Whip It

By Laura L.

For the past few years, I’ve been a member of a roller derby league in St. Louis, MO: the Arch Rival Roller Girls. When I heard Whip It was in the works, I hoped they would do the sport some justice. It had previously been portrayed in the Raquel Welch film Kansas City Bomber and the short-lived A&E reality series Rollergirls, in addition to an episode here and there on a number of other shows. Yet rarely did I come away from any of these with a good feeling in the pit of my stomach. While not perfect in its portrayal of modern-day roller derby, Whip It left me with that good feeling.

The movie’s heroine is Bliss Cavendar (played by Ellen Page), a 17-year-old stuck in the small town of Bodeen, TX. Against her will, her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) enrolls her into beauty pageants. But her life begins to change the day she goes clothes shopping with her mother in Austin and spots some rollergirls skating in the store and delivering fliers for their upcoming bout. Instantly, Bliss is mesmerized.

She and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) drive back to Austin a few days later to catch their first roller derby bout. Bliss is even further entranced, and after the bout, one of the rollergirls, Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) urges her to try out for the league. Bliss then fibs about her age, as one must be 21 to join the league (which happens to be a real league in Austin,TX, called The Lonestar Rollergirls). At the tryout, she clocks in as the fastest of the recruits on her speed and, as a result, is given a spot on the Hurl Scouts, the worst team in the league. From then on, Bliss’s life is never the same. She eventually adopts the derby name Babe Ruthless.

As a derby girl, I liked how the hits in the movie were, for the most part, legal. (Unlike my hits, which, well. . . ask my refs.) I also appreciated that real rollergirls were used for the stunt doubles. The age-old storyline of the rebellious teenager is enjoyable and believable, since even ten years out of high school, I still feel like one myself. Finally, I thought it was great that Bliss has the exact same skates that I have (although hers are much shinier and newer than mine).

I only wish they hadn’t included the fake fights and punches, though it was a nice touch to kept ejecting Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore) for pulling such shenanigans.

Ultimately, regardless of how well Whip It does at the box office (and it should do well), it will no doubt inspire many young women out there to join roller derby or start their own leagues, living by the movie’s motto, “Be Your Own Hero.”

After receiving an overwhelmingly positive response at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, Whip It opens nationwide on Friday, October 2. It is Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut.