Pretty much everyone who is Gen Z knows who Sydney Sweeney is, and she has definitely made her mark on Hollywood in the past few years. Starring alongside other well-known stars, Sweeney has been part of several widely successful films and movies, most of which generally feature a similar character archetype. However, in her most recent film, she seems to break this mold. This film, Christy, follows the story of Christy Salters, a female boxing icon from the 1990s. Sweeney’s portrayal of Salters has been seen by many online as reductive and lacking much of the depth that the story has. Because of these critiques, as well as due to the general topics within the film, Christy has been regarded as a huge box office failure. In its first weekend in theaters, the film raised just $1.3 million, not even scratching the surface of the $15 million production costs. But is all this criticism warranted? Below, I will explore the film’s rough start and offer my own personal thoughts about its critiques.
About the Film
Debuting in theaters on Nov. 7, Christy tells the story of boxer Christy Salters (previously Christy Martin) as she navigates the world as a female athlete. Despite the fact that Christy likes women, she marries her former coach, James Martin, and the pair work together to advance her boxing career. She fights against all odds to win numerous boxing matches, only losing seven matches in her entire career. The later part of the film details her experience with domestic abuse, as Martin begins to abuse drugs and attack her frequently. In his last attack, she is stabbed and shot, which results in Martin being arrested and imprisoned. In 2017, years after this occurred, she married Lisa Holewyne, another professional boxer.
Sweeney’s Career
Born on Sept. 12, 1997, in Washington, Sweeney’s interest in acting began young. At just 14 years old, she moved to Los Angeles, where she booked minor roles in works such as Pretty Little Liars and Grey’s Anatomy. Sweeney became widely known following her role as Cassie Howard in Euphoria and has starred in other films such as Anyone But You and Madame Web where she was praised for her performance. She is set to appear in more films in the near future, including The Housemaid and Scandalous.
Earlier this year, Sweeney found herself facing controversy over an advertisement partnering with American Eagle. This ad, which focused on the fact that Sweeney has “good jeans”, was interpreted by many as insensitive given the current social and political climate. Many people saw it as a watered-down racial supremacy message, as the lines between jeans (the pants) and genes (the biological distinguishing features) became blurred. Many have seen the ad as a subtle promotion of eugenics, and Sweeney received a fair amount of criticism following this partnership. While the actress denies any racial supremacy in the message, she also failed to outwardly denounce white supremacy and instead focused on the fact that it was simply a jeans ad. This controversy certainly impacted the performance of her film Christy in the box office.
Why It Flopped
I personally found the story of Christy quite interesting, and there is no doubt that the experiences she had to endure can teach us many important lessons. Her perseverance and willingness to fight back spread a powerful message to audiences, especially for girls and young women. However, the film did miss the mark for me in using an actress like Sweeney. Personally, I believe she failed to truly transform, and I spent most of the film feeling like I was just watching Sweeney in a wig rather than the character of Salters. Because of this, the film lacked much of the depth that Salter’s actual life story so clearly has.
But it isn’t just Sweeney’s performance that caused the movie to flop in the box office. The very nature of the film, being a story about a female boxer, makes it unlikely that the general audience will connect with the film’s message. Women’s sports are historically undervalued and rarely taken seriously in our society, which left the film with an already niche audience to reject the fact that an actress such as Sweeney got the role. In my opinion, the movie was never going to be a success in the box office, but it would have done slightly better if it had catered to the audience that would have rallied behind the film. Sweeney’s audience, however, being largely made up of men who are attracted to her, certainly had no interest in a film like Christy.
Final Thoughts
While I wasn’t necessarily a huge fan of the movie as a whole, there is definitely a powerful story behind the scenes detailing the life of Christy Salters. I would encourage everyone to do some research and learn about her experiences, and take everything I have written about the film with a grain of salt. These are merely my own opinions, and you may watch the film and totally love it. And that’s completely okay. Christy is not currently available for digital purchase, but it is set to become available on several streaming platforms in the coming weeks.