I, Tonya

[Deleted]

Its gotten really mixed reviews, some loved it, some hated it. Same with the depiction of Tonya. I have seen some reviews where they say it is not flattering at all but then others that have said it is sympathetic and makes it seem like she knew nothing about the attack and was punished unfairly.

Dec 20, 2017 15:23:25 GMT -4 Mutagen said:

These are my feelings. And I'm struck by the way that, at a time when we are having the national #MeToo conversation, we have an attempt at rehabilitation by someone who covered up if not participated in a violent assault. While of course the assault on Nancy Kerrigan did not have a sexual component, the idea that it should be downplayed because she was a princess/her reaction to the assault was a memetic joke/she turned out to be a bitch anyway/etc. is uncomfortably close to the rationale that some victims are "asking for it".

Edit - although I will add that my reaction is also mitigated somewhat if the movie truly does not try to portray Tonya in a particularly sympathetic light.

One of the things almost all the reviews mention, good or bad is that the domestic violence is played for laughs. And that there is a lot of it. She gets smacked around first by her Mom and then later by her husband. I am all for black comedy but I am not in the mood for that right now.

[chitowngirl]

Tonya was still bitter and still blaming everyone other than herself for how her life turned out. She was enormously talented, but she also has a massive chip on her shoulder. Did her looks/tacky taste hurt her? Probably. Figure skating is like that. But here's the thing...when she was on her game, she was winning. When she turned it out, they had no problem handing her gold medals. But she was an undisciplined brat. And she flipped between periods where she was focused and doing really well with periods where she refused to train, gained weight and got sloppy with her skating. Then got mad that they didn't just hand everything over to her. But it was the current Tonya in the doc who really got me - the one who was still all mad because Nancy refused to hug her, the one who called Nancy an ungrateful brat when Nancy called the Disneyland parade corny. Girl, at the very least, you helped cover up a crime committed against Nancy. I, too, would refuse to hug the person who helped cover up my assault. Also? you helped cover up her assault, if not more. You don't get to comment on how Nancy handled fame. Then she spent most of the doc complaining about how they took away everything skating-related from her and she couldn't build a career on it. Uh, yeah. Again, at the very least, you helped cover up the assault of a fellow skater. Never did she take responsibility for her actions.

Smoking like a chimney with asthma doesn't help either.

[scarlet]

I'm seeing it for Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, who are both getting praised for their performances.

[Martini Girl]

Wedding video as in sex? Or actual wedding reception video? I really didn't pay any attention to Tonya back in the day, and (small voice) preferred the European skaters over Nancy (though I loved her costumes). I remember Charlie Steiner on ESPN laughing himself silly at the sheer stupidity of team Tonya, and that's the extent of my knowledge of the incident-- that the three stooges were so stupid it was almost criminal.

Before the 1994 Olympics, I loved all forms of figure skating and really looked forward to the championships (though I hated the commentators). After 1994, I could only watch ice dancing, and I hated the saturation of both Tonya and Nancy, and figure skating in general.

They do show about two minutes of Tonya's wedding reception- mostly her mom saying how stupid she was, and that's all I remember.

[ratscabies]

Yes, sex.

They made one of the WORST sex tapes ever "leaked", and basically started the genre.

Dark, blurry, blankets bunched up between the camera and the action. Basically, unwatchable.

My lasting memory is of a client in my studio talking about it, and wailing, " I did not EVER need to see Gilooly's UNIT!"

Also, I thought Katarina Witt zambonied the ice with the lot of 'em at the Olympics that year.

[Deleted]

Dec 22, 2017 22:49:34 GMT -4 ratscabies said:

Also, I thought Katarina Witt zambonied the ice with the lot of 'em at the Olympics that year.

Katarina Witt is a fucking goddess and I love her. At least she finished ahead of Tonya that year.

I took far more glee than I should have in the fact that she had a total meltdown and bombed. What can I say, I was 11.

[Deleted]

Oh my Katarina Witt, my mother and I adored watching her she was amazing! So some lovely memories of watching just popped back into my head, thank you.

As for film I'd watch when it ends up on TV doubt I'd pay to see in cinema tho.

[scarletprincess]

I saw it the other night. I, too, am from the Boston area and totally remember when all this happened. Was absolutely Team Nancy. I thought the movie was very unforgiving towards Tonya. If they had a drinking game where you had to take a shot every time Tonya said “you’d have to go to rehab after the movie.

I do not recall anything about Tonya’s mom during the whole ordeal. I love Allison Jamey so I’m sure she was spot on. The one thing that I had an issue with was that Margot Robbie is, like, a foot taller than Tonya. Did Margot learn how to skate? Because you can usually tell when they use a body double and it really looked like it was Margot doing the skating. I know, that’s a stupid thing to have an issue about.

[Deleted]

I think I read somewhere that Margot learned to skate a little but that they used a combination of doubles and CGI for the really tricky moves.

[scarlet]

Dec 20, 2017 16:32:29 GMT -4 @bronze said:

One of the things almost all the reviews mention, good or bad is that the domestic violence is played for laughs. And that there is a lot of it. She gets smacked around first by her Mom and then later by her husband. I am all for black comedy but I am not in the mood for that right now.

I saw this yesterday and I would disagree that all the violence is played for laughs. It's actually pretty disturbing and shown more to give some context to Tonya's character (or lack thereof) as an adult.

One thing that's a consistent thread throughout--and is played for laughs--is her absolute unwillingness to think she did anything wrong. "Can I just say one thing about Nancy?" is used a couple (few?) times and is followed by some laughable statements about how Tonya herself is really the victim (which is a good juxtaposition to the fact, in other areas of her life, she IS).

I liked it a lot. I think all the performances were great and it had a lot to say about class and perception and how public personas are crafted to have a hero(ine) and villian (ess).