Coop’s Movie Scoop I, Tonya

I watched the movie I, Tonya a few months ago and highly recommend you to put it on your “to watch list”.

I Tonya is a about past Olympian Ice Skater, Tonya Harding. Now, if you haven’t heard of Tonya, let me give a quick run-down of who she is. Tonya is best known for being accused in the involvement of the attack on fellow teammate, Nancy Kerrigan. Her involvement eventually got her banned from ever being able to compete in any ice skating competitions which I truly believe broke her spirit. As you will see when viewing the movie, ice-skating was her life and really the only positive thing she had going.

Just to give Tonya her props, she was the first woman to ever attempt a triple axel in a competition and land it. I often think people forgot what an accomplished skater Tonya was because of how grandiose the scandal she was involved in.

Although, this scandal was at the top of the news back in 1994 and still is talked about today, there’s so much more the movie hit on about Tonya’s up bringing. The result of which may have been the reasoning why she was involved in such a scandal.

The movie shows Tonya being physical and mentally abused by her mother and husband. Tonya’s mother was portrayed by the amazing, 2018 Oscar Award Best Leading Actress Winner who was raised in Dayton, Ohio, Allison Janney. She did an outstanding job. The mother was definitely the root of Tonya’s troubled life. I once was told, “If you can’t get your loving at home, that’s when trouble starts”. For some reason Tonya’s mother just couldn’t give her daughter the love and support she needed. I’m not sure but I think Tonya’s mother may have been suffering with a mental illness and it was probably genetically passed down to Tonya. The skater went through the entire movie searching for someone just to say, “Job well done.”

After watching this movie, my heart goes out to Tonya Harding. I do not condone what she did but I can’t help but to have empathy for her. As children we do not get to choose our path nor parents. Children look to their parents for unconditional love and to set them on a road that will help build character and success. Tonya was stuck in many awful situations and was also granted great opportunities, but her need to be the best lead her to making bad choices.

View this movie for yourself and share your comments on how you feel about Tonya. It’s truly worth seeing.

If you suffer from mental illness, reach out to a Miracle Clubhouse near you https://gesmv.org/community-programs/behavioral-health/miracle-clubhouse/