Whip It

G and I watched "Whip It", a movie directed by Drew Barrymore and starring Ellen Page. It is about roller derby. No lie, I have seriously thought about participating in roller derby. I think it looks like a hoot,  quite an experience. The idea of a fun stage name (Peaches N Scream? Eva Destruction? Alison Wonderslam?  Pummelina?) was totally chocolate buttercream icing on the cake. I was never really scared to play rough and tumble. Then thoughts started rolling around my head about medical bills, and working in a corporate environment with a broken nose, black eyes, fractured fingers, .... and this was before my head injury.

Roller Derby Women by Gomisan on Flickr

 During the filming, Drew Barrymore got a concussion. I think that you can actually see some of the effects in the film. She's supposed to be playing a spaced out character anyway, but early on she is *very* spacey.  Her eyes are kind of fixed and swimming, it looks like she is dazed. I imagine that is probably what I looked like.

During the film's promotion, she stopped by the Conan O'Brien show. He had recently sustained a concussion, and they discuss some of the effects of the injury on work and relationships. Most significantly, how the survivor tries to keep going on with life as normal. 


Here is the clip:
Drew and Conan compare head injuries 

 Roller Derby, Skate of Emergency by Gomisan on Flickr

Watching Whip It made me a bit sad, though, and I shared that with G (he's a rock climber who has had to sit out due to hand injuries..he understands). While I am starting to be able to be more active, I don't think I'll ever be able to do Roller Derby, and right now, I can't ride my bike out on the roads by myself (and having such nice weather lately is really hard). It's like I'm in the longest "time out" ever, sitting in the corner watching the other kids have fun.  I went on a long walk yesterday, it was very leisurely, and nice...but...The baby steps are killing me, and I know they're necessary if I want to be repaired.

In the end, it was a good film. It was unabashadly fun with a heaping helping of exploration of the relationships in a family (namely .. the fairly conservative mother who wants her daughter in pageants and the daughter who feels passionate about roller derby but still wants to make her mother proud).