Review: 30 for 30: The Price of Gold

I love sports, I love sports movies, and I love documentaries, so it's not a stretch that I'm a big fan of sports documentaries. The drive and focus that it takes to becomes a professional athlete, as well as the often myopic view of the world necessary to stay a professional athlete is intriguing to me. I also find the differences between team and individual sports, and how that translates to the individual fascinating. There is a part of me that considered Sports Psychology as a master, looking into exactly that.

Anyway, I digress. So tonight I watched 30 for 30's episode The Price of Gold. For those who aren't aware, 30 for 30 is an ESPN show that highlights people and events in the sports world that might not get as much attention. The Price of Gold, however, is about one of the most well known events in recent sports history - the attack on Nancy Kerrigan and Tony Harding's involvement.

The attack happened in 1994. I was 12. I have very distinct memories of this happening and I admit that it spiked my interest in figure skating, which has never died. It's one of my favorite sports to watch and the reason I bemoaned not having TV during the Winter Olympics (that and I come from a family that cheers on the US Team, so I missed not being able to do so). 

Watching information about the attack as an adult was interesting. The commentary on the expectations of the sport, the image the sport actively tries to convey for female skaters (the Ice Princess, as they called it) and where it came from (Sonja Henie is cited as the major influence on that expectation) lays out why it was so easy for Tonya Harding, who defied all of those expectations by being a power skater who didn't care about the princess image, to be reviled by the sport. She came from a rough background and a rough family. Skating was her life.

Unfortunately, it's hard to develop any sympathy for Harding, who appears in the documentary extensively (Kerrigan declined to comment, her husband and coaches appear on her behalf). She's abrasive and remorseless. She sees herself as a victim and tries to paint herself that way. One of the individuals being interviewed made the comment that skating judges on the whole package - jumps, spins, grace, appearance, music selection, costume choice - and while Harding was an incredibly powerful skater, she refused to acknowledge the importance of those other things, which she believed to be inferior to skill on the ice. Paul Wylie, who was a prominent male skater in the same era and one of my favorite on the ice, stated that the judges made it known what kind of music and costumes they liked. Harding's response to this was rebellious...which is fantastic if you don't care about winning and you just want to skate. It's not great if your goal is a gold medal.

Skating is a sport full of favorites, partiality, and non-standardized judging. No one understands why some people win (Oksana Baiul winning gold over Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Winter Olympics was huge drama) and others are openly shunned, but that's skating. It's not a fair sport. Harding was a phenomenal skater, incredibly powerful and driven. What she did to bring herself up to the level of a National champion is amazing. But her attitude towards what happened to her, towards the barring of her from skating and the stripping of her gold medal, seems to have left her a bitter, angry person. Watching the documentary, I feel I understand her better and the situation better, in a way I couldn't have at 12, but it doesn't make me like her more. But I suppose that's the point of a documentary - to present a situation and let the viewer decide how they feel about it. If you remember the controversy at all, it might be worth the hour and half of watching this to allow yourself to reexamine your views from an adult perspective.

30 for 30: The Price of Gold is available for streaming on Netflix.

I am Rogue

One of the challenges of fibromyalgia, for me, is that there are days when it hurts to touch anything. It's like all the protective coating on my hands has been stripped away and they are made of raw nerves. Every act is excruciating and most materials are painful. These are the days which are most frustrating. Whlile my brain is awake and alert, there's very little I can do - books hurt to touch, knitting needles and yarn are painful...even my phone causes shooting pain.

Quite by accident over the winter I learned that one pair of gloves that I own aren't painful to wear. More than that, they are thin enough that I have decent tactile response and I can use my phone while wearing them. They are vintage suede, black, and gauntlet-length and wide at the top, so they don't rub against my skin. If I wear them when my hands hurt, I get some relief from the pain. It's not complete and there are some things that are too painful no matter what I try, but I can function. And on those days, functioning is enough.

While experiencing one of those days while in the presence of the boyfriend, I commented that I was like Rogue - I needed gloves to touch anything. We both agreed this was funny and appropriate, so it has become shorthand for this kind of day.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm Rogue."

Much more empowering than "I can't touch anything without gloves" and always manages to make me smile. So if you ask how I'm doing, and I tell you I am Rogue, these are not delusions of comic book greatness. Just shorthand that amuses me and makes the oddity of me wearing gloves often funny.

The Lessons Disney Teaches Us

It seems to be the "in" thing now to hate Disney and refuse to show your daughters. I've encountered this a few times, each with the idea that "I don't want to raise her in a Princess culture." As someone raised on Disney films, both from the Golden Era at home and the Renaissance in theaters, my knee jerk reaction is one of indignation and annoyance. But it keeps coming up, so I stepped back to look at it.

I know what people are trying to say when this conversation happens. They're trying to say that they don't want to raise a daughter who waits around for a man to come along and save her from her life. I get that. But that seems to ignore a couple of points about Disney films. Since I can't tell someone how to parent their children (Being an Adult Rule #5), I can make some general points here so it will stop going over and over in my mind.

1. Disney films should not be raising your child. Your children will develop their ideas of gender roles and life goals based, in large part, on the example that the adults in their lives provide. Sure, the media plays some part, but I see this as a jumping off for discussion, rather than a lesson in itself. Watching the Golden Era, which is especially fraught with Beleaguered Princess Who Comes Across Terrible Circumstances (usually in the form of an older, jealous woman) And Must Be Saved By True Love's Kiss, I wonder why the response isn't to watch the movie and talk about it. A lot of movies made before our own have context that has to be explained (the black face numbers in musicals from Hollywood's Golden Age are a particular point). As a parent, you provide the context for everything your kid watches or reads.

2. Most Disney animated features are based on fairy tales, which aren't known for the "ladies take the lead" attitude. Some are (Mulan totally is) and Disney tends to follow through with that. But what a neat way to introduce classical fairy tales to young children and to discuss societal norms from different eras. It's a jumping off point that is accessible, and honestly, are fun to watch.

3. There are beautiful messages throughout Disney. Female empowerment isn't an obvious one until some of the Disney Renaissance and the post-Pixar era, but it's also not the only message worth looking for. I would love to see more people enter into tough situations with a joyful attitude (Snow White, Cinderella - this is a mainstay of Disney ladies) and that being yourself, even when others judge you for it,  is better than pretending to be someone you're not (Belle, Eugene from Tangled - boys get to teach us lessons to!). How many Disney characters have to push outside their comfort zone, either by choice or by circumstance, and grow because of it (Rapunzel, Snow White, Mulan)? And don't forget the importance of not judging people on appearance or social class (Dwarves, Merekat, Scary Guys in a Pub, Frogs).

4. Nature is beautiful. You will never think of the American outdoors the same way after you watch Pocahontas. The ocean goes from being a large, kinda scary thing to a stunning array of color and life in The Little Mermaid. And it's possible that The Lion King is as close to the Serengeti most people will ever get (or ever want to get). Walt loved nature, which is why there are so many Disney films (non-animated) about the glories of outdoors.

There are more, some broad concepts and some narrow ones, but the point stands - movies, Disney and otherwise, will be to your children what you make them. Such a vehemence against something designed for entertainment keeps you and your children from enjoying the beauty that comes from it. I'm not a parent yet, but it's something I'm preparing for and I know that Disney films, animated and non, will be a part of my children's lives. If nothing else, they remind you, film after film, that dreams are worth something.