- Joined
- Mar 28, 2012
I just finished watching the documentary and I must say that I was deeply moved and teary eyed. For those of you who are surprised by the constant controversy and negativity aimed at Surya, I say welcome to the life of a black female athlete. The documentary does a beautiful job of laying out what that is like...in Surya's wise words.
i was very moved by the scene with figure skating in harlem. it's so important for young black girls and girls of color to have role models who look like them during their personal development. i think surya's taken the challenges she's faced and is using them in such an inspiring way as a coach and motivational speaker.
i don't think the problems surya encountered during her amateur career can be reduced to an either/or equation, i.e. it's either racism OR weak basic skating skills. i think it's more of a both/and situation. i think intersecting notions of race and gender definitely shaped the way she was received and judged on ice (cuz she was never going to fit the well-behaved ice princess mold) but being choppy and telegraphing also didn't help her case. i also think there could have been more exposition about how didier was playing up the supposed "mystery" of her origins to enhance her racial exoticism and otherness. the brief interlude into her mother's takeover as coach looked like it could be an "i, surya" movie, too! lol.
that being said, i still think surya should have won 93 worlds. i love me some oksana, she oozes charisma, but there is nothing substantive going on in her programs.