#GoldenGlobes cover: @MargotRobbie on reliving Tonya Harding's "abuse" and superhero stalker fears https://t.co/i5LvLd7xL4 pic.twitter.com/jc67DGs0Ul
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 4, 2018
Margot Robbie & Tonya Harding make the big Oscar push. [LaineyGossip]
Demi Moore & Nick Jonas might be dating? Huh. [Dlisted]
Nicki Minaj & Nas are done after about about 6-7 months. [Wonderwall]
Here are some puppies who are high on drugs. [OMG Blog]
But. Her. Emails. [Jezebel]
“Raw water” is a thing now, because people are stupid. [Pajiba]
Ed Westwick was replaced in that BBC drama. [JustJared]
Alex Trebek had brain surgery! [Seriously OMG WTF]
Jessica Chastain looks like she’s wearing a curtain. [GFY]
This woman committed a heinous crime. I’m surprised she’s being rolled out like this.
I was gonna say. A week ago? She admitted during an interview that she knew about the knee capping. Which, to me it never made sense that she didn’t know–because why else would her ex husband knee cap her rival?
I just re-read it–I extrapolated……..but yea. I think she knew.
http://www.syracuse.com/sports/index.ssf/2018/01/tonya_harding_nancy_kerrigan_attack_1.html
Harding wrote an autobiography called Tonya Tapes, in which she claims that she knew what her ex-husband and bodyguard did to Nancy and that she wanted to inform the FBI, but her ex threatened to gang rape her and murder her if she did. She claims that he was extremely abusive and that he did it, because she was the breadwinner, so he cared more about her money and success than she did.
Btw – this attack was the most pointless crime ever – they ruined their lives, but Nancy only had a bruise on her leg and won a silver medal in the Olympics a few weeks after that. I think that the reason Tonya stopped her own performance that day was connected to guilt more than to technical difficulties. If she hadn’t stopped it, she would have won, which only makes the crime even more pointless, because Kerrigan was never as good as she was with her triple axels and those super high jumps. If Tonya really was the “mastermind” behind this, she must be a total dumbass.
I don’t agree with everything. I do know that I miss Bates Motel! Tonya totally blew it at the 94 Olympics. Her boot lace broke and she was crying over that, and skated poorly. She only landed three of her six planned triple axels. Maybe karma got her and psychologically caused her to be the hot mess she was that day. I’m a skater and as a teen I still remember watching. Nancy had the pity vote, but arrogantly thought (even wore gold) it was a shoo in, until Oksana started skating! Some people thought Kerrigan was robbed, but it was the judge’s decision.
That’s kind of what the movie shows FYI, that Tonya knew, Jeff and her mom were abusive who left her with poor self-esteem, and that plan to get Nancy was always stupid and only hurt them in the end. It was kind of sad, cause, in the end, Jeff admits that while Tonya knew she would never have come up with it, and that it was really his idiocy that destroyed her career.
However they do claim that originally all Tonya and Jeff thought was there would be some death threat letters sent to Nancy, not that she would be physically harmed. IDK how much of that I believe
I don’t think it was Tonya who masterminded it, and I could even buy that all she knew was her husband was gonna send some threatening letters, but I don’t buy at all that she didn’t know anything. She certainly knew there was some kind of plot to get Nancy.
I don’t think she masterminded it, etc……….but from what I have read/remember, she has claimed total ignorance, and I just did not think that was true.
@ Nancy I’ll never forget Oksana’s routine, it was just extraordinary. She was so elegant!
@ Nancy … Tonya might have had six jumps planned, but not six triple Axels, would’ve been next to impossible. The nature of the jump makes it almost a quad because there are 3 1/2 revolutions (forward takeoff) . I always thought the whole thing was tragic as Harding was technically and athletically a far superior skater. I have never seen anyone do an Ina Bauer like Tonya and I don’t believe it was even in Kerrigan’s repertoire. Then there’s her triple Axel, so rare in women. Harding on top of her game may have easily won, but Oksana Baiul did skate into the 1994 Olympics as reigning World Champion, so there’s that. They tend to sometimes be rather favoured, especially back then when the judging was somewhat “boxed.” I mean Alexei Urmanov skated into the boards and still won the gold? And NO one would’ve beaten Gordeeva and Grinkov, no matter how flawless their performance. Of course there was tremendous pressure on both Kerrigan and Harding but I do believe the broken lace thing; she did call out that it wouldn’t hold her but went out anyway. I have all of it on tape.
There were other artistic skaters that were just as good as Kerrigan (like the Japanese skater who won bronze). Tonya would have had to have been perfect in order to win against Nancy, Oksana, and the lady who won bronze, but it’s rare for anyone to give a perfect performance at the Olympics (maybe Nancy sort of did, and she still lost?).
@Rachel, I loved G&G, but Mishkutionok & Dmitriev were on a whole other level, artistically. With G&G, everything emoted came from Gordeeva, while Grinkov was more the fork lift. I can still remember Dmitriev dramatically ripping the material on his chest, which is difficult to do without looking like a drama queen.
You’re not allowed to do the same jump more than twice in a program (and one of them needs to be in combination with another jump). So six planned triple axels was impossible.
The 2018 American nationals has just finished a few hours ago for the ladies by the way, and the silver medalist (Mirai Nagasu) is also a woman who can jump a triple axel. She’s a very sympathetic person, I think, who was not sent to the Olympics last time despite doing better at nationals than one of the women who did get sent. This caused quite a bit of backlash. It’s highly likely that she will go now. Wish we would be talking more about Mirai and the awesome athletes that are doing great stuff now than about Tonya again.
Triple Axels are more common now for women than back then, with several women now landing them in international competitions. Quads are next on the menu.
@Rachel I am still pissed at Urmanov getting a gold over Stojko. He made too many mistakes in his routine and yet because he was viewed as more artistic than Stojko, who technically was superior. This was before the new points era, so having Russian or former Soviet countries win gold when they didn’t deserve it was not surprising. Really had Kurt Browning not messed up his short, he would have won gold, since his Casablanca routine was and remains a classic. Browning had both technical skill and artistic ability.
I think Baiul added a jump she wasn’t supposed to but got credit for it or something. I didn’t love her routine, but she was a stronger skater than Kerrigan over all. Harding didn’t really have a chance unless she was perfect technically and even then I don’t think she would have been allowed to beat Baiul.
@nancy
‘Nother skater here (worked at the local rink, too), and was always so in love with Oksana, and her beautiful performances in Lillehammer. She just shined.
@nic919 I liked Alexei Urmanov but Elvis was superior in many ways. The judges didn’t care for his music choices or his stature, too bad. It’s not always the skating that wins the judges over. The glaring error Urmanov made should’ve tipped the scales in Elvis’ favour.
Short term memory, all is forgiven apparently. She will get a standing ovation if Robbie wins any awards on tv.
I’m no huge Kerrigan fan but in the age of supporting women, she was a victim of terrible woman-on-woman crime perpetrated by tonya who gets a glitzy Oscar campaign and another 15 minutes.
Yes, I do not want to see her face at all.
Tonya has no shame. Never has.
I’m also confused. How is what she and her ex husband did a good thing that deserves rewarding?
Yeah, I’m thinking make the movie, fine (and it was good!), but do NOT canonize this woman who was part of a horrible crime. Her backstory does not excuse what was done.
^this!! They can tell the story without vindicating the subject!
That was weirdly why I liked the film, the film seemed to make it clear Tonya was a liar. In one portion she goes “What kind of person bashes in there friends knee” and it’s very obvious she was lying. I loved that about the movie. They let Tonya stand on her own, you felt bad for her but you knew it was because of the company she kept that led this.
It’s a real shame for the Oscar Campaign Margot Robbie is pulling out cheap stunts like this. I can only say that she must be real desperate to join the Jennifer Lawrence’s of the world, who got Oscars way too soon and not for the right role. The role was good but it wasn’t an Oscar winner for Margot in any way shape or form, and I think she knows that which is why she’s pulling a cheap trick like this.
Robbie is a producer, so a lot is on the line for her.
The movie does not make her out to be a hero. It adds more context to what she had to deal with, but it really doesn’t justify what she did. The media though is twisting this into something the movie is not.
Yep its part of the reason I’m glad Margot is less of a frontrunner than Soairse is. Because i don’t want to see any photos of Tanya Harding partying and I’m over the interviews where they try to excuse or “dress up” what she did.
Tonya Harding didn’t commit a heinous crime. She knew that her husband was going to commit a crime, the end result of which was her rival ending up with a bruised knee and still skating. But the most important part: Tonya was punished for it. She has a lifetime ban from skating – she can never earn a livelihood from literally the only skill she has. And the Harding-Kerrigan incident served to catapult women’s ice skating into the collective consciousness and turn it into a marquee sport. Perhaps if Harding had gotten away with it Scott free we’d be having a different conversation, but she’s paid her debt.
No.
If they had shattered Kerrigan’s kneecaps she could have been handicapped for life. Shawn Eckhardt (her bodyguard) is quoted in saying that they discussed literally killing her or injuring her seriously.
Harding deserves her ban for life. In this case, the intent is what matters, and the intent was to incapacitate her rival in whatever form.
” she can never earn a livelihood from literally the only skill she has”
If she has not managed to learn another trade or skill in the twenty years passed she has only herself to blame.
PS: She also DID actively hinder the prosecution. She’s hardly an innocent snowflake.
But the reality is that all Kerrigan suffered was bruising.
I haven’t discussed fairness at all. Simply the black and white reality. However, I do take umbrage at your cavalier “she should have learned something else” which sounds dangerously similar to “why don’t women just get another job when they’re harassed at work”. Because it completely ignores the other key themes we’ve been talking about – the cycle of abuse and the cycle of poverty. Harding has been punished for her transgression, a severe punishment.
What Tonya did was terrible, but it certainly is worked out for kerrigan. It took a pretty but not necessarily great skater and put her in the limelight. She made a ton of money off of it even though she only finished second. I’m not saying it was right, of course.
Agreed. Its’ so tacky!! I lost all respect for Margot Robbie the way she’s parading this POS around. And shame on everyone involved in the making of this movie.
This campaign is disgusting. I have no interest in a film that promotes a woman like that as a positive.
I like Margot and appreciate her hustling, but this is gross.
Very gross.
Even if Tonya isn’t a criminal she knew about a heinous criminal act that was designed to benefit her and she did absolutely nothing. So, I don’t get her push back into the spotlight.
I’m glad Nicki Minaj and Nas are done. It was a come up for her, so kudos on that. But she irritates me and I didn’t want Nas to be associated with her. Haha. He’s a legend.
It is disgusting to roll her out like this. And I think less of Margot Robie for draping herself around Tanya while grinning like she is embracing a dignitary. Gross.
Yeah, Margot is canceled for me after this. Sorry not sorry.
THIS. yet another reason why I am not on the margot robbie bandwagon. shes a mediocre actress and is not above using this gross event to get her an award. what happened to telling stories without trying to rewrite history for the sake of looking good? hard life or not (and i totally have sympathy for anyone who struggles) but you do not get a pardon for helping to plan an attack on another person. this is so beyond gross. its so distasteful. no class
I hope Margot gets the Oscar. despite everything
Trailer Park Queen. To hear her speak is like the proverbial chalk on a blackboard. I’m sure Nancy Kerrigan is thrilled to have another generation witness her attack. At least she went on to ice shows and got rich. Pickings must be slim for Margot to take the role, even if she supposedly thinks Tonya was the victim in this scenario. She wasn’t an observer, she was a participant and now will bank off of it.
I thought Nancy got rich by marrying a much older rich man?
she was 25 and he was her 41 year old manager.
Married manager
Whose wife had to be disposed of first.
She married her manager who dumped his wife for her.
This is just so gross, it’s obvious Tonya Harding just wants another 15 mins. I wonder if she threatened to criticize the movie if she wasn’t allowed to be apart of the campaign. It doesn’t seem like they wanted to include her in the beginning, they talked a lot about how it was a fictional account, that seems to be halted.
All I can say is Margot Robbie is certainly thirsty for that Oscar, no big name production wanted the movie after Toronto, and Netflix supposedly was there highest bidder. But Margot went with NEON in order to ensure an Oscar run. She is thirsty for that golden award, she was a producer and hand chose this project for herself. While she was good, she wasn’t Oscar worthy in my opinion. Allison Janney was the best in the film.
I think this will come back to bit them, it’s not a good look to put Tonya Harding in an Oscar campaign.
Tonya knew about a brutal attack her husband masterminded, and while sure he was an abusive asshole that doesn’t make her guiltless. There is no reason to be parading her as a hero. FYI Nancy has said she hasn’t seen the movie and probably doesn’t want to. While it was a good movie, they seemed to have taken the viewpoint that Nancy was fake.
To me they are going to far down the “Tonya was misunderstood road” the movie made it clear that Tonya was just as much of a liar as her husband was. Sure there was a huge reason to sympathize with her, but it was also clear that she knew. She didn’t “do it” but she allowed it to happen.
Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s bad or unsuccessful. Multiple studios bid on the movie. It’s a shoe in for best actress and best supporting actress nominations.
As for the Harding – Kerrigan saga, what Gillooly did was low, but by pretty much all accounts Harding’s involvement was just knowledge of the crime. Which resulted in a bruised knee. Harding was caught and punished, by the way. She’s still serving a lifelong ban from US figure skating. Not only did that mean no more competing, it was also no coaching or anything at all affiliated with the sport.
I wonder if one day we’ll stop punishing women for being ambitious.
Disgusting the way she is being portrayed as a victim. Tonya is a victim only in her own mind. I will never watch this movie. Not even for free from Pirate Bay.
She’s not portrayed as a “victim” in the film as much as she is a victim of circumstances. Victims do not have to be sympathetic or make the right decisions and Tonya Harding is proof of that. She was abused and mistreated. That doesn’t excuse her behavior, but it explains her thought process.
Me either. It irritates the f*ck out of me to see her smug face. When I see her i just want to pour hot water on her. I’m sorry, I know that’s terrible, but I do.
I find Margot Robbie to be really out of touch. The way she speaks about Harding, Harley Quinn/Joker, and DC/Marvel just really puts me off her. I think she lacks from critical thinking when it comes to projects she can benefit from.
agreed
I haven’t seen the movie so I can’t speak to that but Harding is trash, always has been.
Kerrigan has always struck me as an unlikeable snot but she is absolutely the victim here. I kind of wonder if people would find it more outrageous (the seemingly positive attention shown to Harding) if Kerrigan were a more ”sympathetic victim”.
I find it all rather gross.
People have often thought that Nancy came from wealth, when that wasn’t the case. Blue collar family. Later in life, her brother was tried for killing her father. Bizarre story. Nancy insisted her father had a heart attack. I will have to look it up to see if the brother was incarcerated, I believe he was. I have zero sympathy for Harding, but Nancy deserves no snark for not being what people perceive to be a perfect VICTIM!!!
I think what it was is that her father and brother were having a fight i.e. her brother attacked her father with like a bat? or something, and her father had a heart attack while it occurred.
Kerrigan isn’t charismatic, but then neither is Tonya.
It’s the idiocy of the crime itself that its interesting, not Tonya, so I’m not sure why she’s featured on this cover.
There was a backlash against Nancy which didn’t bother me at the time, but in retrospect it was pretty lousy. If I had just been deliberately knee capped, I’d probably be crying, “whyyyyyyyyy”, too? Also, the whole taking the medal off in the parade was misconstrued. She only seemed like she had money because her costumes, makeup, hair were so superior to trailer park Tonya. If there’s something to dislike Nancy for, I’ll take her part in the ending of her manager’s marriage.
I actually rooted for Tonya the whole time, and believed her stories. But she’s just been so unrepentant, and only shows up for the cash. I will always take the artistry over the athleticism, but I was partial to Midori Ito, too. But there’s a limit, I’ve always despised that the little creature, whose jumps rose about two inches off the ice, took the gold from Michelle Kwan. And her flying monkey, jumping up and down shrieking is ingrained in my head. Plus, her win was spoiled for my by an anesthesiologist. I still tear up when watching Michelle skate to Fields of Gold after losing for the second time – to a skater who couldn’t do a proper lutz.
Girl, I can’t stand her either. I made the mistake of reading her biography and they included in the pictures an image of Tara grinning and beaming like the sun and Michelle sitting next to her bawling her eyes out (maybe sitting at the kiss and cry?) after the results were announced. Absolutely stunning lack of class and sportsmanship.
Wasn’t the backlash against Nancy from when she was acting bitter about losing to Oksana Baiul and then bitching about Oksana taking her time to get to the medal ceremony? I don’t think it was related to the kneecapping. I think what happened is that she was painted as the perfect princess and got sympathy from the knee cap incident, but then acted immature when she didn’t win over Baiul and to be frank, Kerrigan was never a better skater than Baiul. And she skipped Worlds after Olympics to do stuff like SNL to cash on her fame.
I agree with you about Michelle Kwan. She was robbed and Lipinski was not as good.
I think every move Nancy made was hyper-scrutinized. She made the mistake of eye-rolling on camera, and I don’t remember if it was regarding Oksana or Tanya. But her removing her medal and saying “this is stupid”, in retrospect, pings as someone who is overly self-conscious about making a production about the whole event with a parade.
I still don’t care for Nancy, probably because I was a huge Midori Ito and Oksana fan. But I feel bad for her struggle. I saw a comp in Chicago not long after the Olympics, and then went home and watched the network coverage. Scott Hamilton was calling out Nancy’s dedication, and said she really needs to evaluate her priorities. Of course at the time I snickered, but I feel bad looking back.
Please don’t start making this into a class war. Tonya was an idiot who squandered her chance to make history in a positive way. Won’t waste my $$$ on this.
I think it looks like an interesting movie, and I can see why Margot was interested in the role, but I don’t really understand parading Tonya up and down the red carpet with her. It’s different than some other bio pics,, though I’m sure plenty of actors have brought some unsavory characters along with them too.
As a tween skater I really hated Nancy and adored Tonya. Go fig.
Really no one cares about the “raw water” thing? Rich people need to get their heads out of their butts.
I don’t know why Tonya has to be on the cover or be in the interview with her? She did a bad thing and the media is acting like it’s nothing. I get the fact that the film is about her life but can’t they just find another way to promote the film without including the real Tonya?
As for the award, I haven’t seen the film yet. But I will be watching it tomorrow night. If Margot’s acting is good in this film, I don’t see a reason why she should not win an award. But I will be rooting for Allison Janney though.
I feel like a lot of people are missing the point here (and it’s clear that most commenters haven’t seen the film, which is masterful).
However you feel about Harding, she WAS a victim of abuse and neglect (starting from childhood). The film is about how the effects of abuse ripple throughout your life, influencing all of your relationships and decisions.
You don’t have to be a ‘perfect’ victim to be a victim, and victims of abuse are also victimizers sometimes. The film handles this very uncomfortable truth with finesse, humanizing Harding in a way that no other media piece ever has. It doesn’t exonerate her, and since it’s her story that’s being told, why should she have to hide? She was essentially given a lifetime sentence, and this movie is showing all the ugliness of her life. She has the right to own it, whether you’re a fan of hers or not (I was absolutely Team Nancy – I’m a former skating fanatic who remembers every news clip of that whole sh*tshow).
The film also focuses on the rise of tabloid television into what it has become today. Tonya Harding was one of the first casualties of that industry (partly of her own making, it’s true). It ruined her life completely. The fact that she’s come out the other side after doing her time and having to struggle doesn’t bother me. If you don’t like seeing her on TV, you have other channels to choose from.
Thank you Ginger.
You said everything I would have said, if I was so eloquent.
Thanks, Happy. I’m no fan of Harding but I sympathize with her as a victim of abuse. She’s a cautionary tale (there but for the grace of God and all that), and I think it’s why people want to demonize her, especially women.
I think you’re missing the point. People aren’t upset about the film being about Tonya. They’re upset that margot is parading her around red carpets and magazines in order to secure an Oscar. Plenty of actors have played characters on screen based on real people who have may have done bad things. But that doesn’t mean you have to be buddy buddy with them like Margot has been. Its not the film thats causing the problem, it’s the thirsty campaigning on behalf of the makers of the film.
^^this. I loved the movie. I don’t need her on the cover of a mag. Sorry not sorry
yep
@Nope, Harding will not matter to Robbie’s chances either way. In fact, I think that ‘parading her around’, as you put it, is risky. The filmmakers clearly feel a responsibility to allow Harding to share in all the good and bad that has come from the project, and that’s completely fair (and shows integrity on the filmmakers’ parts, since they’re gaining notoriety and money from her story, as the media always has, whether she participated or not). As I stated above, you can ignore any and all media that you think glorifies Harding. My point is that she shouldn’t have to hide during awards season, when it’s her story that’s being told – even if it bothers some people.
Very well said. Also why is it OK for Nancy to try to cover up her brother’s homicidal attack on her father? I guess Nan y condemns violence when she is the victim.
@Nello, Nancy is not perfect and shouldn’t be demonized either. She really soldiered through an ordeal that would have broken most world class athletes. Her background is also a bit messy (minus the abuse that Harding endured), but she has, over the years, pointedly avoided portraying herself as merely ‘the victim.’
How did Nancy Kerrigan try to “cover up” her brother’s attack on their father? It was all over the news. BTW she didn’t do the attacking.
I live in Boston. There was no “cover up” of Kerrigan’s father’s death or her brother’s addiction issues. There was a trial and everything, and her brother was convicted of assault and battery but not of manslaughter. Stop trying to justify Harding’s bad behavior because it wasn’t Kerrigan’s fault that US Figure Skating determined that Harding was at fault.
Ugh, as a victim of childhood abuse I really hate how it is being used as an excuse.
Look, a lot of people have had similar upbringing but have not grown up to abuse others.
Do you not realize how offensive what you’re saying is? To claim it is the reason and to use it to excuse horrible crimes.
Reminds me of teachers telling the victim of bullying that the bully “has a hard life with parents who neglect him/her”, meanwhile the victim also has a shitty childhood with parents who don’t give a damn but I guess no one cares about that. They have to go home to abuse and go to school to face abuse.
I know you didn’t mean to, Ginger, but you sound really dumb here.
I didn’t read anything that could be construed as an excuse or defense of Harding. Ginger clearly states that the movie deals with the ripples of the victim becoming the abuser without exonerating Harding of her role in the attack.
Personal opinion of course, it was the most well balanced, objective post on the subject I’ve read thus far.
NN you said that better than I could. I can’t stand it when they use a “he had a hard childhood” defense for a criminal. Yes, it’s unfair and terrible, but society should not give a pass to everyone who had a stinking childhood. I try to do the opposite of everything that was done to me. I will not be seeing this movie because the publicity is glorifying a toxic liar who should at least show a little remorse and indicate that she has grown up, instead of behaving like the star she always wanted to be by any means possible.
It’s not an “excuse” but in some cases, it is an explanation. There’s a difference.
I love your post, Ginger.
Thanks, @Jayna. It feels like certain posters are making this very personal instead of addressing the actual issue.
I really wanted to see this movie, especially Allison Janney. Until I saw Tonya interviewed…yikes..ugh…blechh. Nobody deserves an extra minute of fame less
than her. Totally unaware and clueless. Makes my skin crawl.
I’m with ya, ravynrobyn
I really wanted to see this movie, especially Allison Janney. Until I saw Tonya interviewed…yikes..ugh…blechh. Nobody deserves an extra minute of fame less
than her. Totally unaware and clueless. Makes my skin crawl.
Margot will likely get a nomination, but no way she gets pass Sally, Frances or Ronan no matter how much she hustles. And I will add Streep. Sally and Frances are barely campaigning and are streets ahead of her in the race.
she’s not even in the same league as Frances not by a mile
Sorry, Tonya is trash. Lots of people have bad childhoods and don’t turn to crime.
This. Bad things will happen to everyone. But you can either let it make you a better, stronger person or lash out at the world over self pity. It’s our choices that speak to our true character.
No bad things do not happen to everyone. Only people who have never been abused make such broad statements. Also, Nancy was an awful person in her own way.
Nello: thats a broad statment considering you don’t know me. I was actually abused at a very young age. A very different abuse than Tonya Harding’s but abuse none the less. It was something I’ve had to overcome from then until adulthood. But I’m a stronger person after facing the situation.
If you think bad things don’t happen to everyone, it’s because not everyone one goes around publicly advertising. Not to mention people nowadays are obsessed with making their life seem picture perfect thanks to social media. All lies. No one has had a perfect life. You just haven’t stepped into everyone’s shows. Some people just hide their demons better than others.
Nello, so Nancy Kerrigan was an awful person and she deserved to get whacked across the kneecap?
I think Nello is either an extreme Harding fan or an extreme Robbie fan the way they are defending them/this film by means of attempting to trash on Kerrigan.
While it’s certainly valid to criticize Harding’s actions, I’m disappointed by the “trailer park” digs in these comments. It’s possible to call out bad behavior without being classist.
This is true. I am not from the US, but I remember the drama. I loved how Oxana won after everything went on.
I think that it was awful what happened to NK, but neither of them were perfect victim or attacker.
I don’t like aspects of NK, but to just hold Tonya as trash or the worst is, to me, too much. As far as I know, TH became a figure skater agaisnt all odds. She was probably told a hundred times that she wouldn’t make it, poor, far from perfect family or background, incorrect/uneducated accent, inadequate looks for figure skating, too muscular. And she actually made it. It is sad that she and her husband tainted what it could’ve been an inspiring legacy.
I feel for what she lost. Namcy Kerrigan did not deserve what happened to her, but she milked it well enough.
I used the “trailer park Tonya” comment to express how much of the public viewed her. I’ve had family in trailer parks, and place no judgement on them.
I agree. You can be a POS from anywhere! 🙂
Tanya Harding will always be an incredibly complicated figure in American sports. The brashness, the “unrepentant”-ness, was cultivated through her early years of being a poor, tacky trailer park kid in a rich girl sport. That woman has a hard shell that we will never be able to penetrate. She had phenomenal talent but terrible taste and even worse habits; when she trained she was an athletic dynamo, but that didn’t happen often. Tonya Harding will always be the villain in this saga, but I do think that she deserves some sympathy as a human being. Poverty, abuse, and then more abuse, warped her. From everything that I’ve read, this movie does not exonerate her, nor does it excuse her, and in fact she is portrayed as having known about the attack. For better or for worse, hers is a story worth telling (as is Nancy Kerrigan’s by the way, who got a crappy shake in her own life, outside of the knee-capping heard round the world).
And for the folks complaining about Robbie “trotting Out” Tonya. You either don’t realize or forgot how MASSIVE this story was. The Harding-Kerrigan Olympics was huge and their story was huge. Biopic subjects frequently attend the premiere of their movie, but the Harding pics are getting so much traction because even all these years later, people STILL want to know and talk about it.
I have seen the movie and what you wrote perfectly encapsulates what it is about. I think you will enjoy it. Basically anyone 35 or under doesn’t really know how this drama played out in the media and how everyone was treated.
Nancy Kerrigan is a spoiled bitch. Not that she deserved it, but I think Tonya has suffered enough. Everyone deserves a second chance.
Can you make your point without calling Nancy Kerrigan, who did NOTHING wrong, names?
+++++++++1. Exactly. We all still need to remember that Nancy Kerrigan is/was, and always will be the victim in this. So, no matter whether you like her or not is irrelevant.
Do you realize that Kerrigan wasn’t rich and came from a working class family?
Watch the Disney video. She’s a bitch.
First, I will start off by saying Kerrigan did not deserve to be kneecapped. But she wasn’t a perfect princess and gave off poor attitude often. She was complaining about Baiul taking too long to get to the medal ceremony and the Disney thing was also bad. Because she looks a certain way she got branded the good girl and Tonya was the bad girl years before this incident.
And while she came from a blue collar family, her parents had enough to put her in skating and keep her there until sponsorships were allowed. Until the Lillehammer Olympics, you had to be amateur to be able to skate there and you couldn’t take on sponsorships or get paid. Things have changed drastically since then. Even doing things off season like Ice Capades were restricted.
So Tonya Harding didn’t have any help at the same level that Nancy did, nor did she have a stable family to support her emotionally. It doesn’t justify what she did, but she had a lot more obstacles to deal with.
And let’s not ignore how in figure skating the gender stereotypes are still strong and women are expected to be more like ballet princesses than athletic, and certain body types also preferred. Suriya Bonali dealt with this too. She was also labeled aggressive and angry.
I, Tonya was a very fun film with one stellar performance (Allison Janney) but it was highly problematic in quite a few ways that permeate the film’s award season and campaigning.
Firstly, the movie clearly embraces the (Tonya-approved !) narrative that Harding was a real “athlete” in a world of “pretty dancers”, that her merit was technical while everyone else’s was purely artistic, which is not only false but also a complete misunderstanding of ice skating as a sport. Ice skating relies on both technical abilities and artistry; that is the whole point ! The difficulty is not only to perform physically demanding tasks on the ice but to do so in a fashion that is esthetically pleasant. Someone who looks beautiful and elegant but cannot jump does not stand a chance and neither does someone who can jump a lot but looks dreadful doing it. Harding’s problem was never that she was poor or a “redneck”, as she calls herself, but that, even at her peak, her skating looked incredibly rough; her choreographies were at best toddler-like, at worst bloody awful. The somewhat callous way in which the movie dismisses Harding’s competitors as mere “pretty girls” while highlighting her allegedly superior athletism is quite ridiculous.
I say “allegedly superior athleticism” because the film (and the promotional campaign surrounding it) makes a point to repeat, ad nauseam, that Harding was the first American woman to land a triple axel in a competition. It is of course completely true and well done to her for that but, at the end of the day, so what ? One great athletic achievement is not the mark of a superb athlete for what makes a superb athlete is repeated success. Venus Williams is a superb athlete, not because she won a title once, but because she won several dozens, Midori Ito is a superb athlete, not because she landed a triple axel in competition once or even twice, but because she landed 18… Conversely, Tonya Harding had a good fluke in 1991 and then did nothing even remotely impressive on the ice : that is enough to qualify as an answer to a Jeopardy question but not enough to be considered Hall of Fame worthy. For the overwhelming majority of her career, she was not a better athlete than her competitors.
Secondly, I have a serious problem with the way the movie, and by extension the campaign around the movie, erases and silences Nancy Kerrigan. In the film, Kerrigan is a completely mute character except for the one scream she lets out after the attack. She is objectified, quite literally reduced to an object : a white-clad silhouette whose sole purpose and function is to be beaten with a baton. A human pinata. There is even a moment in the film (spoiler) when, to illustrate that people often misremember and fantasise the attack, Tonya is seen repeatedly beating up Nancy with a baseball bat. And it is played for laughs ! If the characters were fictional I would not have a single problem with it but it is not the case. A real-life young woman was really assaulted and her movie counterpart gets viciously brutalised as a cheap joke. But we are supposed to feel like Tonya is the only one who was mistreated by the media ?
Basically, I think the makers of I, Tonya have a big problem; they probably suspect Tonya Harding is not innocent (as she herself admitted recently, when she at last let out that she knew “something was up”) but the image of her as an unfairly maligned underdog makes for a much better story and award-baity movie. So they cower away from what should be their thesis. There is one great line in the movie (spoken by Harding, amusingly enough) : “what sort of person kneecaps a friend ?” That is a truly interesting question indeed but it is one neither the director nor Margot Robbie seem keen to answer or even address, preferring to focus on the simplistic and overdone “ugly duckling” narrative, no matter how forced and undeserved it is.
This is a fair critique. When they showed this at TIFF they hadn’t leaned into the film being Tonya Harding approved and it gave a better impression because she was more an object of pity than a rebel hero. They are making a mistake with this approach.
Robbie is the worst kind of thirsty actress-the very mediocre kind of actress who will stop at nothing to win. Robbie isn’t anywhere near the same league as McDormand, Hawkins or Ronan. Oh, by the way?…Robbie isn’t anywhere in the same league as Jennifer Lawrence who is obviously the actress whose critical acclaim and success Robbie’s people are trying very hard to emulate.
After reading people’s reviews of this movie in this thread, I’m now wondering the following: does Tonya get that the movie might be satirizing/mocking her?
It doesn’t.
Without overanalyzing because everyone goes in with their own experiences, I would recommending watching it. My own perspective is that it is well done, provides some insight that went uncovered because it was such a salacious, sensationalized news piece…and it does not exonerate, nor vilify Harding. It just presents her truth at the time, it’s up to the audience to decide what is believable about that truth.
That’s an amazing question. I am actually more interested in seeing this film. I was in the 4th/5th grade when this happened but loved ice skating Olympics competition. I will watch only because I didn’t know any of the extra or background info about Tanya back in the day. I only knew that NK was supposed to be this Ice Goddess who wore pretty outfits and TH was a jealous nit-wit who needed her husband to handicap someone.
I think Tonya would appear more sympathetic if she just talked less. If you talk too much, people aren’t going to want to listen to you anymore.
I originally thought Margot Robbie was kind of bland-looking but next to Tonya Harding she’s absolutely gorgeous. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t mind posing with Harding on a cover…
I doubt theres anything she could do to het out of it if she minded- without looking extremely unprofessional.
I used to think she was so gorgeous when I first saw her in Wolf. Since then every time I see her in pics she seems to get harsher and more hard-looking. She looks like a harsher version of Jamie Pressly to me. Her personality seems one dimensional in that she seems to lacks reflectiveness and a kind of humanity or empathy. That’s just the sense I get from her recent interviews, especially about how being so poor a bottle of spilt milk would affect her whole household and how it’s made her deathly ambitious. Someone like Cate Blanchett also seems hard as nails but has nuance and context. Margot is not likeable.
I know I’m in the minority, but I’ve always felt sorry for Tonya. I still do. I can’t help it. I could go into my reasons, but it doesn’t matter. Some of them have been articulated on here.
I can still say that even knowing she was in some way involved in the attack.
I now want to see this movie, and it’s only at one theater way across town. I looked it up. I didn’t know it was out a month ago. It only made under 3 million and cost 11 million to make. So I guess it tanked. I’m surprised. I thought there was a lot of hype about it, and that more women would be interested in the movie The reviews are really strong.. I always meant to see it because I love Allison Janney, but the holidays were busy and I guess I forgot it was out.
For me, Tonya isn’t sufficiently interesting or admirable to be worth time reading any more about. I remember all the drama, melodrama, allegations, & protestations only too well. My daughter was a skater at the time & my in-laws lived near & knew the Kerrigans, who weren’t well liked in the local community for many reasons which had little to do with Nancy’s abilities & aspirations. Tonya finally gets non-negative attention & a chance to make some money with her book & movie deal.
If the movie ever gets to HBO, I might watch it on a slow night. Sometimes, I just don’t need to relive or follow-up events which got overwhelming media coverage at the time, with all the post-event analysis that inundated popular media. (Kent State, Manson murders, Hearst kidnapping & SLA, Jonestown, Moscone-Milk murders, Rodney King riots, OJ Simpson, etc.) I lived when & sometimes where, these things took place. For younger people, who don’t know or remember what happened, it might be worth 2 hours & the price of a ticket. No redeeming enlightenment here for me.
Nancy Kerrigan can be the most unlikable person and it still wouldn’t matter: Harding has a criminal record and likely instigated assault (a serious crime) so why is she a victim here?
Culturally and legally speaking, we frown on physical assault and other even more serious physical crimes for good reason. Crimes we seem to be able to tolerate showbiz glorifying are those that don’t include physical assault/harm: stealing (from the rich to help the poor), white collar crimes, etc. Assault is repugnant in society and treated seriously under the law for many reasons.
So, fine, make your movie but don’t parade her around like she’s some interesting character we can learn from or pretend she’s not a lowlife.
I’m still trying to understand why this movie was made? Why on earth are we allowing TH to be in the spotlight after the horrific attack on Nancy Kerrigan.? Why is this being sensationalized? TH needs to crawl back into the hole from which she came.