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| Pop Star on Ice is an interesting vanity piece |
by Andrew Hamlin -
SGN Contributing Writer
SIFF - Pop Star on Ice
May 24, 6:45 PM
The Egyptian Theater
Ever since the late John Currie forever changed the staid world of competitive figure skating in the '70s with his revolutionary graceful ballet-inspired movements and his subsequent coming out about his sexuality, a controversy seems to have raged between those mostly Gay proponents of this style with its flamboyant costuming and the traditional more aggressive "macho" style.
The subject of this documentary is Johnny Weir, the current embodiment of the out-and-proud style of ice skating. More than just physically attractive, he is intelligent, opinionated to the point of gleeful bitchiness and very much in control of his destiny. He is currently competing for the only medal that he has yet to win: the gold at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver B.C. next February.
Assembling home movies, live interviews, competition footage and still photographs where footage was not available (or perhaps the rights too expensive), this film is essentially a vanity production, but no less interesting for that.
Weir seems reluctant to reveal any of his personal thoughts about anything other than skating, yet it is obvious that he has very deep feelings that regularly burst to the fore when he wins or loses. Seldom have male competitors exhibited such powerful emotions in public which seem endear him all the more to his fans, or "Johnny's Angels" who seem to be mainly female or Gay.
Although Weir hides his sexuality publicly, it is not in doubt, certainly after this film, and never more so that when he shares a bubble bath with his best friend ("it's like a marriage in everything but the sex," he says).
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