This movie gives non-derby-folk a false idea of the derby world?

I just watched this film having no idea what the sport was about, and I certainly don't pretend to now know all there is to know about it. I'm sure it's just a select few who think they have a complete knowledge about it just because they've seen the film.

Films are about telling compelling stories - this is certainly not a "derby" movie, it's got derby in it, but at the heart of the film, it's about many other things. Of course the filmmakers try and get as close to realistic as possible, but story and character comes first. I find the same sort of thing happens with any film with sports, music, arts, etc in it.

I'm with the other commentor. I don't know squat about real derby and I don't pretend to know any more about it after watching this movie. That said, the movie did make me want to actually go out and find some real derby to watch. Seems like it'd be fun.

The feel I got from it, anyway, wasn't so much the sport itself (again, like the other commentor said). It was about more than that. I think the derby lend itself more as the skeleton of the movie (a very important part), but it was more about "Babe Ruthless" and her quest for independence and all the pitfalls that can get in the way.

A lot of sports movies are so similar that if you've seen one, you've seen them all. It gets boring. But Whip It changes things up a bit. Derby isn't a sport you really ever see or hear about, but it's no less important for some people. It's nice to see something different. So kudos to you and your sport for inspiring the movie, if nothing else.

While there were many illegal hits, at least flat-out fighting was called by officials. I think the movie plays heavily on what roller derby used to be, but I also think that re-educating people isn't so hard.

When I went to my first derby bout (in January 2009), it was not AT ALL what I expected. I expected fighting and banked track and craziness. What I found was real athletics and a truly exciting sport. I joined the league a year later, after passing tryouts in January 2010.

I still love the movie, even though it's not an accurate portrayal of most derby. The most important part, for me, is that is shows derby as something positive and empowering. Even if the rules were fudged for theatrics, the importance of derby in a rollergirl's life was portrayed very well.

Also, THANK YOU for supporting your league. I LOVE refs and volunteers. Without you guys, I wouldn't get to play!

How annoying! It's a movie!! It was not a documentary on Roller Derby. Since you are representing Roller Derby here, you should be thankful that a movie featured a sport you enjoy, happy that the sport was exposed to some people who would otherwise never know of it. People Like me, who know nothing about the sport, couldn't care less if it's technically perfectly portraying Roller Derby...and why would we? We are there to see a movie, not to learn Roller Derby 101. I don't think the film intended to be a perfect example of the sport. Actually, I think that's far from the entire point of the film. I just figured that Roller Derby fans would be happy about the attention this movie gives the sport. It's entertainment, It's a movie! I now know more about the sport than I did before I saw the film, which by no means makes me an expert, but it does make me more aware. Why would I or anyone who knows nothing about Roller Derby be expected to pay any attention to the "Illegal hits"? I was too busy paying attention to the plot and the story. Maybe you should have been doing that too, because it was a hilarious and adorable film. Seems like you missed out because you were too busy judging. You should lighten up. It is just a movie.

You make a lot of baseless ASSumptions about the people who are not fans of the sport.

It is nearly impossible to make a comment to the OP because I am not a derby fan nor do I play roller derby. so obviously I guess I have a horrible impression now of Roller Derby. Huh?

As a movie I thought it was fine, but wish it would have dealt with roller derby a little more. So see? It did some good for roller derby.

But there are all kinds of movies about all kinds of sports and situations and those movies are enjoyable and you for sure don't have to play that sport to get caught up in the movie.

this is what always happens. You make a movie about something and all the people involved come out of the woodwork complaining. Just be glad someone has acknowledged Roller Derby still exists.

Good grief.

Movies and TV rarely get things right. I work in the fire service and EMS and a whole lot of what is shown on TV regarding fire and medical personnel is an absolute joke. And while it would be nice to see things accurately portrayed, it really wouldn't be that interesting.

This movie, being a comedy, plays things up for entertainment purposes, like with anything else entertainment. Pure realism and accuracy is for documentaries or, in this particular case, watching actual roller derby on TV.

I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.
www.werepissedoff.net

I feel I must sympathize with the OP. A couple of girls recently decided to start a roller derby league in my city after seeing this film. Having been a roller derby fan in the past I encouraged my fiancé to join, and it has been nothing but headaches since. The practices break down into an hour of posing and picture taking, lots of folks seem more concerned with playing dress up than actually learning the sport, everyone wants to be a jammer, and they've given absolutely no real thought to refs, or other support members which is somewhat stressful since their first bout is fast approaching.

I should add though that quite a few women have joined recently who are genuinely interested in the sport aspect, but since the clowns who saw the film and figured they know everything they need to know are running things, I'm doubtful derby will survive long here.