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From: zinikas
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  • wow, I wish my mother had given a shit about me and my injuries and had pulled me out of gym instead of forcing me to keep going. I'm 24 and have had back injuries for nearly 10 years now..

  • How is this not up to the parents when they are the ones paying for the classes just stop making payments.

  • just goes to show that the top gyms don't always win....

  • she knows her mom was right in taking her out of there.

  • Man I wish my mom would hug me like that

  • Did you read the last lines? "Over 50.000 girls benefit from participating in US. Gymnastics. Only 7 will make the Olympic Team." I think the ending of this movie is perfectly realistic. and plus, this girl doesnt seem that oposed to her mother's decision, she probably knows she's not ready or willing to go through it all. I'd say she's relieved and sad at the same time. She will go on to enjoy a normal adolescence and will keep practicing the sport she loves. What's so bad about that?

  • Hahaha love how unemotional the comments were about the ending. "The ending was absolutely shit" hahahaha brilliant

  • If my parents took my dream away from me like that... that's not how I would react at all.

  • that ending was absolutely shit.

  • dude i liked perfect body sooooooooo much more this one sucked

  • wtfrick..."stopped menstrating" ??? duhhh when you train that much you don't even get your period. I understand the mom, but obviously she doesn't have the stomach for the sport and moving to the top. if you want the olympic gold you have to sweat blood over it. you get there through pain and hard work NOT petting and hugs.

  • the russians and the chinese always kick everyone's butt in gymnastics! why? b/c they live eat and breath gymnastics 24/7. no offense to americans (and I can say that b/c I am an american) but we are so fricking used to getting everything just handed to us. people in other poorer countries have to work extra hard and that's what makes them amazing.

  • @xxxfantasyhorse Dude, we're "poorer" than China.

  • This ending is so stupid

  • hah if she was my daughter i would show her who is in charge! Hah I'm the mother not you, lets just get that straight little girl.

  • the mom really bugs me.

  • the ending sucks

  • For real, the percentage of HS athletes who go pro is less than 1 in a million. It's a pipe dream. You have a greater chance of winning the lottery.

  • perfect body is way better!!

  • They didn't make her look sick, they didn't make what she was doing as far as not eating and stuff look like a big deal. It's like that was one of the main parts of the movie without really having a full definition to it. It makes not since!

  • The ending fails... they hadn't even gotten to the actual plot yet -.-"

  • I'd slap the bitch out the girl

  • that coach was being a douchebag!!!

  • i didn't really like the ending at all. i loved the movie but the ending was stupid!!!

  • the ending was stupid.

  • i dont like the ending i think it was like too easy i wanted to be more dramatic

  • Okay this bugs me so badly. I read the book. 'Little Girls In Pretty Boxes' and the things they say IS SO STUPID! Any Gymnast to sit there and complain about the coach being "mean" Is NOT a realy Gymnast. And these girls, they are "little girls" They are athletes. Pro Athletes. You push, you work, and you do whatever it takes to succede. Nothing else matters. If you can't work. Be somthing else. It isn't a game. It isn't a playground.

  • @JrJileyLoveStory there's a fine line between coaching being effective and detrimental. A coach should push you to the point where you still love the sport you're doing and want to do your best for yourself and nobody else. When a coach starts making you do things you haven't trained properly beforehand, that's a very bad thing. You dont have to do whatever it takes to succeed. You do your very best because you love the sport you do and you love what it teaches you.

  • @JrJileyLoveStory That's true. If you want to make it, you have to work hard for it and push yourself to the limit. But not OVER the limit. A coach is supposed to train you and make you work hard, but a coach also has to care for your physical and mental health and well-being. Yeah you have to work, you have to work through pain and exhaustion, but once you start developing eating disorders and training/competing with serious injuries, you're making yourself worse, not better.

  • i just have a hard time believing like shawn johnson went through this stuff she seems super happy her coach seems like a 2nd dad. from what ive seen in interviews i can however see her mother being insane

  • "Who is in-charge, then?" "Me, and Greg". Really? Do you think Greg will coach you for free? Go ask him... that's gonna be funny...

  • The title of the movie was named after a book called little girls in pretty boxes: the making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters. It means the girls are forced to be little and they have to push back growing up. Everyone

    Expects them to be pretty, and they know nothing but gymnastics, so it's as if they live in a box.

  • @fishchimes you had that problem too? I couldn't get 7 either, I thought it was jusy computer. @vickymarie000 the ending was good. But i think i understand what your saying. But thank's for putting this up here. (:

  • thanks so much for putting this on here! I for some reason can't watch part 7 (says that it's restricted and not available in the US due to copyright. Not sure what that's about?

  • I couldn't be coached by someone like that... I'd either be a nervous wreck or kicked out of the gym for a throwing a couple of punches

  • I hate this fucking coach

  • maybe the point was to make the ending unsatisfying. That's the way it feels to quit gymnastics, b/c you feel you CAN'T quit. Therefore, the void when you do, (or something).

  • i do gymnastics.....and ya that happens.....like it does

  • where did you download this?

  • girls who are in gymnastics don't usually stop menstrating. It's only when they go to the extremes like this girl did and starves themselves, and take painkillers nonstop. But otherwise, you won't stop having your period.

  • @Moonfrost1 serious gymnasts, generally don't mestruate. I was a serious gymnast for ten straight years and it didn't sotp it, it prevented it. I wasn't able to hit puberty or develop until I was pulled out from a back injury. Up until then, had the body of a little girl. I was even sent to a hospital during being a gymnast because of how it was stopping my growth ad puberty. It's absolutely crazy.

  • I decided to put her in, oh no! People who play sports get injured??? Shit - take her out!

    This film was stupid.

  • Ohmygod, her periode stopped? That's horrible, no wonder when I'm watching Gymnastics Olypics, none of the girls have pads :\

    I wish I could have a beam like that in my backyard (:

  • this movie is awesome...my coach was like that too she expected me to do a double back layout in the beam when i didnt even know how to do a layout

  • It was a good movie and message but the ending..pretty much tells gymnasts like me that you pretty much dont have a chance to go far!...but it was a good movie

  • I agree I also felt that something was missing..

    Maybe the end was better if it were about how the girl ended up.

  • coaches can be such assholes! worse than in this movie (this coach wasnt even THAT mean)...

    i quit when the coach at my gym made my little sister do a double layout, when she wasnt ready yet, and then yelled at her ,when she faceplanted and broke her nose, for BLEEDING ON THE MAT!!! What The Fuck?! so uncool.

    now i do cheerleading =)

  • for the record:

    the difficulty shown in this movie is now slightly lower than an 'elite' 10 year old will do. my 10 year old does everything shown except the double-back beam dismount. on the other hand, she does yerchenko (the dangerous vault)

    the 'evilness' of the coach in this movie is definitely lower than your average high performance coach in 2010

    i have 'decided' to introduce my daugher to other sports and wean her away from gymnastics. it's slowly working. her coach hates me :)

  • he does make a point it is the PARENTS resposiblity to look out for THEIR children and its good the mom stepped up and saved her daughter from herself

  • What a fail ending....

  • awe..i think the mother did the right thing for her daughter.....and oh what a very happy and touching ending this has....thank you dearly for the movie...i really enjoyed it.......

  • Thats some powerful brainwashing he did to those girls...And what really gets me is how people are so into winning, being the best, they stop caring about the person and what can happen to them....

  • katies a little bitch.

  • Can someone please explain the title of the movie to me ?

  • I think it had something to do with the jewerly box the girl had??

  • @fourluckyhorseshoes There was a book written about gymnasts (and I think ice skaters too) titled Little Girls in pretty boxes meaning that the girls had to be little (weight height etc) and that to the fans they looked pretty in leos and skating outfits but the reality of it is that its hard work and not everyone has ahappy ending

  • So the father talks the mother into something she really doesn't want for her daughter. Then she gets into it for her daughters sake, then the father gets pissed off with the mother and in the end to make everything right the daughter gets pissed of with the mother as well... All because the dad thought it was a great idea to begin with.

  • i hate how he says that only a dozen people in the world train the yurchenko double twist when it is actually a quite common vault. the full twist is not hard enough to complete internationally. she needs to do at least a one and a half.

  • @conradbinky It's a very old movie (in terms of gymnastics) and especially gymnastics has newer and higher difficulty moves entering the scene every year.

    I don't know the scene back then but I wouldn't at all be surprised if he is actually telling the truth (for back then).

  • @Lamondra the movie came out in 1998 and that was still the standard. in 1998 the double twist was valued at 9.8, the one and half twist was 9.7 and the full twist was valued at 9.6. To be competitive in international gymnastics in 1998 a 9.6 start value would not suffice. you would need to do at least a one and half and most girls did a double.

  • I stand corrected. :)

    And then I have to agree with you that it is indeed a bit of a dissapointment. I also thought the movie was older, never thought to check the actual year.

  • I somehow think she could make it only if she did not do the diet.

  • it was about time that her mother put her foot down before she became a crazed, workaholic with never-ending injuries and the daughter of divorcees.

  • The ending makes me tear up. It's beautiful for some reason.

  • LIfe is not fair is it..

    but she is a parent not a friend

    good job

  • The message in this movie is all about the OLYMPICS but what they fail to realize is that more gymnasts benefit from going to college and getting good educations on gymnastics scholarships....People believe the wrong messages sen out about gymnastics. U never really know what goes on unless you are one of those top gymnasts. Yes we work hard but the starvation and other crap is not like this in America

  • amen to that! people are so gullible, they really do believe that elite gymnasts are a bunch of miserable, spoiled, underfed, overworked kids! for crying out loud, i train elite gymnasts every day, and while they are eating much less than other kids, and have learned to work through the pain, they are not anorexic, do not take illegal or prescription drugs (i make sure of that!) and if a girl can't pull a tkatchev in training... she's probably not ready to pull a DTY in a meet!

  • The message isn't about the Olympics or gymnastics. It's about pushing yourself too hard. If you push yourself beyond your limits, you lose sight of reality. You lose who you are.

  • very true...and it's not worth it

  • I love this movie very much

    its very realistic

  • Probably a reason why there many good Chinese gymnasts. Poverty striken parents in the country villages give away their children to sports camps, to have a shot at a better life for them and their kids (and the kids get food to eat at the camps). Pay offs are astronomical, but the risks could be disability, coma or death for their children.

    I heard that a chinese diving gold medalist didn't even have roads to her village. The government then built roads so they can go congratulate her family.

  • i think that it is always good to have passion for the sport that your in but omg dont kill your body just because i wanna be the best you can be the best and make it to the top by eating probably and doing everything the right way

  • Well you'll be at a competitive disadvantage against someone who pushed their body to the limit and have a more optimal weight than you. So if all else is equal, you're not gonna be best.

  • was a pretty crap film tbh.

  • the mom's a fucking bitch....

    how could she have the heart to stop her daughter like that

  • ....maybe because she didn't want her daughter to die just for the love of a sport? Not eating and living off of aspirin? Yeah, when your stomach lining is eaten away and your kidneys are shot, gymnastics won't matter much, will it? I think she made the perfect decision. Her child just didn't know when to stop, so she had to stop it for her. That's what a responsible parent is. Making decisions to save your child's life when necessary.

  • Do you not understand what this movie is about? She was in a horrible situation. If that's what you have to do to be successful in gymnastics (it's not; it's an extreme case and plenty of girls do well without nearly killing themselves), then you can't go on!

  • no, i believe she made the right choice. her daughter is not cut out to be an elite gymnast, she has the potential but not the mental strengh. her mother stopped her before she hurt hurself by doing something stupid like becoming anorexic.

  • i guess maybe she didn't....but if she felt she did and her mom said she didn't (by taking her out of the club)....than that would have hurt for the rest of her life

  • but now they will never know if she could have made it.

  • actually it seems pretty clear to me that she doesn't have what it takes to be an elite gymnast. so she wouldn't have made it, she would have just been one of these girls who are admirable, because they have more will than talent, but never quite make it and always end up with injuries instead of medals. trust me, i coach elite gymnasts, she didn't have "it".

  • People kept saying how this film and Perfect Body are the same storyline. Yes it's similar but this film focuses more on the strict training and safety risk whereas Perfect Body is mainly about eating disorders in gymnastics so I don't think they're that similar at all!

    =]

  • The moment my daughter tells me I'm not in charge anymore I tan her hide and pull the bank of mom out from under her. Lets see her make it without money to pay fro training.

  • you can never be truely in charge of your children.

  • Glad the mom finally pulled her head outta her butt. It's an okay ending. Not dramatic enough but okay.

  • First he says it's not mom's decision but then when she brings up Dana competing with an injured back he says that letting her compete wasn't up to him cuz he's not the doctor or the parent. Okay.. contradictory much?

  • He meant that it was up to the child. It's the parent and child that take the responsibility if she gets hurt. He was trying to say he didn't make the decision the parents decided to let their daughter go against the doctor's wishes and compete. Plus if I'm not mistaken Dana is of legal age she was 18 based on what was said toward the beginning of the movie.

  • @Mom2William It's not contradictory. He's making the point that it's the girl's choice: not him, not the doctor, not the parent. I don't agree with him, but that's his argument.

  • this movie, made no sense, is it about anerexia or gymnastics, or being angry and disobeying ur parents, it didnt have any plots, and the ending, not good, it could of been better.

  • it is about the hard life of a gymnast.

  • shit ending

  • i don't really like the ending of this movie. i can't quite put my finger on it.. it's just not satisfying enough.

  • yeah, the ending sucked, but really the whole movie was pretty lame. the acting was horrendous.

  • @vickymarie000

    That's because there was never really any plot in this movie. So the ending doesn't resolve anything.

  • @vickymarie000

    That's because there was never really any plot in this movie. So the ending doesn't resolve anything.

  • made me tear up

  • i was in the exact same shoes as katie and the same age as well and i was forced to quit because of the let me tell you all who read this i know first hand how the world of gymnastics is and this movies protreas it to a T its very much like that but the competitions are much more gulling then it shows i was in competitive dance and gymnastics since i was 3 years old and am no longer competing but as a result of all the pressure i have suffered from Anorexia for 11 years now please be careful

  • my mom would kck my arse if i talked back like this

  • i'd see the back of my mum hand before i even get to finish lol

  • lol, same here

  • same

  • Chloed6353 :i agree when i reached elite level at the age 0f 8 i contniued until now and still am but my asss famo wont let me compete in the olympics in 2016

  • I no how she feels wonting something so bad and when it come's so close you cant have it because of something or someone but at least she could go back to it i have injured my leg and i wont be able to ever do it again sure i would moon about it but at the end of the day what i achived i was so pleased with !

  • The ending just killed the entire movie

  • it had to be a typical lifetime movie ending of course!! haha

  • i love this movie, does anyone know where I can find it on dvd??

  • Katie is kind of a brat...

  • If that were my kid telling me that she was in charge, she'd be back-handed!

  • ur crazy then

    u don't do that to a kid

    she's just being over pressured

  • lol haha my mom would do the same thing

  • This is one case where I would almost side with the coach. If the parents are stupid enough to continue paying for him to train their injured child, they are the ones to blame.

  • The coach has a point for sure, all though I can't imagine being that cold. If someone came to me saying a child I coached wasn't eating, was injured, etc., there would be some serious considerations made and I would want to help them.

  • bingo!! its not his choice its thiers..

  • uh ok. I thought she'd like die or something, or get injured or realise that life is better at home eating chocolate and watching made for tv movies.......

  • that was a tear jerker.

    it said at the end only 50,000 people benefit from being in gymnastics. well, there are many other ways to benefit besides money. gymnastics gives you health, confidence and friendships...if you don't take it too far.

  • agreed! who cares about olympics? hahaha well not really but even if i started earlier...it's not for me...

  • the movie meant due to gymnastics

  • This movie was great. I don't do gymnastics but it's quite amazing to watch. I liked that this movie was about all negative aspects of gymnastics, not just having an eating disorder and pass out and stuff from not eating like every other gymnastics made for tv movies.

  • Love the film, what a crap ending though...

  • if parents freaked out everytime i try to teach my girls a yurchenko (1.5 or 2) or any other dangerous skill, i'd have no girls in my gym! hello, this is gymnastics, the most dangerous sports in the world! that's why before teaching tricks, you have to spot the girls that are smart enough to listen to the coach, not just the daredevils...

  • She really has lost her joy...life is too short to be miserable.

  • this is a good movie

  • If you liked the movie, you might like the book. it is called Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan. It focuses on gymnastics primarily. It's an older book, you may have trouble finding it.

  • ok that ending sucked really really bad

  • the ending is horrible

  • I don't think I'd ever forgive my parents!

  • Its not wise to push your children to the limit.

  • and if the child wants it? my mom tried to do everything she could to prevent me from taking 5+ hours of dance 6-7 days a week. I would hate my parents if they tore all that away from me.

  • Comment removed

  • that katy didnt even lose weight throughout the movie!

  • So in the end it's basically,  "Sorry honey, you can't train for the Olympic trials. We don't want you to. Your dream is dead."

  • As an elite gymnast I know how this feels. But if you really love it and have a good coach you can get through it but there does come a time when enough is enough. I love gymnastics but once I got selected to go to the trials for worlds and did great but didnt make it because injury it made me realize I could go back and do it for fun You workhard to get to where you want to be It hurts, we keep doingit. I LOVE GYMNASTICS! its the sport in the world that EVERYONE knows that you have to work hard

  • The father should have left her with the first coach,noooooooo he had to let that male coach sucker him into switching over. Then he gets upset when it backfires on him,the mother just let him jerk them around like a puppet on a string.

  • Teen gymnasts give up alot--social life, living-pain, just the normal daily things most teens take for granted. Would YOU like to train 7 hours a day, 6 days a week in pain and still having to take on a senior high school work load and answering fan mail and dealing with the press every time you turn? These girls work harder than any other businessman. Something to think about.

    not shawn johnson she's normal

  • for the moment she's 'normal' are you an athlete, if you are, then you would know how quickly that word can loose it's meaning, getting up at 4am to practice, and going to meets, hoping you can make it, and don;t mess up, i mysekf have not been a teen atlete, but i observe, a lot from the outside, athletes worlds, how their world can change based on a single competion

  • I'm a gymnast and I traing 9 hours a day 7 days a week!

  • wow!

  • yeah cause were all gonna believe you do 63 hours a week!

  • You can bekieve what you want but it's the truth! You can even come visit my gym if you want!

  • if you do 63 hours a week, you wouldn't be on the computer, trust me-i know!

  • I get on my aunt's laptop during my break's! I'm still a kid not a robot.

  • thank you =)

  • umm your right thats why im 13 and in level 10! not level 8 when im 13...sorry i was 11 when i was level 8...and why dont you put some videos to PROVE your skills = ]

  • surre...and how old are you and what level

  • 13 Level 8 and You Just Need To Back Off and Try to Inprove on Your Wimpy Little Gymnastics Skills

  • christina henrichs mother, sandy wrote a book with the same title, is this is conesedence?? or what? thanks for uploading this... sadly sports demand a lot from people esp womens sports they are expected to remain perfect, and not make any mistakes, if they do, they're overlooked... this is a sad double stanbdard that needs to change... esp in gymnastics there's been too many losses things need to change, simple as that...

  • the book was by Joan Ryan, Christy was in the book...it wasn't written by her mother

  • oh, i am sorry anothe rmistake on my part, muh bad...

  • i love these movies!

    the actors pull off the stunts themselves...makes it more authentic & realistic

  • No, Vanessa Atler was a stunt double for the main character.

  • I think little miss "I'm In Charge" forgot one small detail. Mom pays the bills. So he who has the gold makes the rules. If I were Mom I'd be reminding her of that.

  • lol yup!

  • Couldn't have said as better myself....

  • i used to do gymnastics. I've done artistic and TNT and know a few people who have gone to the olympics. I also know alot of world gymnasts. This movie and the perfect body are completely unreaslistic. Sure there's sacrifice, but thats mostly money and time. And sure people get injured alot, it happens, but when you're injured you stop, heal and get back to it.

  • thanks for telling me that. now I know in the real world people are not machines. :)

  • I was a diver... i kind of got like that, i was obsessed.

  • there are injury's in any sport you do at high performance, all high level gymnasts have nigglingly injury's that the name of the game. Trough all the pain, tears, I'm really glad my mom stuck by me, the glory moments where all worth it, and it taught me things, so few people can understand. To have the discipline to be what few people dream of being. that is gymnastics.

  • This was absolutely horrible.

    I have to say that The Perfect Body was so much better.

  • At the end, in the gym, Mom Raphael says "Look at yourself." Yeah, look at Katie - she looks awesome. She thin and strong and stable and determined. And Mom wrecks it.

  • To be at the top level of ANYTHING requires this kind of sacrifice and dedication and sometimes risk. Without it there would be no greatness that all of us un-great people love to watch so much. Think about it. You can't have it both ways. Either you have broken necks and great Olympics, or no broken necks and no Olympics.

  • Dana says it's only a few months but sadly in real life there are elite gymnasts who got crippled for life 'cos of a vault's fall exactly like that one. It's beyond imagination when you lose all your LIFE for one VAULT!

  • I don't mean to trivialize gymnastics- I know how hard it is esp if ur me and not exactly talented at it. But there are lots of other elite sports that require just as much dedication and hard work. I'm tired of just seeing gymnastics. Take swimming the "easiest" part is in the pool but at 18- 20 hrs/wk thats about half the training. u think I got private tutors? massive amts of pain killers (most of which are banned btw) U know what happens when I cry? My coach ignored me usually. thats worse.

  • good movie and all but, this lady playing the mom is old and not believable. they should've made her the grandmother or something. + her "acting" is horrible. all i've seen her do is big wide eyed deer in headlights and the "if i clutch my purse real tight or cover my mouth w/my hands and pretend to cry, i can convince the world to see things my way" gymnasts have to have tough skin and so do the parents... granted this guy is a super jerk and should be kicked in the face

  • i like her she's from pushing daisies

  • me too! I love Swoosie, and I like her in this movie. some people just dont recognise talent *rolls eyes at OP* :)

  • The coach should be responsible for their well-being just as the parents do. Teach them the dangers of anorexia and not to starve themselves. Make sure they understand that the starvation is not the solution.

  • the mother's acting was not that good. well everybody's acting was good, but it wasn't up to today's standard of acting. I couldn't really get into it, but I do realize that this is a very serious problem in gymnastics and i hope that everyone realizes that.

  • nobody cares what you think about the acting

  • yes i have been affected by the show, please hand me a gun so i can shoot coach's like that bastard, they dont give a shit about the person just the gold, so if the kid died it wudnt matter on to the next star, thats not winning thats pure straight out abuse. It shouldnt be so strict like that, part of doing sport is supposed to be fun aswel as rewarding, if these girls won they wouldnt care theyd just be happy they werent going to get a grilling afterwards!

  • Yea, and that happy ending of the movie..Unfortunately, It doesn't usually end up that way in the real world of gymnastics.

  • Kudos to the mother for opening her eyes and standing up for her daughter's well being. It's so much easier to be their friend but it's not always the best way. Film was "OK" but the message about being a caring parent speaks loud and clear!

  • That coach is an ass, plain and simple! What kind of sports coach wouldn't care about their athletes' well being? Wouldn't his first responsibility be to their safety?

  • A coach like this cares out their athletes' well-being the way we care about our cars. The athlete is a piece of property to be used. If it's having problems you want to get it fixed. But if it still works then there's no real concern and you can push it off until later.

    Unfortunately.