Whip It and the Stryper T-shirt, redux.

I never did follow up my earlier post on Whip It and the Stryper T-shirt depicted therein — but since Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut came out on DVD this week, I figure now is as good a time as any to say that I loved the film, I wish it had done better at the box office, and I am intrigued by the fact that the Stryper T-shirt seems to be even more significant in the film than it was in the original book, at least based on the excerpts that I have read.

I can’t say why it is more significant without giving away a spoiler of sorts, but suffice it to say that what the film does with this plot element underscores one of several reasons why I like this film: it does have genuine affection for, and try to “understand”, all of its characters — even the ones who would have been very easy to dismiss in a lesser film with the same basic premise.