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Watch 'Whip It' With MoPOP + Special Guests From Rat City Roller Derby!
For our "Grow Up!" film series, we're exploring adolescence in all its lusty, zitty, complicated glory. Through December 2020, we'll be celebrating movies from all over the genre map that show just how joyful and confounding being a teenager can be.
You're invited to join us at 4 p.m. PT this Sunday, December 20, as MoPOP Production Associate Kasi Gaarenstroom and special guests from Rat City Roller Derby lead an online watchalong and virtual discussion of Whip It, the final film of our Grow Up! coming-of-age virtual movie series.
- Register Now: Whip It
In Whip It, Bliss Cavendar (Elliot Page) lives in small-town Texas and yearns to break free of her mother's (Marcia Gay Harden) world of beauty pageants and conformity. While in Austin with her mom, she sees her chance when she happens across three badass babes who are members of the roller derby team “Hurl Scouts.” She sneaks back to Austin, lies about her age, and gets recruited to the Hurl Scouts. Bliss finds friendship and freedom with her teammates, but a conflict between a championship game and the Bluebonnet beauty pageant threatens to spill her secret.
Guests for Sunday's free online watchalong and virtual discussion include Mollytov Cocktail and Clobberin' Mame of Rat City Roller Derby! Mollytov Cocktail began playing roller derby in 2017, joining Rat City Roller Derby in October 2018 when she was drafted to the home team Throttle Rockets. She's primarily a jammer (the one with the star helmet), and by day, she is a communications and marketing professional who in her free time enjoys going to the skate park, hiking, and sewing fabulous sequin outfits. She lives in Queen Anne with her partner Smackenstein (also a derby player), surrounded by Henry the lab mix, Quint the Great Dane, four chickens, and a cat named Ava. Clobberin’ Mame is the last skater still actively skating on the league from Rat City's creation in 2004, and has also been coaching the Seattle Derby Brats in some form since their beginnings. Fifteen years is a long time to be part of something, so if you ask her stuff she can give you her best recollection. However, if you get her rolling, she will probably end up with a ton of stories to share.
Here are a handful of program elements you can expect to see this Sunday, December 20 during our Whip It watchalong:
- Pre-film introduction with MoPOP’s Kasi Gaarenstroom, who will share some of her favorite letterboxd reviews of the film
- Cocktail and mocktail pairings
- Chat with Kasi, members of Rat City Roller Derby, and other fans during the film
- Post-film discussion on how Whip It exemplifies the complexities of growing up!
As with all of our virtual watchalongs, to participate you'll need to register in advance, and then on event day make sure you have a copy of the film queued up and ready to watch on your end while keeping an eye on your e-mail inbox for a link to join our online discussion.
If you happen to own a copy of the film, get it queued up at 4 p.m. PT this Sunday, December 20! Otherwise, here's a few places where you can find Whip It online:
Download or dust off your copy and register for the watchalong on our Movies at MoPOP page!
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