THE TELEVISION SHOWS WERE UNRELATED, BUT each displayed something extraordinary. I only say extraordinary because of the way the hosts were pointing out the actions of the contestants. As for me, I did not consider it special in the way the hosts were touting it; I simply admired the strength that was on display. The premise for one of the TV shows was to find the strongest individual who could complete an obstacle course that challenged the contestant’s physical capabilities. Though most contestants on this show were male, there have been several women. Whenever a female comes up to the start line, the hosts are extra effusive in their comments about her. At least they are not talking about what she is wearing or how she looks; the hosts point out how she is navigating the course as if she were something rare and unique. To me strength is strength, it does not matter if the person is male or female; but, I get it. Viewers may be sitting in front of their televisions in disbelief that a woman could be that strong or they may be more like me and admire her skills like any other contestant. Maybe it is because of my years of teaching in the fitness industry, but I do not look at women and men differently when it comes to their physicality. THE OTHER SHOW I HAD WATCHED was a talent competition. There were a multitude of acts ranging from artistic to musical to death defying to magical. One act consisted of a man and woman doing acrobatics; things that involved balance and strength. One of the routines they performed was having the woman lift and balance the man on her bent legs. The host was making a huge deal out of this role reversal. I was surprised, but not by the woman’s strength; only the fact that it is rare to see, in these types of acts, a woman doing what has consistently been a male role. The judges were amazed at what they were seeing as well as the audience. Now I grant you, in years past these women may not have even gotten the chance to perform like they were presently doing on these shows. There might even be some individuals who feel women should not be doing such things. It has been going on for years where one’s sex defines what they can and cannot do. Where is it written that an activity, sport or job can only be done by one of these groups? What I saw in this exciting documentary will prove my point to you. AFTER RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME TRACY Edwards found herself a job as a ship’s cook. Cooking was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had to start somewhere. What she wanted had never been done before. This film festival winner was directed by Alex Holmes who directed the films Dunkirk-TV movie and Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story. I thought the layout of this sports film was wonderful, going from archival footage to home movies to recent filming; the going back and forth in time was not at all a distraction for me. The story was incredible; mainly because I had never heard of the contest discussed in this picture. Secondly, what the contestants had to do for this contest was unreal to me. There is no way I could do such a thing. It is not often a documentary blends excitement, history, emotion and relevance at the same time; but this empowering story/event did it for me. If I had been in any of the cities where they had filmed at the time of this story, I would have certainly been in the crowd to cheer these contestants. Heck, that reality obstacle course show now seems like a rerun to me.
3 ½ stars