I, Tonya (2017)

[katha]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:36 PM, qtpye said:

 

Yes, Kerrigan was definitely the real victim and I am not a fan of her skating.

I do think that a conversation that was also never had is that Kerrigan was the victim of the assault. Then she was re-victimized by the media spectacle that told the story that she was somehow a victim in the wrong way. And then movies like this one arguably re-victimize her again. I've always been stunned by the lack of sympathy for Kerrigan because she didn't present a "perfect victim." Like Harding, she wasn't some perfect ice princess and the efforts to package her like that often didn't quite work out (see her being too honest about cheesy Disney parades...). Yet there is zero understanding extended towards her and the various ways she suffered from both the assault and the largely sensationalist and unsympathetic media spectacle that followed. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by katha

[Dr.OO7]

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the attack.

I still remember how stunned I was. I liked her and couldn't imagine why someone would do that to her.

The Sports Illustrated article afterwards speculated on the then-unknown assailant's motive, including that he was "a deranged Tonya Harding fan". He had no idea how close to being right he was.

[Raja]

On 1/7/2024 at 4:25 PM, Dr.OO7 said:

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the attack.

I still remember how stunned I was. I liked her and couldn't imagine why someone would do that to her.

The Sports Illustrated article afterwards speculated on the then-unknown assailant's motive, including that he was "a deranged Tonya Harding fan". He had no idea how close to being right he was.

Remember it was less than a year after tennis star Monica Seles was attacked by a Steffi Graff fanatic 

[Dr.OO7]

11 hours ago, Raja said:

Remember it was less than a year after tennis star Monica Seles was attacked by a Steffi Graff fanatic 

That's exactly why I myself thought this might be the same type of incident. The reveal that it was an outright conspiracy by associates of Harding was stunning.

Edited January 14 by Dr.OO7

[Dr.OO7]

On 1/13/2018 at 11:24 PM, choclatechip45 said:

but she wasted opportunity after opportunity that was given to her.

She really did. She showed up ridiculously late to the 1992 Games (with only 3 days to go before the competition started) and wasn't properly prepared, though despite this, she managed a respectable 4th place finish. Then, after everything she did to get to the 1994 Games (whether she was involved in the attack or not), she has absolutely dreadful practices in which she never runs through even half of either of her programs and this time ends up in 8th.

Edited January 18 by Dr.OO7

[Bastet]

On 2/23/2022 at 8:06 AM, lasu said:

The author of that article is one of the two original hosts of the podcast You're Wrong About.  If you enjoyed this essay on Harding, I HIGHLY recommend the podcast series.

This thread popping up again reminded me how much I loved Sarah Marshall's article (the old link posted in this thread no longer works, so I'm linking a new one) about Tonya and Nancy, and that there was a podcast from Marshall I was supposed to check out but never did.  I have very little patience with audio-only podcasts, so was happy to have the option to read a transcript, but I did listen to some.  Belated thanks for the recommendation.

[Frost]

I can feel sorry for the Tonya that was ridiculed by her mother and beat up by her husband but still believe she bears some responsibility for the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.  Unlike Sarah Marshall, I don't think calling to find out where Nancy was practicing and what hotel room she was staying in is all that innocent.  Why on earth would Tonya have a bet with her ex-husband about where Nancy Kerrigan was practicing?  That doesn't sound plausible to me.  Maybe she didn't know exactly what they were planning to do, but I believe she knew some kind of attack was being planned.

Obviously, I don't know these people and I'll never know for sure who knew what, when.   I just find it difficult to think about a young athlete being attacked and traumatized by a group of men who absolutely meant to do grave harm to her.  I admire Nancy for not only competing but getting out of bed after the attack!  I would have been terrified.  

[Dr.OO7]

8 hours ago, Frost said:

admire Nancy for not only competing but getting out of bed after the attack!  I would have been terrified.  

So do I. It's amazing that the attack didn't undo all of the hard work she did getting her act together both physically and mentally after that disastrous performance at the 1993 Worlds. I still remember after she came off the ice gushing "I got to do it!". In that moment, she didn't care what color medal she won, she just wanted to know that she could skate a clean long program without falling apart the way she always did.

[Dr.OO7]

On 11/13/2020 at 8:55 PM, Bastet said:

Especially the one about how she just won Olympic silver and looks like she stepped in poop.

Losing the gold by a mere 1/10th of a point after a year of getting your act together mentally and physically even BEFORE a vicious attack that could have crippled her for life (a few more inches and he would have shattered her knee) as well as ended her skating career and Olympic chances will do that to you.

The irony is is that I ultimately think it was for the best. Even if she'd skated flawlessly--which she technically did, except for doubling what was supposed to be a triple flip--to this day, people would insist that her winning the gold was purely based off of sympathy and that she didn't really deserve it.

[Dr.OO7]

I finally saw this movie from the beginning.

It's pretty good.

I remember 1991, it's when my love of figure skating kicked off, though it's Kristi Yamaguchi who was my favorite. That was such a a great year for Tonya--she landed the triple axel four times--and it's heartbreaking to know what kind of abuse she was enduring behind the scenes. If the movie's version of events is true, it's a shame that she couldn't extricate herself from Jeff before he did something that ended up ruining her career/life.

Edited February 6 by Dr.OO7

[Ohiopirate02]

On 2/5/2024 at 8:36 PM, Dr.OO7 said:

I finally saw this movie from the beginning.

It's pretty good.

I remember 1991, it's when my love of figure skating kicked off, though it's Kristi Yamaguchi who was my favorite. That was such a a great year for Tonya--she landed the triple axel four times--and it's heartbreaking to know what kind of abuse she was enduring behind the scenes. If the movie's version of events is true, it's a shame that she couldn't extricate herself from Jeff before he did something that ended up ruining her career/life.

While Tonya did get shafted by the sport as a whole (figure skating has always had a problem with the less "feminine" and "graceful" skaters who excel at the more athletic parts) and her upbringing left a lot to be desired and led to her latching onto Jeff, she was still ultimately responsible for her actions.  Tonya liked to blame everyone else but her.  One part of the movie I always get a laugh at is her smoking a cigarette while telling her interviewer all of her woes to get back to the Olympic in 94.  That cigarette detail really just shows how Tonya was unable to take responsibility.

[Dr.OO7]

On 2/7/2024 at 12:26 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

That cigarette detail really just shows how Tonya was unable to take responsibility.

I completely agree. It's like that monologue where she's whining about never having a chance with the judges during the 1994 Games, conveniently overlooking that her practice sessions were absolutely godawful--she never ran through even half of either her short or long programs.

Nice going. Everything legal or illegal that you did to get to the Olympics and you throw it away as soon as you get there.