Athletin A

First off this is a well made documentary, the tone is hopeful and the survivors are treated respectfully. The timeline is well established and the interviews relevant to telling the story. The subject matter is heartbreaking, but now that this is out in the open, hopefully the survivors can heal and the investigations continue.

It's tough to know how to evaluate Athlete A. I tend to be someone who rates/ranks movies based on my enjoyment of a film, but there is nothing to "enjoy" here. Athlete A is the kind of film that made me sob in tears and want to put my fist through someone's face. It gave me chills of horror and fits of anger (amplified by the fact that some of the vile events discussed in it took place mere minutes from where I live.) None of these are pleasant emotions, but the fact that I felt them so intensely is a sign that the filmmakers did their job. I have nothing but appreciation for the skill that went into presenting the story of the awful things that went on behind the scenes of US Olympic Gymnastics for decades.

Athlete A is a movie that needed to be made, about a story that people need to know, but it is also a sensitive topic that will be hard (perhaps impossible) for some viewers to watch. I will say, while the details of what went on are discussed without holding back, there is some tact in the way it is presented. It's a tough balance, but I think they did a great job. The film tackles the subject from 2 different angles. One side is presenting the way the story was broken by a newspaper, and how that led to countless victims coming forward to form the case against this predatory "doctor." The other aspect of the film is a series of one-on-one interviews with some of the victims and their families as they discuss what happened.

You have to applaud all these young women who came forward and were willing to relive devastating moments in their lives. They display such strength and maturity that it is truly inspiring. Of course, the more you admire these women, the more angry you get at those who victimized them, those who played a part in allowing it to happen, and those involved in covering up the truth. This is a blight on USA gymnastics, and makes me sick when I recall watching Olympic events and seeing those faces on the sidelines. There's no doubt that Athlete A tells the truth in a powerful way, and I'm grateful that some filmmakers were skilled enough to do this story justice. They share the ugly truth in Athlete A so that others can learn from what happened to these girls, and hopefully we can avoid situations like this in the future.

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.

No matter what you watch about the subject you will be effected by it. The young women who finally came out as older women are true heroes and have got guts. I've watched a couple of different documentaries on this monster Larry Nasser and the horrible abuse and rape that countless women were subject to throughout his long career of working with these athletes. I will say that the HBO doc was a bit more in depth but nonetheless very powerful. This is a subject that is difficult to hear but very important for all to see. The women who came forward at the trial of this predator are true rock stars , and should be celebrated.

I cannot believe how corrupt the US Gymnastics is after watching the documentary. The pain the victims have suffered is heartbreaking for me. I really admire those women who stood out and wish them all the best.