"Joan of Montréal" is definitely a find.
Brigitte Gall as "Joan" articulates the frustration of every young girl who has aspired to ice time with others who enjoy playing hockey without social restrictions.
Conveying the excitement of being the best goalie she can, the audience joins her quest to help the team win. However, it seems that her enthusiasm to be on the same team, striving to win with the rest is discouraged by the nuns at her school and her family.
Joan's predicament recalls somewhat Roch Carrier's "The Sweater," where a young boy is forced to wear a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater received instead of the ordered Habs (Montréal Canadiens) jersey from an Eaton's catalogue. However, the parallel between the rejected sweater and the rejected Joan is literally skin deep and ends there. While the boy can shed his sweater and return to the fold of his team in complete acceptance, Joan cannot shed her gender and receive complete acceptance by the team, the coach, the fans and her family and friends.
Joan's story tells the truth about why women are not as interested in watching men's hockey today as the team owners would like us to be. Adding female commentators, no matter how enlightened, to the sport like the recent addition on Hockey Night in Canada just doesn't cut it. Where the ultimate interest lies is being able to play the sport professionally, be rewarded for good performance and be paid well like the boys who play it.
Every girl should be able to aspire to that.
Brigitte Gall as "Joan" articulates the frustration of every young girl who has aspired to ice time with others who enjoy playing hockey without social restrictions.
Conveying the excitement of being the best goalie she can, the audience joins her quest to help the team win. However, it seems that her enthusiasm to be on the same team, striving to win with the rest is discouraged by the nuns at her school and her family.
Joan's predicament recalls somewhat Roch Carrier's "The Sweater," where a young boy is forced to wear a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater received instead of the ordered Habs (Montréal Canadiens) jersey from an Eaton's catalogue. However, the parallel between the rejected sweater and the rejected Joan is literally skin deep and ends there. While the boy can shed his sweater and return to the fold of his team in complete acceptance, Joan cannot shed her gender and receive complete acceptance by the team, the coach, the fans and her family and friends.
Joan's story tells the truth about why women are not as interested in watching men's hockey today as the team owners would like us to be. Adding female commentators, no matter how enlightened, to the sport like the recent addition on Hockey Night in Canada just doesn't cut it. Where the ultimate interest lies is being able to play the sport professionally, be rewarded for good performance and be paid well like the boys who play it.
Every girl should be able to aspire to that.