A young girl sits on a living room carpet, idly playing with a Barbie doll, whilst her Dad pops a VHS into the tape player. The film begins and the girl’s attention is drawn to the TV screen, to the images that dance before her. A glamorous cornucopia of women on roller-skates appear out of walls and begin gliding around in a sea of colour beams and big hair. The girl becomes transfixed. The girl was me and the film was Xanadu. From that moment on, all I wanted to do was pick up a pair of skates and hit the pavement in a blaze of Technicolor glory, such was the passion instilled from witnessing this movie. Perhaps Xanadu could be considered to be one of the influences of my love of film, purely for the reason that it made me feel at that time and age that anything was possible, that I could burst through walls and induce a flushed frenzy in my wake. (Though if anyone asks me what I consider influential films I will of course, say something more intellectual like Citizen Kane).
Xanadu stars Olivia Newton-John as an all singing, all wheel rolling floaty muse, sent to reinvigorate the life and creativity of a struggling artist with whom she ends up falling in love with. She also hangs out with Gene Kelly! who she inspired years previously and he opens a roller skating disco in a gloriously glitter infused extravaganza.
The film did not make any sense to me at the time and on a repeat viewing recently some 20 odd years later, still doesn’t make much sense. The plot is slight, some of the acting borders on woeful and features incredibly dated cheesy graphics (though the ELO soundtrack still rocks) yet the film is enjoyable and entertaining. Perhaps this is due to the feeling of nostalgic bliss it leaves on me, remembering the first time I experienced its headily camp enchantment as a small girl. Film touches and inspires us in many different ways and sometimes even the guiltiest of pleasures can stay with us, if it stirs such unadulterated revelry. And so I donned a pair of roller skates, Barbie printed as I recall, and set about recreating Xanadu in my back garden, with varying degrees of un-success and me being of an age and mentality where I didn’t stick to things that I didn’t pick up straight away, left the roller-skate obsession to flourish and then fade out in my day dreams until......
On an overcast April day last year, myself and my sister took a trip to the cinema to see Whip It! a film about a teenage girl finding a love and solace in the sport of Roller Derby. Now I knew there would be skating involved in this film, that was a given, but at this point I felt I was past my roller fantasy and was more drawn to the impressive cast and the promise of a feisty female orientated narrative. However as soon as the lights went down, in and on the screen for the first scene of derby mayhem, I was hooked. The giddy excitement came rushing to the forefront again, my feet began dancing under my seat, my body wanted to hurtle out into the open as I was hit by the overwhelming desire to hit the streets on a pair of wheels.
Whip It! tells the story of Bliss Cavendish (Ellen Page) an awkward teen whose pushy mother (Marcia Gay Harden) makes her compete in Beauty Pageants but longs for something different. That something different comes in the form of Roller Derby in the neighbouring town. Bliss finds herself drawn to this tough girl sport and taking on the alias of Babe Ruthless, becomes the newest and fastest member of the Hurl Scouts team, but the ride is bumpy as she drifts apart from her best friend, has a brief flirtation with a muso crush and traverses her domineering home life. As Bliss/Babe Ruthless discovers her way in the Roller derby arena and in turn, her place in life, she tells her mother ‘I am in love with this’ and my own heart sang with the refreshing declaration of worship for something other than a mans affection (this is second fiddle in the film compared to Derby), which is the usual fare for a ‘chick flick’. The strong female vibe, funky monikers and skating action, embellished with eyeliner war-paint and coloured hair was an intoxicating combination and I left the cinema trying to use my feet as skates and coming up with my own derby name, Disgrace Kelly. Since watching Whip It! I have contemplated purchasing a pair of skates again (sans Barbie who doesn’t fit the pro female image), held my own Whip It! themed party (try it, its oodles of fun) and downloaded the soundtrack to motivate me as I jog. I have also researched into roller derby possibilities in my area as this past-time has taken off in the UK since the release of the film and has recently been recognized as a sport by the British Roller Sports Federation with a Great Yorkshire showdown taking place annually right on my doorstep! As the coach of the hurl scouts Razor declares in training ‘There is a lot more to Roller Derby than picking a tough girl name’ I will have to wait and see if this reignited zeal actually bears fruition but whether I don those skates or not, it does not take away the fact that I am constantly delighted and amazed at cinema’s power to evoke a myriad of emotions in people and instill this girl with the glee and musings of a secret life as a Derby queen.Hmm now wheres's that website with the roller boots again...........
