Ridley’s New Movie Did Not Make a Splash

Young Woman and the Sea is the inspiring true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English channel. Daisy Ridley portrays Trudy in Young Woman and the Sea, dropping her English accent to step into the shoes of this American Athlete. Ridley displays Trudy’s hunger for competition, and her stubbornness in the face of rejection well. However, her acting overall did not make a very big splash. Her dialogue was few and far between, which would be difficult for any actor to work with, but she also characterized Trudy with rather black and white emotions. Either she was sad and frustrated, or happy and successful. There were plenty of opportunities in the movie for further character development. Perhaps showing a deeper connection with her mom when Trudy learns the tragic story of her aunt who became the motivation for Trudy’s swim lessons. Trudy’s dad was also not supportive of women in sports for the first part of Trudy’s career, but when he came to Europe to see her it was as if he had been supporting her the whole time. The movie capitalized on the view of women at the time, how they were silenced and mistreated, oppressed and not given equal opportunities. However, these issues almost overshadowed Trudy’s own heroic story.  Movies are great ways to bring history to life and share old stories with wide audiences today. Sports movies, in particular, are great ways to inspire and motivate people to get out and move. However, the sports movie industry is predominantly male and predominantly mediocre. There are some greats: Hoosiers, The Blind Side, and Remember the Titans to name a few. Unfortunately, even these three do not age well given the different climate around race that was apparent the time they were filmed. Nevertheless they are still powerful displays of the underdog getting his big moment, and they certainly inspire. If filmmakers are going to take on more female empowerment stories, they must give them as much effort and power as their predecessors, not settling for a bland script with a performance that lacks emotion. Young Woman and the Sea is a solid B-movie, and although it does portray the amazing story of Trudy Ederle, who swam on the first female Olympic swim team and overcame adversity to cross the English channel, the lack of depth in the film and marketing of the film has shortened the reach of the movie. Ultimately, the film gave Trudy Ederle, a hero in her own right, a second-rate remembrance.