Posted on 01/14/2018 4:18:06 PM PST by EdnaMode
Picked-up pieces while wondering whether “bomb cyclone” and “survive the ground” have ever been used in the same sentence . . .
■ For the record, Nancy Kerrigan has not seen “I, Tonya” and doesn’t care to discuss the cinematic softening of Tonya Harding.
“I, Tonya” is a terrific film, perhaps Oscar-worthy, and Harding is on a redemption tour 24 years after her goons kneecapped Kerrigan before the Lillehammer Olympics. Tonya was a guest of honor at the recent Golden Globes and the subject of a TV special that aired on ABC Thursday night. Dollars to doughnuts she’ll be at the Oscars.
This had me wondering what Kerrigan thinks about the whole thing. Kerrigan, after all, was a victim of Harding’s dysfunctional life. The only daughter in a working-class Stoneham family (her father, the late Dan Kerrigan, was a welder who worked three jobs so Nancy would have ice time), Kerrigan delivered one of the clutch performances of all time at Lillehammer in 1994, winning a silver medal just a few weeks after she was attacked by Harding’s gang of nitwits.
I gave her a call this week. (I had a 20-year-old at-a-glance phone book and hoped my “Kerrigan” number was not for Joe Kerrigan.) Incredibly, Nancy answered my call on the first try.
I congratulated her on raising three children with her husband/agent, Jerry Solomon, and maintaining her dignity during this pop-culture-driven redemption of Harding. I asked if Kerrigan wanted to comment on it.
“Not right now,’’ she said. “I really have nothing to say about it. I haven’t seen anything. I haven’t watched anything.
“I’ve been busy. I was at the national [figure skating] championships this week so I didn’t watch the Golden Globes. I haven’t seen the movie. I’m just busy living my life.’’
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
She was clubbed in the knee with a police batton do try to keep up
So you like them gums
I heard the movie portrays harding’s mother as abusive, but her mom says she wasn’t abusive to any of her children
ML/NJ
The way the movie portrayed the mom was that she brought out Tonya’s best performances by making her angry and plus she threw in Tonya’s face at every chance that she worked 3 jobs to pay for her lessons. She stabbed tanya with a knife of course by accident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksana_Baiul
Hard times in Ukraine, problems with alcohol abuse, various lawsuits about money she believes she’s owed (said without prejudice). Lives in Las Vegas.
Thanks for the info. DIdn’t realize it was done mokumentary style.
Agreed. Neither was in the league of Michelle Kwan or Kristi Yamaguchi. Harding’s triple axel was amazing though. It did feel like the media wanted to make Nancy into America’s Sweetheart, which they never would have done with Tonya.
Exactly and as a skater may i just say the triple axel is impossible on so many levels.
Surya Bonaly of France was the first woman to attempt quadruple jumps in top-level international competition. Didn’t quite get there, but she was an astounding athlete.
Yes unconventional broke all the rules amazing!
Thanks!!
Wikipedia says she’s coaching in the U.S. now. (That reminds me of how I saw Nadia Comaneci in the Albertsons grocery in Norman, Oklahoma, once. She was guest-coaching at a major gymnastics training facility nearby.)
I remembered that Surya Bonaly was from the island of Reunion, but Wikipedia says she was actually born in France. Her adoptive parents and coach said she was from Reunion (her birth mother was) to get more publicity because she was “exotic.” Also, she was originally named “Claudine,” but the adoptive parents chose something “exotic.”
What people will do ...
You’re welcome. As soon as you mentioned her, I was curious, too.
I don't believe for one bit that the mom stabbed/threw a knife at tonya. During the TV interview, tonya couldn't figure out on which side of her arm the knife hit.... and... she didn't show the scar. Usually people pull up their sleeve to show where a scar would be.
Again during the interview, she was shown a photo from a yearbook. tonya had an attitude because the photo was also used for competitions. I don't think the mom could afford a separate photographer for promos.
I found tonya to be heartless, ungrateful and a spoiled brat who did need to be spanked. If the mom was a "B" it is only tonya was a handful. She worked 3 jobs, raised other children and still had time to be at the skating rink for practice.
There certainly was mileage to be had with Nancy Kerrigan as America’s Sweetheart gig. She was cute enough, in her prime physically.
And true to form, it was all going to be a myth.
Media created and engineered, and at some point, they would make her fall bigly and publicly. Humiliation to the essence of her being. That was the playbook at the time. Give her a few years at the top, and then the spectacular crash.
I don’t know if it’s in the movie, I haven’t seen the movie. I witnessed the news about Nancy at the time it happened. I’m old.
It was done both ways. Regular film of what happened, then the characters later talking about it.
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.