This is our third guest blog from Revolution, although now she’s better known as K-Y La Jelly. (Check out 1 and 2)
Whip It was not only a directorial debut for Drew Barrymore, it was a debut of women’s roller derby resurgence that began merely at the turn of this millennium. Hollywood’s spotlighting of lesser known athletics has led to their subsequent national and international growth before. Documentary Planet B-boy attributes the international exposure to breakdancing simply after 1983 Flashdance’s introductory clip of kids dancing in the streets. About’s skateboard guide, Steve Cave, lists the 1989 release of Gleaming the Cube, a movie that first featured Tony Hawk among other future professionals, as a major event that boosted skateboarding popularity. Has the passion of Barrymore’s pet project impacted roller derby in the same way?
Despite the novelty of roller derby in Hollywood, Whip It’s financial and artistic grade achieved a big fat mediocre. Box Office Mojo ranks Whip It #6 behind Zombieland (#1) and Toy Story I & II (#2) according to gross profits made that opening weekend. Kyle Buchanan gives a more historical perspective on the film’s monetary losses in “A Dispiriting List of Girl-Targeted Movies that Opened Better than Whip It” on movieline.com. To summarize, the list includes several movies that star Hillary Duff and Lindsay Lohan, and dramatize the following topics: boyfriends, princesses/drama queens, animals (horses and mermaids), and gymnastics (not to belittle the athleticism of this sport). Film critics from New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today grant Whip It one thumb up for an eccentric cast and one thumb down for a predictable plot.
A quick read through roller derby team websites and blogs, however, show a very different story. Ivanna S. Pankin, founder of Las Vegas’ Neanderdolls and owner of the online derby store Sin City Skates, states that even if the movie had sucked it is a free marketing tool that educates people about the sport’s existence. For the past year she has prepped her business to respond to sales booms after the film’s release. Sojourney Beaver, Las Vegas’ general league manager and new recruits coach, says that for every person who asks, “There’s derby in Las Vegas?” another person asks “What’s roller derby?” After Whip It’s release, Beaver found 22 more women at the next beginner’s practice, about four times the normal 1-5 newbies who show up at the start of the season. Although most of these new recruits denied the film had anything to do with their choice to start derby, a few admitted they had no clue a derby team existed in Las Vegas until they saw flyers posted at theaters. Similarly, LV member Bootsi Call quotes 380 tickets sold at the following bout compared with the average 100-200 fans. Keep reading →
Best Known For: Super strength, telepathic connection to humpback whales, superhuman lung capacity mistaken for underwater breathing capabilities, and **spoiler** being an alien charged with saving Earth’s oceans (shades of Star Trek IV…)
Okay. So. I’ve got to admit something. I kind of like Lady Gaga. And by like I mean I frantically read all of her interviews. Big deal, you may say, lots of people like her. But rewind to last spring and I was filled with spiky distate for this lady. I hated “Just Dance” (still do) as it played 20 times a day on the radio (which my coworkers play 24/7 without my control) but that’s all I knew about her. The song was vapid and seemingly manufactured crap just like the image she appeared to be such a puppet slave to. And I’m kind of a music bitch and so I judged.
But then the reverse of what usually happens happened–sometimes I like a song, then hear an interview or hear a band live, realize they’re dumb or untalented and then dislike them. But with Gaga it was the opposite. I hated her songs on the radio, but began to love her after reading her interviews, learning more about her background, and hearing her play live. I fell for her.
In a sea of Taylor Swift and American Idol I think we need Gaga. So here’s why you should love her too. Join us!
It’s taken me far too long to compose my thoughts about this book. Mayhem has been ever-so-patient and for this I thank her. I apologize, dear readers, I do.
The Girls Who Went Away
by Ann Fessler
This book has been on BTW’s potential-read list for quite some time (since November 23, 2008, in case you were wondering) but for some reason it kept getting passed over for something or other. This cycle we were having trouble deciding what to read so we finally thought “Why not?” And I am so glad we did.
As you know, reproductive freedom is extremely high on our inalienable human rights list and that sex education in this country needs to move from abstinence-only “education” to comprehensive education. With that mindset, The Girls Who Went Away provided a depth and nuance to my understanding of these issues, supporting and furthering their veracity and necessity in my mind. Jennifer Baumgardner, in reviewing this book for Bitch, explained: “I had always been so drawn to reproductive freedom and justice as a catalyzing issue—but had never understood or really thought about the adoption piece.” I, too, had always thought of adoption as this thrilling and positive experience for all parties involved– The Girls Who Went Away exposed me to multitudes of women for whom this was certainly not the case and forced me to confront this reality. Adoption isn’t such an open and shut case for me anymore. This book was illuminating, heartbreaking, inspiring, enraging, and brilliant in its simplicity and clarity of purpose. E v e r y o n e should read this book. Everyone.
Mayhem: speaking of heartbreaking, have you started “the girls who went away” yet? i’m halfway through and i LOVE It. each new chapter breaks my heart a bit more. me: yes. and yes. now why couldn’t BOS have been written as well as this one? Mayhem: MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!! BOS would’ve been so much better if it had been structured like the girls who went away. this book has everything i wish BOS would’ve had. Keep reading →
Feisty Females: sisters Kit Keller and Dottie Hinson
Year we got to know them: 1992
Best known for: killer side-splits catcher skills, “I like the high ones,” and knockin’ the ball out of the park as part of the Rockford Peaches in A League of Their Own, based on the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which ran from 1943 to 1954.
Why Now?: I finally saw Whip It (which I recommended last week in our FFFF) and I think her performance was especially noteworthy; to me, she’s gotten the least buzz, but was one of the biggest highlights. She portrayed Iron Maven, the “bad guy,” with dignity, class, and a kick-ass attitude that was fresh and accessible–and it fully renewed my love for Ms. Lewis.
That– and she was on Ellen this week, gushing about her childhood crush on Clint Eastwood.
I read Gone With the Wind in my middle school English class because it was, you know, 1000 pages long and so I got more bang for my buck. But I ended up enthralled and in a sobbing rage in my mother’s bedroom after I read the dreaded “frankly, my dear” on those last few pages. Naturally, I went on to watch the four hour film until I had it memorized and worshipped Scarlett as my new heroine. So the fangirl inside of me was excited to revisit Scarlett and crew from Haskell’s feminist lens.
Now before you accuse me of going all “librarian” on you, keep in mind that your freedom to read is a feminist human rights issue; challenged books limit intellectual freedom for all and impinge upon our first amendment rights.
Over the past eight years, American libraries were faced with 3,736 challenges.
1,225 challenges due to “sexually explicit” material;
1,008 challenges due to “offensive language”;
720 challenges due to material deemed “unsuited to age group”;
458 challenges due to “violence”
269 challenges due to “homosexuality”; and
Further, 103 materials were challenged because they were “anti-family,” and an additional 233 were challenged because of their “religious viewpoints.”
One of the books most often challenged in the past year is And Tango Makes Three, a picture book about the two male penguins at the Central Park zoo who were given an egg to hatch after they were seen caring for an egg-sized rock.
She’s Hyped For: Becoming empowered through roller derby
Why She Deserves to be Fandango-ed:
Maybe I’ve got roller derby on the brain– I’m headed to the DC Rollergirls season opener in a few short hours– but I’m completely psyched for the new movie Whip It that’s coming out Friday. I have recently joined the Team Barrymore camp, I don’t know why, but I just didn’t like her for the longest time. She’s since wholeheartedly won me over, even if she is dating my future husband Justin Long on and off, and I’m excited to see what she’s capable of doing behind the scenes.
The blogosphere has been thrumming with excitement and anticipation for this movie (especially from the ladies at BUST). So I’ll throw in my 2 cents and say: Agreed: this movie looks marvelous!
Here are the Top 5 reasons that you should go see Whip It this Friday when it comes out: Keep reading →
Happy autumn everyone! Have the leaves started to change for anyone? The death heat of DC has finally receded; I can go outside without contemplating suicide. And I’m listening to Christmas music as I write this, so, clearly, I’m ready for the fall! Mayhem and I have come up with the next few books to read– we know we’re behind on the discussion posts for the two most recent books (completely mea culpa!) but c’est la vie– that doesn’t mean we can’t start reading new books! Pick one up (or all three!) and join us here to discuss!
.jpg "Frankly My Dear")
