions about gender: about masculinity, femininity, motherhood, female friendships, teen romance, and women's sports. Because, why not roller derby? Sure, it's not a serious sport, it can't ever be a career, but let's face it. Most women's sports are treated like that anyway. So pack on the eyeliner and risk the fishnet burns!
17. Everyone involved in this movie looks like they are having SO MUCH FUN.
In short, yes I will be buying it on DVD and showing it to my daughters. This one's a keeper. I have little hope that it will balance out all the crap pop culture messages they will come across in their teens, but I am building my arsenal NOW, in advance. I might even have to forbid them from watching it in the hopes that they sneak it from the shelf... along with the Jessica Valenti and Kate Harding books.