Comments on: Harpy Cinematical Society: Whip It!

By: Rachel_in_WY

Rachel_in_WY — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:43:34 +0000

On the topic of male involvement, it might vary according to location. The roller derby team here was organized and started almost exclusively by women, who all kick ass, although there are several men involved now. Also, go Naughty Pines!

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:28:31 +0000

vmt, I forgot to mention how pleased I was with the dad’s transformation. It made me very happy.

Good luck AmandaS!

A glimpse into the lives of the other derby girls would definitely be cool, beatrice.

I am pretty bummed out it didn’t do well in theaters. A clear message to Hollywood that “bromedies” and more SATC movies are where it’s at.

By: AmandaS

AmandaS — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:14:03 +0000

I’m trying out for derby this year, so I have an obvious bias toward anything derby-related, but I did enjoy this movie very much. It had a handful of glaring problems, and was pretty much dipped in white, hetero, thin privilege, but it had quite a few triumphs in my opinion.

I loved Bliss’ relationships with her parents and Pash, they seemed very complex and real to me. I loved the empowerment of young women, and the idea that women can be tough and beautiful at the same time. I loved that there were deaf characters who weren’t played for laughs, but were two of the scariest roller girls.

As for men being in charge, I know that at least locally, almost all of our refs and announcers are men. I suspect that, as in my brother’s case, since they can’t play derby, they take any role they can in order to participate in some way, and women who are interested pass up these roles in order to actually play.

As for whether any of the Austin Rollergirls are in the movie, I’m not sure, but the Manson Sisters are LA Derby Dolls.

By: vmt

vmt — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:56:49 +0000

Personally, I loved it. The roller derby bits were so fun, but the subplots: of friendship, the romance, the parents, were where the real meat of the narrative lay.

The friendship between Bliss and Pash- so realistically written (and if you read their interviews, Page and Shawkat are real-life buds too).
I too liked the fact that Bliss doesn’t get the guy, intentionally. And the way their whole ” thing “was spot on: oozeingly sweet and ultimately un-fulfilling.

And the parents: wow, best part. Even the dad was written in an interesting way- made out to be the bumbling beer drinker, wishing he had sons, who comes to not only value Bliss’ hobby (as a real sport!) but encourage her to follow her dreams.

I was disappointed that it didn’t do better in theaters.

By: beatrice2000

beatrice2000 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:47:31 +0000

I really liked the film, but was more interested in the lives of the roller girls than Bliss, she seemed too boring by comparison. I liked that the hipster guy turned out to be a douche, I was figuring in my head that guys who look/act like that get lots of ladies, and affect a cute shyness to their advantage.

Alia Shawkat was an adorable and charming presence, I kept paying more attention to her in her scenes. I also thought Daniel Stern looked like my uncle, who is an actor, and kept picturing my uncle in the role.

It had a 90′s riot grrl feel to it, and seemed a little dated, but I found it sweet and funny and enjoyable.

By: ImTheMarigold

ImTheMarigold — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:24 +0000

Did anyone watch the TV show Rollergirls that was on A&E a few years ago? It was 13 episodes long and followed the lives of women on the Austin Rollerderby circuit. It was an AWESOME show, you can get it on Netflix. Anyways, to get to my point, if anyone has seen the show and this movie, did they use any real Austin rollergirls in it? I’d love to know!