By: Alex
 |
| Graphic by Emily |
At one point in my glorious years of being a teenage girl, I realized that I
could make my own decisions. While struggling to figure out who I am, I thought
getting the chance to make decisions on my own was just what I needed to find
the answers to everything I questioned. Though I still don't have it all
figured out, it felt good to know that I had the independence to try to find my
own answers without being doubted by others. But I reached a problem when I
realized that, though this independence made me happy, I still had other people
in my life that I also wanted to be happy. I couldn’t decide things with only
myself in mind because I still wanted to make my parents proud.
When I had this second realization, it made trying to grow up a whole lot harder. Just when I thought I was getting closer to figuring things out, I got set back again. How could I choose a path that made me happy while also giving my parents something to be proud of?
I kept this question in the back of my mind, hoping to eventually find a solution. And as I usually do when I’m lost and thinking too much, I started watching movies. After lots of time with quality coming of age stories (my usual watch) I came across Drew
Barrymore’s
Whip It, and I realized
that I was watching the problem I was so bothered by come to life on my
television screen. In this film, a teenager, Bliss (Ellen Page) struggles
with growing up, getting pushed around in school, working a crappy job, and
longing for self-confidence. Her mother pushes her into participating in beauty
pageants, but each time Bliss stands on stage, she knows that being a pageant
queen is not what she truly wants. In her attempt to find some answers, she
joins a women's roller derby league. And it is there, not on stage, that she
realizes who she is.
Though my
dream does not involve participating on a roller derby team, it’s almost as if
Drew made this movie with me in mind. Like Bliss, I struggled with trying to follow
my passions while also doing what my parents wanted. It’s hard to figure out
who you are when you don’t have any freedom to try new things. Bliss struggled
with her identity because her mother only let her do one thing--be a pageant
queen. Once Bliss got out into the real world and followed her passions (which
just happened to involve roller derby), she found herself. And though she finally fell into her
element, Bliss still recognized the importance of making her parents proud.
The
greatest thing about this movie is that, even though Bliss did her own thing,
when her parents saw her confidence on the roller rink, they realized their
true happiness, because their daughter was so happy. And when Bliss saw the pleasure
in her parents’ eyes, she realized that she had made her parents proud, just by
being herself.
So, what
did watching this movie teach me about about my life? I learned that things
work out, in unconventional ways. You can do both. It doesn’t have to be that
difficult. It
is possible to live
your dreams and make your parents proud. It took Drew Barrymore to put it in
perspective for me, but I realized how true to life her movie really was. I
couldn’t imagine sacrificing my dreams to please someone else. I have to be
passionate about what I do to be happy. But I couldn’t imagine my parents being
anything less than proud of me if they knew I was happy, no matter what I was
doing.
I walked
away from
Whip It with a new sense of
freedom and pride. I am happiest when I follow my passions
and when I make my parents proud, and now I know that I can do both
without having to sacrifice one for the other. One day, I’ll have thank Drew
for helping me out with that insight.
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