Whip It: Good!
Before I start writing about Whip It, the upcoming roller derby movie slash Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, you should probably all know that I’m going through a bit of a roller derby phase lately. Maybe it’s my desire to be Pamie when I grow up; maybe it’s my friend Donna, who’s down in Richmond and supplements her double life as a PBS employee and mom to a four-year-old with a third existence as a derby girl. I like the culture of it—the combination of challenge and support, of sheer bloodlust and weird sorority-style bonding. (DC does have roller derby, and don’t think I haven’t looked into it–I’m currently without a team sport. But I don’t know, you guys. I worked really hard to grow all of these teeth.)
I thought, for about a minute, that maybe a roller derby movie would be my next creative project—that with the little renaissance swelling up in American derby these days, maybe the genre’s time had come. Before I even got the thought out, Barrymore beat me to the punch. She’s like the Jesus to my Brian: SHE found a script written by, you know, an actual derby girl. SHE knew Ellen Page. SHE had money. And, like, cameras. So when you put it like that, I think I’ll take my cue. Good day, sir!
I would be so sad if the movie looked bad; maybe I should be even sadder that it looks so awesome. Because it does look awesome. I’m calling it out now: I am going to see this, and I’m going to love it, and so is everybody else, and then statistics for self-propelled mobile violence among women in this country are going to skyrocket. Take my word for it.
(On a related note: If you are even remotely interested in Drew Barrymore, or if you want to know how she pulled off Little Edie’s crazy voice in Grey Gardens, or if you just like cool interviews of any kind, you MUST listen to her Fresh Air conversation with Terry Gross, available for free here. Not kidding. You’ll be a fan forever.)
Whip It, Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, roller derby, Terry Gross, Fresh Air
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