Documentary notes

Here are some of my notes from my viewing of Hell on Wheels:

The original name of the roller derby company - it started out as a for-profit - was "Bad Girl, Good Woman" - I thought that was a neat name

Roller derby is Austin definitely started out much more campy and raunchy - fights were encouraged and there were a few choreographed hits. Elbowing, pulling, pushing, shoving, etc. were all included. Some of the founders talked about how, in the beginning, marketing and profits were really important. Sex sold for roller derby and girls "behaving badly" definitely drew in a crowd. However, many of the skaters voiced concerns or addendums to that statement- saying that they also wanted it to be about the skating and the superior athleticism. "We want them to say 'damn they skate good, not just damn, they look good'" - paraphrase

They talked about the fine line between sexy and slutty - another skater also talked about the problematic dichotomy that is often made between expressing sexuality/sex appeal and being a feminist.

Texas rollergirls have come a long way since their inception - the rules are now WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association) sanctioned and fights are a thing of the past. Usually. They don't have the "penalty wheel" anymore - This foul system was a fun idea but it had some interesting options such as:

"Sold to the highest bidder" - the skater has to go on a date with whatever audience member bids the highest
"Spank alley" - she bends over and skates past the audience while they spank her - sometimes that got reversed however, and the skater got to spank the audience...
"Jackass" - this one was neat - the skater had to wear a set of donkey ears over her helmet for the next jam