BING LIU
Minding the Gap
On the one hand I could write about this film for an entire book. On the other hand, I don’t really want to put any of those thoughts on the internet. So that leaves me in a bit of a pickle. This film affected me deeply and profoundly, but I don’t really want to explain why.
So, instead, I will talk about something else related to it. Bing Liu talks in the special features about how he had no idea what this film was going to be about, even while he was actually making it. I find that both unsurprising and amazing. Unsurprising because that’s often how trauma is uncovered, and honestly also often how art creation works. Amazing because man that’s a crazy road to walk on with your first feature film documentary.
I find it especially interesting in the themes of toxic masculinity, and childhood trauma, and therapy. Making this film made him realize how much he hadn’t dealt with the things that happened to him. It led him to therapy and to a better relationship with his family. That’s incredible. At some point the film itself really became a form of therapy for most of the people involved in it.
Which includes the viewer. As is so often the case I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I hit play on this one. I was absolutely prepared for a beautiful skate documentary. I was thoroughly unprepared for the examination of childhood and trauma that followed. To say it has stuck with me is a dramatic understatement. That’s about the most I’m willing to say here.