By Eric Bottjer
The motion picture Christy has been getting a lot of recent attention, and not all of it positive. That’s sad, and a bit angering, but as Christy Martin herself would tell you, that’s part of life.
The movie is damn good and it rarely strays from Christy’s actual life events. Anyone can identify with Christy Martin. You don’t have to be a boxer. You don’t have to be a woman. You don’t have to be gay. You don’t have to be a hillbilly (if you take offense at this term, sorry, but I love it). The movie is about a human being’s universal struggle to discover who she actually is and find the courage to live as such. We ALL struggle with this and this battle only ceases when we either quit or die.
So why does Christy Martin’s life story deserve a movie? Because most of us in her situation wouldn’t have made it. This movie shows the triumph of a person confronted with obstacles so vast and ugly that it’s a wonderment she survived. And came out not only stronger (yes, cliched), but more importantly, a better human being.
Christy had help. She’s married to Lisa Holewyne a former pro opponent. Some folks are truth tellers. Lisa is a truth see-er (I think I just made this word up). It’s easy to understand why they fell for one another. To see Christy Martin is to see humanity at its’ finest. And to have Lisa on your side is to know you have a friend that lives by an old-time honor code. She’s the one you call at 3 am in a crisis.
The film’s actors also “see” Christy. Ben Foster, who plays Jim Martin, her trainer/manager, husband and abuser, has become a real friend, attending Christy and Lisa’s Nashville boxing events. And Sydney Sweeney just didn’t show up, do the starring role, and disappear. She, too, is now part of the fabric of Christy’s life.
Sweeney has born the brunt of Christy’s poor showing at the box office. It’s unfair. She’s terrific in it. It’s difficult for even a good actor to sell themselves as a boxer, at least to boxing people – she nailed it. The reviews overall are good (67 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and the actual viewers are raving about it (97 percent positive on that same website). Yet folks still have to be negative toward a 27-year-old woman they don’t know.
She’s been attacked for being a registered Republican. I mean, come on. How many 27-year-olds are actually accountable enough to vote? And some cretin actress (sorry, showing my age, but I prefer actress) slammed Sweeney for “ruining” the movie. Basically, because Sweeney’s not gay. Sweeney’s response was perfect. She didn’t respond.
Sweeney called Christy “art.” The masses don’t consume art. Die My Love, a new release starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, is art. It was DOA at the box office. Emma Stone’s riveting Bugonia? A money-loser. Even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s forway into three-dimensional art with The Smashing Machine was “disappointing” at the box office. Folks aren’t going to movies. Don’t blame Christy Martin or Sydney Sweeney for that.
Don’t be like the masses. See this movie.