Young Woman and the Sea 2024
"What for.”
“If undo importance is attached to them [Spots] so that victory becomes the paramount consideration, and defeat leaves a feeling of disappointment and humiliation. Then the zest goes out of the game, and it no longer represents pastime and recreation. As it should.”
“I came all this way, might as well see England.”
“I don't know, seems like a nice day for a swim.”
Trudy Ederle and Lewis Handley, Tudy’s WSA and Olympic coach
There is something to be said about relentless joy. Even in the face of adversity, Trudy Ederle seems to evoke something that we are missing in the human spirit nowadays. A willingness to be stubborn. To persevere, not as a form of arrogant pride, but a perseverance that inspires people to succeed.
That is the infectious reality brimming forth from Trudy's story. Her perseverance is an encapsulation of her joy in swimming rather than her need to prove herself. She proves instead that if we strive to do our best, we can affect the world around us even if we do not intend to do so.
Sometimes a superhero is just a superhero. Trudy Ederle's swim across the English Channel is truly remarkable, not only because she was the first woman to do so, but she was also one of the few people in the world that has ever done so. Swimming the Channel is a feat of endurance and perseverance, of fortitude and strength. It is, at its heart, an accomplishment tailor-made for the movie screen. Yet, this adaption of Glenn Stout's outstanding time capsule of one of sports most inspiring achievements fails to reach such heights in its filmic form.
One of the greatest challenges in bringing real life events to screen is maintaining conflict. Maintaining a momentum that allows an audience to connect to the protagonist's struggles and difficulties. As a film Young Woman and the Sea must deal with this challenge on a regular basis. However, Trudy's story does not offer any real avenues for conflict, at least in the early stages. Trudy has difficulties, just as much as anybody else. Though author Glenn Stout suggests that these difficulties are mostly personal and specific to her situation.
The film, on the other hand, presents Trudy's struggles as monoliths. Difficulties that point to the greater flaws in the social norms of the time, the early 20th century in this case, rather than personal barriers she must overcome. This is most evident in how the film is structured. The film has no flashbacks, instead all events happen in real time. In essence the characters are directly affected by events that may have occurred years before the story proper starts. This approach is understandable, especially if you want to get a younger audience up to speed with the time and place. However, it presents us with a mismatched world. A world where people live outside of time. Creating an alternate early 20th century. A place where villains exist where they should not, and heroes are missing in places they should exist.
Changing history has its consequences, and it is no different here. It ultimately dilutes the inspiration inherent in Trudy's story. To the point where Trudy becomes every woman instead of herself. And don't think this structural change doesn't affect the other women in Trudy's story. They also lose their individuality, because they give all their accomplishments to her. This is tragic because all of these accomplishments, by women and men, are the gateways Trudy uses to become the superhero, the inspiration she becomes. Trudy is able to do what she did because she stood on the shoulders of giants. Individuals who realized the dignity, strength and beauty of womanhood, even when others did not.
Trudy's conquest of the English Channel is amazing, outstanding and all the superlatives I can throw at it. Every young woman and man for that matter should have a chance to experience her story in some way. With Young Woman and the Sea biographer Glenn Stout offers us an extraordinary glimpse into what it takes to change the world. A world where the ability to swim is a superpower, and the impossible becomes inspirational.
With the film, director Joacim Ronning and his team craft a youthful and engaging primer for women's issues in the early 20th century. Unfortunately it is a primer that often forgets that Trudy is just Trudy, no one else. Her story should be her story. Sometimes a superhero is just a superhero, there is no need to make them one.
Rated PG for thematic elements, some language and partial nudity
If you have a chance I recommend checking out Glenn Stout's biography Young Woman and the Sea, before you check out its film adaptation.
I found Trudy's story to be exciting, inspiring and meaningful. I hope in some way you do too.
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