Author Topic: Cellar Scribblings  (Read 8680007 times)

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,697
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15810 on: October 31, 2018, 09:46:52 am »

I must admit, I've never seen it, and from what I've been told by figure skating fans who have, that it would annoy me, so I haven't watched it.  I've heard the performances are good!

What do they say you'd find annoying? Have they spotted inaccurate details, or are they annoyed by Tonya Harding, or ... ?  ???



Offline CellarDweller

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15811 on: October 31, 2018, 06:40:24 pm »
Hiya BetterMost friends.




Happy Halloween!


It was a quiet day at work, and I was able to get caught up on some reports that I wasn't able to do last week, because I was on "staycation".

Before I left to go home, I remembered to flip the calendar over, so that I have it showing as November.  ;D   Don't forget, this weekend we "fall back".



Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline CellarDweller

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15812 on: October 31, 2018, 08:04:11 pm »
What do they say you'd find annoying? Have they spotted inaccurate details, or are they annoyed by Tonya Harding, or ... ?  ???


I understand that the movie is "dramatic" and not 100% accurate, and supposed to make Tonya a person you sympathize with, but there are details in the film (from what I've been told or read online) that are just really inaccurate.

I'm sure there are people who would say I am biased, as a Nancy Kerrigan fan, but before I followed Nancy I was still a skating fan.

The movie allows Tonya to tell the narrative that judges didn't "like" her and therefore, she had no chance at a gold medal, or other medals either.   Actually, Tonya has a nice collection of medals.  She has one US National gold, and two US National bronze medals.  At Skate Japan she won a bronze and a silver.  At Skate America she won a bronze, a silver, and two golds.  Finally, at World Championships in 1991, she was awarded a silver medal.

Tonya was her own worst enemy.  After she won the US Gold and World silver (1991), she cut back her training time and kept changing coaches.  She got to the 1992 Olympics under-trained and fell on her jumps.  In the 1993 season she cut back on her training even more, and was out of shape, to the point that commentator Scott Hamilton commented on how out of shape she was for competition.  On top of that, she had asthma, but smoked frequently.

Also, in the movie they have a courtroom scene, where the judge tells her she will be banned from skating, and she appeals to the judge, it goes something like this:

"You're never gonna let me skate again? I'd rather do jail time. Please... They only got 18 months. They got 18 months. I will do that. You can't... Your Honor. I don't have an education. All I know is skating. - That's all I know. - And I... I'm no one If I can't skate. I'm not... I mean, I'm not some monster. I just... I'm trying to do the best in what I know how to. You're give me a... It's like you are giving me a life sentence. You can't... do that. You can't... please. Please! Just send me to jail and then I can still skate! Just send me to jail and then I can still skate!"

None of that shit ever happened.  Tonya plead guilty, so she knew what the conditions of the plea was when she accepted it, there was no 'surprise' of her being banned.  Washington Post was in the courtroom when the judged handed this down to Tonya.  The only thing she said to the judge was:  "I'd just like to say I'm really sorry that I interfered."


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,697
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15813 on: October 31, 2018, 10:57:45 pm »
Thanks for the thorough reply, Chuck! That might be the longest post I've ever seen you write!  :laugh:

To me, someone who knows little about the real story or about skating in general, your criticisms seem fair. Her speech to the judge in the movie, if not accurate, does seem like typical biopic dramatization to show how much skating meant to Tonya and how huge a blow this was to her. (Er, so to speak. A literal blow to Nancy too, of course.) But as I recall the movie does not portray her as being undertrained and out of shape, which seems like it could, and maybe should, be part of the story, so good point.

The  most informative thing about the movie for me -- assuming it's accurate -- is that Tonya knew nothing about the plan to attack Nancy, that the attack was carried out by some moronic goons her idiot husband hired. He's kind of the villain of the film. I don't know what's true or not about that, but it does portray her as an innocent victim of other people's idiocy.

I also liked it because I'm interested in the class dynamics -- the idea that Tonya had a special struggle because she was sort of from "the wrong side of the tracks" in a sport that usually attracts more affluent people.



Offline CellarDweller

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15814 on: November 01, 2018, 06:34:04 pm »
I also liked it because I'm interested in the class dynamics -- the idea that Tonya had a special struggle because she was sort of from "the wrong side of the tracks" in a sport that usually attracts more affluent people.


I was going to go into that too, but I didn't because I'm not sure how the movie portrayed Nancy Kerrigan.

The general public has a belief that Tonya was from the "wrong side of the tracks" and that Nancy was from this affluent family.   That narrative worked better in the media for the story.

The fact of the matter is that Nancy's family struggled for her to skate.  Nancy took her classes at high school, and worked a part time job to help with the expenses.  Her mother had no job,  because she is legally blind.  Her father worked three jobs so that they would have enough money for Nancy's skating costs.  He was also the one who would come in to the rink with Nancy (pre-dawn) and use the Zamboni to smooth the ice so she could start her practice.

Nancy and her family were better off than Tonya's, that's undeniable, but they were far from "comfortable" or "affluent".


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,697
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15815 on: November 02, 2018, 09:09:07 pm »

I was going to go into that too, but I didn't because I'm not sure how the movie portrayed Nancy Kerrigan.

The general public has a belief that Tonya was from the "wrong side of the tracks" and that Nancy was from this affluent family.   That narrative worked better in the media for the story.

The fact of the matter is that Nancy's family struggled for her to skate.  Nancy took her classes at high school, and worked a part time job to help with the expenses.  Her mother had no job,  because she is legally blind.  Her father worked three jobs so that they would have enough money for Nancy's skating costs.  He was also the one who would come in to the rink with Nancy (pre-dawn) and use the Zamboni to smooth the ice so she could start her practice.

Nancy and her family were better off than Tonya's, that's undeniable, but they were far from "comfortable" or "affluent".

That's a fair criticism of the media in general, I think. That rich Nancy/poor Tonya was my general impression of what I read back when it happened. The movie, however, doesn't focus much on Nancy's background, so it probably wasn't as guilty of it -- at least concerning Nancy specifically.

The movie does portray the skating world as being somewhat affluent, but also polite and proper and a bit snooty, whereas Tonya smoked and was working class and her mother was weird and rude and profane, etc., which, according to the film, made Tonya always somewhat of an outsider.





Offline CellarDweller

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15816 on: November 05, 2018, 10:17:42 pm »
Hiya BetterMost friends.




Make sure you go out and vote tomorrow!!!


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,697
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15817 on: November 05, 2018, 11:10:10 pm »
Hiya BetterMost friends.

Make sure you go out and vote tomorrow!!!

I voted last Tuesday! Walked right in, quick, no line -- in fact, I chatted a bit with the people behind the counter. I even got a sticker!

I used to vote in mid-afternoon and even THEN there were often lines at my polling place. Now I'm working full time so I thought, with all of the excitement, I'd better not risk waiting.



Offline CellarDweller

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15818 on: November 07, 2018, 12:03:41 am »
Hiya BetterMost friends.




Happy Election Day!

I got up early, voted, and then went to work.   It started out as a quiet day, and then it got busier, as I had to help my coworker with her stuff.

::)

Now, to see if the same thing happens  tomorrow.


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline CellarDweller

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Cellar Scribblings
« Reply #15819 on: November 07, 2018, 08:07:19 pm »
Hiya BetterMost friends.




Happy Hump Day!

;D

Work was a little on the busy side, but I got everything done and was able to leave at the usual time.     Met my friend Tina after work and walked in the park, and now I'm home for the night.

On Friday we're having a pot luck luncheon, so that means I'll be doing baking/cooking on Thursday.   I'm making a "beef-a-roni" type of dish.  Elbow macaroni and ground beef, but instead of a tomato sauce, I'm going to use an alfredo sauce.

I'm also making some buffalo chicken dip and have tortilla chips for it.


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!