Whip It

I keep recommending this movie to people and the overall reason is “It’s a fun movie.” It is. A fun, upbeat and positive film that always leaves me feeling good after I watch it.

It’s more than that, though. It’s a movie about girls. But not just girls – almost every girl I know. I didn’t grow up in a small town, let alone a small town in Texas. I never played roller derby. I am not the girl in this movie.

On the other hand, every girl I know is the girl in this movie. We’re all awkward and uncertain and have odd relationships with our families. Growing up, we’re not sure where we’re going or why (amongst the MANY things that are unclear in wretched adolescence). But we find a thing – everyone (not just girls) – and that’s the thing that changes us. It’s something we’re good at – school, sport, music, gaming, hobby – and it gives us confidence and provides inspiration and makes us feel like we belong in our skin and our opinions MEAN something. It’s the confidence that propels us into that next place – regardless of uncertainty and fear and the certain knowledge that we aren’t perfect – with a sense that we’ll be OKAY.

Pretty much everything about this movie resonated with me. The family interplay and all the intricacy of navigating it, the relationships with friends (new and old and how that all works out), that sense of wonder when you find something NEW and how it feels to be growing into yourself. I don’t think those feelings go away but this is the first film I’ve ever seen that CELEBRATES them. I left the theater with a huge smile on my face and that’s happened every time I’ve watched the DVD too.