Women HBO "At the Heart of Gold"

[gymgal]

I was finally able to watch this documentary, regarding the USAG abuse scandal and highly recommend it for teens and parents.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Good to hear. I have thought about watching, but I wasn't sure if I would be their targeted audience.

 

[esor]

I also agree that it is worth watching. I watched it first before my teen, but I think it would be helpful for her to watch it to help protect herself if ever in an uncomfortable situation. If you followed the news on this, it was true to form, but hearing more details from some of the survivors brought more color to how masterful he was at grooming these kids. it is super scary.

 

[MuggleMom]

I will say I thought the whole situation was pretty messed up and then I watched this and realized it was 20 times worse than I imagined. It is heart breaking but important to watch, the importance of listening to children instead if dismissing them as confused is the biggest lesson. Don't try and explain away what a child is saying under the guise of innocent until proven guilty or they "just dont seem the type". And the burden these women still place on themselves for their peers wishing they could have stopped it is heartbreaking. They are not the monsters he is. Very worth watching whether you are a gymnastics person or not.

 

[GymDadWA]

I don't know if any new information was revealed in the documentary, especially for those that have followed the really long thread(s) on this site, but they did a good job of putting it all together for a wide audience that isn't as familiar with all the names and faces. The cover up is just infuriating.

 

[MuggleMom]

I dont think I realize the number of reported incidents, and how early they were reported in the overall timeline. I feel like my understanding of it was bigger picture and this really showed the impact of those who failed to report in the length of time he had access to children.

 

[duyetanh]

Larry's attempted snowballing when he was questioned about the complaints made me hurl....as in want to hurl stuff at the screen as well as hurl what I had eaten for breakfast. Unbelievable.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

Is there a way to watch this if you don’t have HBO?

 

[duyetanh]

I would assume so, because I watched it on youtube

 

[gymbeam]

I would assume so, because I watched it on youtube

Oh! Just checked and it’s there. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Amanda]

I am glad I watched this. I thought it was well done. I would say that I might suggest watching it first before showing your daughters if they are a young teen. My daughter is definitely not ready for some of the content. But she is just shy of 13. I'm not sure I would show it to her for a couple years yet.

 

[JessSyd]

I just cried through the last half hour of that. It was harrowing hearing the stories in first person even though have heard many of them reported before.

It was a very powerful exploration of what happened, and a tribute to the women and girls who came forward and made it stop.

I would have liked it to have been maybe half an hour longer, and to have truly explored just how much the culture of the sport can lead to a conspiracy of silence. It isn’t just big institutions protecting themselves. It is suburban gyms giving kids rope climbs as a consequence for crying, and telling them ‘no pain no gain’, and preventing parents from asking questions, and answering everything with ‘trust the coaches’. All of this takes away litttle girls voices. And if they can not trust the adults around them with the small stuff, how can they trust them with the big, shameful-feeling stuff.

 

[josie55]

If you are wanting (and can stomach) more on the topic, I thought the NPR podcast series “Believed,” which focuses on how Nassar was able to manipulate so many people, was well done.

 

[kimute]

I think I'm going to have my 13 year old watch it.

 

[amgymnast618]

I watched it right after it came out. Super powerful and well done, I was in tears by the end. I also thought it was pretty informative for people who haven't been following the case as closely as those of us here have. I made my roommate watch it with me, and afterwards she said that she never realized how far back it went and how awful the coverup was.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

I finally watched this last night. I felt sick at the number of times that they estimate he abused Trinea (so?) and my heart broke for her at the guilt she carries because she feels like she silenced other victims when asked about the “treatment.” I don’t blame her, she thought it was a legitimate medical treatment.

It really made me sick that Kathy Klages had a chance to stop him all the way back in 97 and she did nothing. She is just as guilty as he is in my opinion for every girl that was abused after that. I hope she is punished to the full extent of the law.

 

[Flyaway]

If you are wanting (and can stomach) more on the topic, I thought the NPR podcast series “Believed,” which focuses on how Nassar was able to manipulate so many people, was well done.

This was an excellent podcast. I highly recommend as well.