Yesterday I took myself on a very overdue artist date. If you are new here, Artist Dates are one of the steps of the book The Artist's Way to unearth our artistic blocks. Once a week, the book recommends taking yourself on a date by yourself to find inspiration and creativity. It may be hard to take time for ourselves, but I have loved learning how to spend time alone.
This week, my Artist Date was to the movie I, Tonya. I, Tonya is a biographical dark comedy about Tonya Harding and the Nancy Kerrigan scandal. The film stars Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding and Sebastian Stan as her husband. My favorite character was Allison Janney's portrayal of Tonya's mother. As a huge fan of Allison Janney in the West Wing, I have a hard time seeing Janney in other roles, but she did an incredible job. It was so fun to hate her.
The film was shot like a documentary. It follows the story chronologically, cut with interviews of the characters. I didn't know before seeing the film just how abusive both Tonya Harding's mother and her husband were, and it makes her drive for fame and love make much more sense. One of the most powerful scenes for me was when Tonya voiced her belief that her life had to be in ruins in order for her to skate well.
Along with being an entertaining movie and a nostalgic trip back to the style of the 1990s, it is also a powerful insight into the lives of victims of abuse and all of the ways that society lets people down. I highly recommend taking yourself to see this movie.
Image source: IMDB