For a while now I never really heard what happened with the Nassar case because they didn't want to go on to graphic details in the mainstream media. This documentary has some graphic details but not overly so and I now I know what happened via video footage of Nassar being interrogated and other information contained here.
As a child I was involved in another professional sport and feel like the genius of this documentary is to point out how such professional sports can grow to be very toxic organizations who come to care little about the people the organization is living their lives off of. The leaders of USA Gymnastics clearly didn't care but only wanted to live their lives off the wholesome image of the sport.
I would give a lot of the kudos to Rachael Denhollander who came off as a clear headed, believable "accuser". Without her steady firm recalling of events I am sure it might not have gone further. This story really points out to me and makes me sad, how little women and girls are believed. Now of course, some women have lied before and that continues to be the reason allegations are met with skepticism. But it remains distressing that in general I feel no one would have tried something like this with men.
Ultimately though I hope that parents who do watch this "get" that if they take their kids to sports they don't allow their kids out of their sight. My parents were sometimes accused of being weird but they didn't tolerate anything at all where they could not be present at all times. I don't blame the parents here because as you can see USA Gymnastics wanted to have complete control of their kids -- or their kids would suffer. So they had little choice. But going forward any organization like that has to be rejected immediately because this is exactly the type of thing that can (and probably will) happen.
As a child I was involved in another professional sport and feel like the genius of this documentary is to point out how such professional sports can grow to be very toxic organizations who come to care little about the people the organization is living their lives off of. The leaders of USA Gymnastics clearly didn't care but only wanted to live their lives off the wholesome image of the sport.
I would give a lot of the kudos to Rachael Denhollander who came off as a clear headed, believable "accuser". Without her steady firm recalling of events I am sure it might not have gone further. This story really points out to me and makes me sad, how little women and girls are believed. Now of course, some women have lied before and that continues to be the reason allegations are met with skepticism. But it remains distressing that in general I feel no one would have tried something like this with men.
Ultimately though I hope that parents who do watch this "get" that if they take their kids to sports they don't allow their kids out of their sight. My parents were sometimes accused of being weird but they didn't tolerate anything at all where they could not be present at all times. I don't blame the parents here because as you can see USA Gymnastics wanted to have complete control of their kids -- or their kids would suffer. So they had little choice. But going forward any organization like that has to be rejected immediately because this is exactly the type of thing that can (and probably will) happen.