"Whistleblower: Tracking the US Gymnastics Team Sexual Assault Scandal" tracks and records the large-scale sexual assault of female gymnasts by the US National Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar (Larry Nassar) over a period of decades. In this sensational and extremely abominable large-scale sexual assault case, since its disclosure in 2015, more than 500 survivors have testified against Naxal, including 9 Olympians, and the youngest female athlete who was sexually assaulted 13 years old.
In addition to restraintly presenting the torn life of the victim in the sexual assault case, the slut humiliation of the victim by public opinion after the exposure, the survivors who bravely stood up to speak and complain, and the local media that continue to track and report, this film The documentary is more profound. It is embodied in the use of a long lens to ask why the team doctor Naxal was able to unscrupulously extend his demon hand to the young female gymnast for decades? What kind of system and structure is to feed, shelter, and indulge Naxal, a beast with a human face and a beast, and how is this institutional and structured evil constructed historically? In this way, the individual tragedies embedded in the historical institutional structure are well narrated, and the deeper, universal, and fundamental social problem-the materialization of human beings: state discourse, power structure and capital's influence on individual life Manipulation, the ravages and tears of human dignity.
In the long history of the development of gymnastics in the United States, two important factors have emerged that have transformed the American gymnastics training system. One is the long-standing national discourse of competing for world hegemony under the Cold War ideology, and the second is the commercialization and marketization of professional sports. Gymnastics, a sports competition item, has become a marketing brand in the capital market. The two work together to reshape the American gymnastics training system. Female gymnasts are becoming younger (younger the body is softer, easier to train, and more obedient to discipline, which has become a consensus), and the management system of gymnastics training camps is more stringent. In fact, in the training and competition of women's gymnastics, the body and personality of female gymnasts have been disciplined as human weapons to win sports competitions, becoming a symbol of honor for the United States to compete for world hegemony, and materialized as standardized under the market brand. commodity.
It was during this process that the doctor Naxal appeared. He pretended to stand on the side of the young female gymnast. He was witty, humorous, gentle, brought candy, approached the female gymnast, and used his so-called "sacred hand of healing." "To conduct physical examinations for them. And just like this, in the routine physical examination and medical treatment of the training camp day after day, and even under the medical videos recorded by him, in front of the parents of the gymnasts, Nassar inserted his hands into these young girls. In his vagina, the treatment process is described and explained in its professional terms. Sexual assault is happening openly, and it is repeated and practiced daily.
From a disciplined body to a body that was ravaged, how did this process happen naturally? In the documentary, female athlete Jennifer Seschel insisted on jumping again after reminiscing about Kerry Strugger's injury in the 1996 Olympic Games. At the moment when the country won the championship, she described, "The first one she fell. She was obviously very painful and limped back to the other end of the runway. We later learned that she had been playing with serious injuries. Jump twice to get the highest score. The U.S. team needs her to jump again. She jumped and landed on one leg. She really climbed off the mat. She crawled back... Bella took her back. Picking up, everyone was cheering for her, thinking she was a hero, and I was thinking,'What is there to celebrate?' Don't pretend that she has a choice! She has no choice but to dance. We This country loves winners. We are a competitive country. We feel that we are number one in the world in every aspect, right? But we actually sacrifice our young people in order to win, which makes me a little sick. We will always I won’t admit that this is the case. In other sports, athletes are adults and they can choose what they want rationally. In gymnastics, I don’t think so. These children go to the National Training Center when they are ten years old. Abuse, so even when it comes.... The line between hard training and child abuse has become blurred. So, when the really obvious abuse or sexual abuse occurs, you no longer believe in yourself. Because when you feel hungry , Ankle pain, when they feel that they are working hard, they yell at you, telling you that you are lazy, you are fat, and your ankles are okay. So, when a man asks, you don’t wear gloves. When I reach into your vagina, I can only imagine how you feel,'He is a great doctor and I am very lucky here, so I won't say anything.'"
Finally, looking back at the Chinese translation of the documentary—"Whistleblower: Tracking the American Gymnastics Team Sexual Assault Scandal", I feel that this translation is not very accurate. In fact, it would be better to literally translate its English name "Athlete A" into "Athlete A", which is more expressive. "Athlete A" is one of the hundreds of bodies invaded by Dr. Nassar. It is the code name for the whistleblower in the internal mail of the American Gymnastics Association. It is a standardized product under the market brand that he is committed to creating. It is a weapon of competition for world hegemony and honor under the grand discourse of national power. Because of this, Naxal was eventually sentenced to two 60-year prison sentences, not the end of the case, but the starting point. In fact, the fundamental issue of the materialization of people under politics, capital and power will present many social aspects, such as cases of sexual assault and domestic violence, cases of imposter diplomas, and the sale of human organs. And we need to clearly realize that to protect individual lives, defend human dignity, and keep the bottom line of a civilized society-to treat people as human beings, what we have to fight against and be vigilant at all times.
A few final excerpts:
Jamie Danzecher: "Larry, you have seen our coaches and national team members abuse us physically, psychologically, and emotionally. You pretend to be on my side and say that they are all demons. But you Not only did you fail to protect the children and report the abuse you saw, but instead used your power to manipulate and abuse as well. You know I was helpless at the time. I am here today. Together with these other women, we are not victims. The survivor, but the survivor. I want to tell you face to face that the days of your manipulation are over, we can speak now, and we have strength now."
Maggie Nichols: "The U.S. Gymnastics Association and the U.S. Olympic Committee did not provide a safe training environment for me, my teammates and friends. Ravaged, training camps are held every month in Carroll Training Camp. Before that, I was called Athlete A, like the American Gymnastics Association, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Michigan State University. I want everyone to know, He didn't violent Athlete A, he violently abused Maggie Nichols."
Rachel Dan Holland: "Our judicial system has two main purposes, the pursuit of justice and the protection of the innocent. If Larry cannot be sentenced to the highest penalty allowed by the plea agreement, neither of these two purposes will be achieved. Therefore, I want to ask, what priority should be placed on using the strictest laws to convey such a message to protect other innocent children from the destruction of souls caused by sexual assault? I will report to you, These children deserve to be protected by all means, worthy of all means by the law, and worthy of the highest penalty."
"What everyone didn't realize was that for almost all these girls, it was their first sexual experience. When you take away the ability of others to love and express love, take it away or hurt it, it will be profound Influence their hearts. After all, he actually did something like this. He stole a piece of their hearts and they are now struggling to get it back. If the people in charge do what they should do, most of them People should never meet Larry Naxal. The missing piece is that these negligent people take responsibility. These people should protect the athletes, protect these women, these girls. The missing piece has not yet been realized."
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