Wow, thanks for sharing this documentary. A lot to unpack here. I did not known how severe Gaby’s depression was. I always thought she was unfairly treated in the FS fandom, she had so much more haters because of (internal) misogyny, but I had no idea how bad other stuff in her life were. It’s heartbreaking to see.
Not meeting the right support and understanding when you’re depressed is sadly quite common of course (even people who have been depressed do not know how to help other people in depression in my experience) but the fact that her changing coach from her mother to Hagenauer still “darkens” her relationship with her mother today ?? (As per her mother ??) And that Gabriella did not feel beautiful enough compared to other female competitors, argh I just feel so much empathy towards her.
I understand why Gaby might have lost motivation in skating, with the high level of stress and the discordance between this very gendered discipline and her awakened feminism. It’s so great she has a project with Madison Hubell though, who really shines in this documentary too (much better than on the On Edge series, where the “competition drama” was more reality tv like)
The scene when Madi does Gaby’s hair is so cute, plus they have interesting discussions.
(And I will not spoil the end of the documentary because aaaah !! So cool)
Please watch this documentary ! It’s very well shot. It reminded me of “Over the limit” (minus the abusive coach ofc), in the sense that in the end I had some sort of “guilt” of enjoying the thrill of the olympics competition even though it can break the athletes mentally and physically.
Don’t worry Guillaume is in the documentary too, haha. It’s just that to me Gaby always steals the show + he seems to have a normal family and everything. I am glad was not traumatised by the homophobic bullying he went through as a child.
Edit : I mean Guillaume is also more reserved in this documentary, but he opens a lot still, also it shows his drive more. We learn it’s him who wanted to leave Clermont for Lyon for example. Also that they both decided to leave for Canada, tell their parents and actually moved within like 10 days, at only 18 years old haha.
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It was so interesting, and very personal and brave of both Gabi and Guillaume to open themselves up like that, during the Olympic year no less.
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