Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Tonya Harding is the latest national punchline to find pop culture redemption
Washington Post (via The Oklahoman) ^ | 12/29/17 | Stephanie Merry

Posted on 01/01/2018 4:38:49 PM PST by Drew68

Disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding re-entered the public eye earlier this month when she showed up for the Los Angeles premiere of "I, Tonya." She was snapped on the red carpet, laughing with the actress who plays her, Margot Robbie, and getting silly with the film's big scene-stealer, Allison Janney.

All of this may have seemed strange to anyone who hasn't seen the movie. Isn't Tonya Harding the eternal villain of our collective memories? Why is Hollywood embracing her? For some people, she will forever be the woman responsible for making fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan cry, "Whyyyyyy?" She'll always be the Olympic athlete with the dubiously problematic skate laces; the woman who married a guy named Jeff Gillooly.

But the Golden Globe-nominated movie offers a different take on Harding's life, and it's one that turns the skater-turned-boxer into an extremely sympathetic — even unfairly maligned — character.

If Tonya Harding was tried and unanimously convicted in the court of public opinion more than 20 years ago, then "I, Tonya" makes a solid case for exonerating her.

The movie is just the latest piece of pop culture that forces us to reassess our opinions of headline makers. Think of Marcia Clark in FX's Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning series "The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story." After seeing a dramatization of everything the prosecutor went through while trying to convict the former football star of murder back in 1995 — all the ridicule and the stress and the fame she didn't ask for — those "Saturday Night Live" skits don't seem so funny anymore. Neither does Tina Fey's impression of the lawyer making googly eyes at Christopher Darden during the first season of "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

(Excerpt) Read more at newsok.com ...


TOPICS: Society; Sports; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: margotrobbie; tonyaharding
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-60 next last
Tonya Harding, currently undergoing a public redemption of sorts, and Margot Robbie, the Australian actress who plays her in the critically-acclaimed biopic, I, Tonya.

I, Tonya Trailer (YouTube)

Will not be surprised to see Tonya Harding attending the Academy Awards.

1 posted on 01/01/2018 4:38:49 PM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Who says crime doesn’t pay?


2 posted on 01/01/2018 4:45:29 PM PST by Tzimisce
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Isn’t Tonya the gal who was beat up by that nasty Nancy Kerrigan?


3 posted on 01/01/2018 4:46:51 PM PST by anton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Am I the only guy who,20 or 30 years ago (can’t recall when she was famous),who thought that she was kinda hot...in a trailer trash kind of way?


4 posted on 01/01/2018 4:47:05 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Remember: All Cultures Are Equal!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Another one who “took a knee.”


5 posted on 01/01/2018 4:48:48 PM PST by Larry Lucido (Take Covfefe Ree Zig!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

She’s a totally unrepentant bitch.


6 posted on 01/01/2018 4:49:21 PM PST by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that's how you sell clothing.....Dirty Bob Mueller)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Trailer is not bad. Tonya herself is looking better than she has in awhile. Not guilty.


7 posted on 01/01/2018 4:50:31 PM PST by conservative98
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

LOL


8 posted on 01/01/2018 4:50:35 PM PST by crosdaddy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: anton

9 posted on 01/01/2018 4:50:54 PM PST by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative
Am I the only guy who,20 or 30 years ago (can’t recall when she was famous),who thought that she was kinda hot...in a trailer trash kind of way?

Nope. You're not the only guy.

10 posted on 01/01/2018 4:51:26 PM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

I can’t remember the details but wasn’t she really the one responsible for the attack? I know she was never convicted.


11 posted on 01/01/2018 4:52:10 PM PST by yarddog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Re: “so prepare to feel guilty about the way Monica Lewinsky’s reputation was forever tarnished, while the president emerged relatively unscathed.”

I certainly hope so. Even more so, how Hillary emerged unscathed from the scandal when she covered for her sleazebag husband’s perpetual infidelities.


12 posted on 01/01/2018 4:52:52 PM PST by Nevadan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tzimisce
Who says crime doesn’t pay?

I don't think Tonya ever got much money. Today, she's a house painter in Oregon. She'll probably see a little come her way from the film, I'm sure, but she'll never be rich.

Being banned for life from skating was the biggest punishment. She says she would have rather gone to prison.

13 posted on 01/01/2018 4:53:52 PM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

She’s femspreading on that poster.

Also, isn’t this rewarding the culprit in a violent attack designed to hold a woman back from success???


14 posted on 01/01/2018 4:54:22 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68
You've got to love America. We sure can produce 'em.

Whatever else you can say about Tonya, she is truly one of our own, God bless her.
 

15 posted on 01/01/2018 4:54:43 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (CNN is fake news.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Nancy Kerrigan voted for Clinton. I’ll go with Tonya Harding.


16 posted on 01/01/2018 4:55:05 PM PST by Lisbon1940 (No full-term Governors (at the time of election!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

She is on a TV show that we watch when we are on cruise ships....it’s on TRU-TV, World’s DUMBEST CRIMINALS and she and comics and Danny Bonaducci all make very funny comments about the DUMBASS things that people do......HEY...it’s better than watching CNN!


17 posted on 01/01/2018 4:55:59 PM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: conservative98
Trailer is not bad. Tonya herself is looking better than she has in awhile. Not guilty.

It was kinda funny during production, the director asked for a stuntwoman to perform the triple Axel. The skating consultant replied, there were only six women in history who have ever completed a triple Axel and four of them will be attempting it at the Olympics.

They had to settle for computer effects.

18 posted on 01/01/2018 4:57:17 PM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Skating was certainly more interesting when she was around. Her triple axel jump was quite amazing. Occasionally, I re-watch her Olympic free skate when her laces broke. Lots of drama.


19 posted on 01/01/2018 5:01:34 PM PST by EdnaMode
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Tonya Harding and the seven other women skaters who have successfully landed the triple axel


20 posted on 01/01/2018 5:07:26 PM PST by Bratch ("The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-60 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson