Roller derby dramedy mixes girl power and teen angst.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
some
Some underage drinking. A teen girl gets drunk at a party and makes out with a random guy before throwing up; later, a teen is arrested after being caught with a drink in public. One character (not a teen) does a kegstand. A mother hides her smoking from her daughter. A father drinks beer while watching sports and lets his teen daughter take a (big) sip. A mother mistakes a marijuana bong for a vase.
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Fairly frequent use of language like "jackass," "hell," "s--t," "bitch," "screw," ass," "balls," and "goddammit." There's also one use of "f--k," and a character gives someone the finger.
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Roller derby is very aggressive, and the film showcases plenty of bruising, bone-crunching action. Characters are elbowed, kicked, and pushed around, and they sometimes end up bloodied. There's also some outright fighting, and trash talk is a common occurrence on the track.
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Teens kiss and make out, and one couple goes all the way -- no sensitive body parts are shown, but you see them stripping to their skivvies underwater in a swimming pool and later holding each other out of the water (bare shoulders showing). The girl later discusses the experience euphemistcally with her mother. References to penis size.
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Brands/logos seen on screen include Google, Coleman, Zenith, and Barbie -- though all play fairly minor roles.
Positive Messages
some
The movie celebrates unconventional girls who may not be interested in traditionally female hobbies and are longing to find other ways to express themselves. Some of the "toughness" is heavy-handed posturing, but a lot of it is played for laughs. Even the "villain" isn't necessarily a bad person -- she's just a tough girl looking to win. As typical of this genre, parents and their kids start off completely not understanding each other but find common ground through communication and acceptance. A mentor reminds the main character to appreciate her family. On the downside, there's some stereotypical treatment of small-town life.
Positive Role Models
a little
Bliss lies to her parents and hurts her best friend, but she ultimately faces the consequences of her decisions with grace. She's also fundamentally a kind-hearted person looking to cement her own identity in a world where girls' images are largely defined by beauty. Her parents at first come off as being close-minded, but they have a deep well of compassion toward their daughter and eventually embrace her uniqueness.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this coming-of-age sports dramedy -- which stars Juno's Elliot Page and was directed by perennial teen fave Drew Barrymore -- offers empowering messages for girls, especially those with unconventional interests/hobbies. Although the main character lies to her parents and hurts her friends, she faces the consequences of her behavior and learns from her experiences. Expect plenty of aggressive skating and confrontations during the movie's fast-paced roller derby scenes, as well as some strong language, underage drinking, and sexual references (including a scene in which a teen couple kisses and gets mostly undressed underwater). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Whip it is about choosing your dream and making it happen. I really liked it. It had some funny moments and I adored Ellen Pages' character Bliss. She is fun, likable and dedicated to what she wants most. With a mother who forces her into beauty pageants, Bliss wants more than that. She appears to be more on the tom-boy side and would rather join Roller Derby than anything else - even if she has to lie her way into it. Really great cast - Director of the film Drew Barrymore was a blast...always funny. Iffy for young tweens, I'd recommend a 14 and older crowd as there is a good amount of violence (girl fights), sexual content and discussions/jokes, underage drinking. Also some language but nothing over the top. A great popcorn movie!
I had no idea what to expect, but I liked it a lot. I think a mature teenager (especially one in public school) would be able to handle everything the movie threw at them. No graphic sex, minimal if any blood, and language that is probably no worse than what the kids see written on the bathroom stalls.
The main character lies to her parents, but faces the consequences. Her friend drinks (Bliss doesn't) and gets arrested for it. Bliss gives her virginity to a guy she thinks she knows and loves, and he cheats on her and doesn't call her afterwards. All very realistic things teens do, and all very realistic consequences. We were a little embarrassed by some of the sexual content, but there was nothing graphic, and it was mostly because it was unexpected.
It wasn't a stereotypical sports film, and I absolutely loved that. There were several pleasant surprises that kept me pulled into the movie. It felt... realistic in a good way, much like Juno. I think a world-savvy teen will be fine watching it, and my aunt swears it was perfectly appropriate to her two young girls, who probably were too young to get most of the jokes and drug scenes.
Great movie.
What's the Story?
In WHIP IT (which is based on the book Derby Girl by Shauna Cross), Bliss Cavendar (Elliot Page) is a small-town Texas teen being groomed to win the Blue Bonnet pageant, a beauty contest that her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) won long ago. But it's not exactly what Bliss envisions for herself. A visit to a roller derby match in Austin with her best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat), reveals Bliss' next move -- and, after a successful tryout, Bliss morphs into her new incarnation: Babe Ruthless, a power skater with a thirst to win. Bliss' transformation has a profound effect on the rest of her life, but her parents have no idea about her secret passion, and her teammates don't know she's underage. When the two worlds collide, Bliss' dreams seem likely to be derailed.
Groundbreaking Whip It isn't, but who can argue with an entertaining girl-power flick? Page's Bliss exhibits some of the chutzpah of their most famous character to date -- pregnant teen Juno -- though she's an entirely different concoction. And though Bliss doesn't eclipse Juno's quirky charm, there's still plenty to like about her. She's a quiet rebel who'd rather wear Stryper T-shirts and military boots than the cutesy dresses that her pageant competitors prefer, and her taste in guys runs along the lines of long-haired indie rock hipsters, rather than boorish jocks (of course, working with generalizations like that, whose wouldn't?). Page manages to pull off "counterculture" without coming off as a poseur.
The supporting cast is terrific, especially Shawkat, who lights up every scene despite being written similarly to most other "cool best friend" roles. The ensemble also features Drew Barrymore, who debuts here as a director. She lets scenes unspool a little too long in places and hammers certain plot points home a little too hard, but she rightfully keeps things loose for the most part. And, since plenty of people will be wondering: The roller derby action isn't always suspenseful, but boy, is it fun to watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the movie portrays underage sex and drinking. Does it seem realistic to you? Are the consequences believable?
Why do you think Bliss feels the need to lie to her family about what she's doing? Is that a realistic take on parent-teen relationships?
Why is it that in many movies, it's the unconventional teen who pushes the limit?
MPAA explanation:
sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material
Last updated:
August 6, 2024
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By S. Jhoanna Robledo
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