Whip It: Is it a good portrayal of roller derby?

"do you think whip it portrays roller derby well? do you think it's a good or bad thing"

A couple of weeks ago I received this question on another blog of mine, and I thought it would be a fantastic discussion topic for this blog. I feel like Whip It did a pretty stellar job of portraying the life of a girl falling in love with roller derby. I don't know if I can speak for everyone here, but my own experience was almost exactly like Bliss’s. I even found out about derby almost the same way Bliss did, but that is beside the point. The whole “putting on skates every moment you can, sneaking around skating when you’re not supposed to, blowing all your money on gear, practicing nonstop until you can get things right, trying to look tough in the mirror and practicing your derby pose, making sacrifices to play derby” stuff that Bliss did in the movie perfectly describes my best friend, who joined derby with me, and me.  

Maggie encouraging Bliss to join the team. Image here

     Whip It is probably one of the best representations of roller derby that the tv/movie industry has come up with so far (in my opinion at least…which may be a little biased because I am absolutely in love with every single thing about this movie, and I actually like it waaay better than the book by far). I have seen derby in a few shows, all of which, of course, portray it very poorly and they only used the typical derby stereotypes. Which is fine I guess, because hey, it sells, but it is in no way representative of the sport. Whip It shows the reality of derby. It consumes your life, it is addicting, and it is something that most people fall in love with instantly, like Bliss did. It also really captures the essence of the derby community and family, which is a MAJOR part of derby to me. This is especially shown in Bliss and Maggie’s relationship, and when Bliss tells the team that she is underage. Maggie completely takes Bliss under her wing when she is a newbie, and is immediately there for her when things are rough for her at home. When Bliss tells the team she is underage, they aren't angry. They are concerned and right away they start figuring out how to get Bliss to be able to play. Roller derby is not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle. Whip It definitely captured this idea well.
     One of the only things the film didn’t exactly represent accurately is the rules. They show lots of

You might want to check that rule about elbows, ladies... Image here

punching, tripping, fighting, elbowing, and overall some pretty bad sportsmanship, which is definitely not how derby is played anymore. Now that I think about it, I do wish there was a bit more gameplay in the movie, but I understand why there isn’t. A derby game is fast-paced and hard to follow for people who don’t understand the rules, and this movie was not necessarily directed toward derby players and people who know the game, so it makes sense that they didn’t show a ton of pack action.
     Anyways, to put it plainly, yes, I do believe Whip It portrayed derby very well, and I would love to hear the opinions and views of other skaters on this topic, as well!