Women, Sport, and Film - 2004
Student Papers
On Serendip

In society today, divorce is common with approximately 60% of marriages not lasting. Prior to their parents splitting up, children struggle with how to thrive in an environment where their parents are constantly arguing. This is the backdrop for my screenplay. One of the protagonists, Kristi, is an artist who goes running for several hours every night, returning after midnight when she is certain that her parents are asleep. She is a thoughtful and taciturn character who thinks that she is to blame for the problems that her parents are experiencing. As time progresses, Kristi becomes increasingly hopeless about her life and her paintings reflect her emotions because Kristi uses increasing amounts of dark colors.

Amelia, another protagonist, is an athlete who plays soccer every fall. The rest of the year, she satisfies her desire to exercise by running and lifting weights. As Kristi's best friend, she knows that Kristi is suffering and wants to help. She has a disposition that is markedly different from that of Kristi: she is not afraid to yell at friends who are twenty feet away and she always speaks her mind in a forceful way. Amelia lives next door and sees Kristi leave every night to go running. After trying without success to get Kristi to talk about what is happening with her family, Amelia runs with Kristi one night. After they are gone for about an hour, they return and Kristi's parents are still fighting. They both decide to spend time in Amelia's bedroom.

Amelia tells Kristi that she is impressed by her ability to run fast. Kristi replies that it is what she must do to get away from her parents every night. Amelia suggests that Kristi join the cross-country with her the next spring, but Kristi is not interested. Amelia asks Kristi what she has to lose and Kristi replies "time", an answer that does not impress her friend. Amelia asks Kristi if she will try being on the cross-country team for four weeks so that she can see how it goes. Kristi agrees.

Kristi discovers that she loves to run every day after school. Her parents get divorced midway through the second semester. She annoys Amelia by her ability to run faster. The two friends constantly race each other and both improve as a result.

Depiction of males should also be examined. This can be done by having Kristi's younger brother, William, also participating in sports. He plays basketball because his father forces him to do so and he consequently lacks the athletic drive that his sister possesses. William can be far more focused on his appearance than his tomboy sister Kristi. He is also moody most of the time and shouts at his family member, blaming them for his problems.

The movie should show Kristi painting and show how her paintings change over the course of the movie. After Kristi's parents split up, the colors should be bolder and brighter. As Kristi becomes increasingly interested in running, the style should become livelier. The subject matter of the paintings should also undergo change: Kristi goes from painting nature scenes to painting her and Amelia running outside at night to painting her and Amelia racing after school.

The conclusion of the movie involves Kristi and Amelia being better friends than they ever have before. William's story ends happily as well since he decides to drop playing basketball in favor of writing. This solution helps him to control his emotions better since he becomes satisfied with who he is instead of trying to be happy by doing athletics like Kristi.

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