Whip It

Whip It (motion picture, MPAA Rated PG-13 for partial nudity, language)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2009

Genre: Drama, Romance

Honors:

• Video Librarian 01/01/10
• Nominated for Bronze Horse, Stockholm Film Festival, 2009

Review: In Bliss's small town life, there is not much to do besides earn meager tips waitressing and participating in beauty pageants for her mom, who seems to be stuck in the 1950s. Deep down, Bliss is an alternative girl who wants to break out of her small town life and leave the dress-up world far behind her. An opportunity to do just that arrives in the form of a flier for a roller derby match, but knowing her parents would not approve, Bliss lies to her family and goes to the game. Then Bliss tries out for one of the teams and earns the nickname "Babe Ruthless," and the lies pile up as she and her team of new friends play their way to the top of the league. The only thing that can tear Bliss' dream apart is if her secret gets out: that she is only seventeen, too young to play roller derby without a parent's permission. This film is about one girl finding the strength to be her own hero, chase a dream, and learn to love her roots for what they are.

Opinion: The rating for this movie is more due to the brief sexual romance that is inserted midway through the film. There is a beautifully choreographed scene in which Bliss and her boyfriend undress in a public pool at night and--you can imagine where that goes. It does not get explicit beyond underclothes and does not go into details after the undressing, but it is some powerful imagery, a sexual fantasy brought to life on the big screen. There is also a lot of language, and some of the roller derby playing is very rough and there are a few fight scenes on the court. I had wondered at first why the movie wasn't in the YA collection at the library, but perhaps the catalogers thought it was a bit too on the mature side? Definitely a bit of chick flick drama in the film, and a bit of action and adventure as well.

Ideas: This film is based on Shauna Cross' novel, originally published as "Derby Girl" and later re-released under the title "Whip It." Another great example of a novel being adapted to film and great for an in-library, based-on-the-book screening event.