I scored a couple of pre-screen tickets to
Whip It on Thursday (I've never had so much advanced-movie-viewing play my whole life!) and I
really enjoyed it.
Whip It is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut and features a slew of terrific actresses: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, and Zoe Bell (a stuntwoman - check out
Double Dare, it's awesome). It's about a young woman who joins a roller derby team. There's nothing revolutionary about the story, aside from the fact that the entire cast is about 90% women. At a time when
women are becoming scarce characters in films, the sad but true fact is that watching this movie, with a bunch totally bad-ass women (that, here's the key: doesn't exploit them, but celebrates them), is a pretty rare event down at your local movie theatre.
If you ask me, there aren't
nearly enough positive role-models for young women on tv or in the movies. Watching a movie where tough girls fall down and then get back up again nearly made me weep with joy. There are some awesome lines, like the one you probably saw in the trailer:
Bliss: You guys are like, my new heroes.
Maggie Mayhem: Put some skates on - be your own hero.
That - may I be so bold? - rings like a sounding bell for a new grrrl revolution.
I'd recommend seeing it with a gal-pal or a budding young feminist. The movie also inspired me to learn more about roller derbies - I'd like to watch a game for realsies. Here's the Chicago team -
Windy City Rollers, and here's LA:
Derby Dolls - check out the women's names, they're effing hilarious.