Whip It

In her directorial debut, Drew Barrymore just recently released a movie called “Whip It.” I remember a short segment in the movie “Dare to Compete” where they mentioned that women participated in roller derby beginning in the early 1900s. So, I find it a bit amusing that this movie coincidently came out only a couple weeks after starting Women in Sports. Quite honestly, I might not have paid attention to it at all if it weren’t for the class, which has made me acutely aware of issues that I never thought much of before.

Having written our epiphanic moment papers and explored some of the effects that participation in sport can have on a person, I find it pretty motivational that this movie was made. I mean, it’s not often you see movies that associate female athletes with violent full contact sports. The only recent movies that come to my mind that associate females and sports would be “Bring it On” and “Step Up,” both dance-related movies entitled in traditional “girl power” fashion. I think it’s very encouraging that someone as successful and accomplished as Drew Barrymore decided to do this movie to show that women can definitely think outside the box that society and the media has made.

As discussed in class, the result from participating in a sport can differ from being a pleasant distraction from daily life, to being a method for bringing people closer together, to simply being a way to stay in shape. In the movie, the protagonist found out a bit about herself while trying out the sport and then fell in love with it. She discovered a part of herself she didn’t know she had. She made new friends. She found that she was capable of more, both physically and mentally. These concepts are ones that many of us can relate to very well.

Regardless of gender, every person has the obligation to themselves to explore what they’re capable of, find their own identity and niche in the world, and become awesome at whatever it is they want to do. As Ms. Barrymore says in an interview about her movie, “Be your own hero.”

For those who want to know more about the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUGz9wflhAc

Ruben Angeles

KIN 338I/3018