Having received 23 gold medals throughout his profession, swimmer Michael Phelps is probably the most adorned Olympian of all time. Nevertheless, all the celebrity and success on this planet couldn’t spare him from suicidal ideas. And whereas Phelps has beforehand opened up about his post-Olympics melancholy, he raises much more consciousness in his new documentary, The Weight of Gold.
The HBO movie tackles the struggles Olympic athletes face after discovering their function in a sport that may inevitably be taken over by somebody who is quicker and stronger ultimately. Moreover, it reveals how this and different elements trigger elite athletes to spiral into melancholy — and that they are given few assets to deal with it.
The documentary’s opening feels slightly disconnected from the remainder of the story. Phelps, through voiceover, reminds viewers that the 15,000 athletes set to compete on the 2020 Olympic Video games had been compelled to look at their desires crash down after COVID-19 struck, and the occasion was postponed to 2021. He touches on the adversarial results this has on an athlete’s psychological well being and makes use of this a segue to speak concerning the psychological well being struggles previous Olympic rivals have confronted.
The free connection to trendy instances means that The Weight of Gold was initially meant to be launched together with the 2020 Olympic Video games. As a result of Phelps goes with this angle, it might have been useful if he had given a highlight to hopefuls who did not get to compete within the Olympics this summer season. Regardless of skipping over the sentiments of hopeful athletes, nonetheless, the content material that follows stays compelling and vital.
The narrative has an excellent stream that naturally builds as much as its conclusion.
Apart from the 2020-specific opening, the narrative has an excellent stream that naturally builds as much as its conclusion. It begins with archival footage of the athletes anticipating the Olympics as children. It takes a step ahead by displaying how a sport is the one factor that issues in an Olympic hopeful’s life. It then explains that Olympians get little monetary help and are oftentimes deep in debt. Lastly, the documentary ties this round to the melancholy that comes on account of specializing in a singular sport for years, making it to the highest, after which having that id stripped away, no matter whether or not or not they win the gold.
The Weight of Gold finishes with an affecting takeaway: Olympic athletes are overwhelmingly depressed, individuals exterior of elite sports activities are depressed, and the stigma round psychological sickness wants to finish so everybody can brazenly get assist and transfer ahead.
Whereas this message in itself is important, it is also effectively communicated. Phelps is acutely aware of the truth that most viewers aren’t Olympic athletes, and he makes positive to attach the experiences of Olympians to individuals who aren’t well-known in sports activities. In making the psychological well being of everybody an important factor, the documentary takes on a relatable perspective that may hopefully encourage people to hunt assist, irrespective of who they’re.
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The movie’s different noticeable energy is its slick presentation. The interviews of athletes — together with Jeremy Bloom, Gracie Gold, Bode Miller, Shaun White, Sasha Cohen, David Boudia, Katie Uhlaender, and Steven Holcomb in a posthumous look — are easily mixed with thrilling competitors footage, vivid images, and theatrical B-roll. All of it feels cinematic.
However though The Weight of Gold does a whole lot of proper issues, there are a number of parts it might have added to grow to be even higher.
Olympians Gracie Gold
Credit score: HBO
The documentary’s greatest missed alternative is that it might have been used to destigmatize psychological sickness because it pertains to individuals of colour. The featured athletes are overwhelmingly white — and whereas it does function interviews with pace skater Apolo Ohno, who’s half Japanese, and hurdler/bobsledder Lolo Jones, who’s biracial, nothing is claimed about how psychological well being particularly applies to athletes who aren’t white.
As a result of there’s a whole lot of stigma surrounding psychological well being because it pertains to sure communities of colour, hitting this subject might have added a deeper layer to the already sturdy narrative. Actually, some Black athletes, together with gymnast Simone Biles, have already talked about how the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Video games might negatively impression an athlete’s psychological well being. Including in a viewpoint comparable to hers would have allowed Phelps to finish his opening connection to the approaching Olympics along with elevating the expertise of a Black Olympian.
As well as, the documentary is made for an American viewers, and so everybody interviewed is American. That is comprehensible; nonetheless, voices from extra cultures might have proven that melancholy is just not restricted to a sure nationality. Including in athletes from different international locations might have additionally elevated the racial range and provided distinctive perception into how psychological well being is stigmatized the world over.
The extra complicated function of the documentary is the way it handles the function the Olympic Committee performs in athletes’ psychological well being.
The extra complicated function of the documentary is the way it handles the function the Olympic Committee performs in athletes’ psychological well being. Most of the retired Olympic rivals speak about how there are few psychological well being assets open to Olympic athletes after their careers are over. They are saying that whereas there are many professionals who’re prepared to assist present Olympians keep mentally sturdy, there are no who wish to assist them take care of issues exterior of their sports activities. This looks like a giant subject, but the documentary by no means actually investigates it — and much more surprisingly, it ends with a hyperlink to psychological well being assets for elite athletes on the Group USA web site as if the group’s unhelpfulness was by no means mentioned. Huh? Is there an even bigger story right here that is not being absolutely fleshed-out? It seems to be like Group USA assembled a brand new Psychological Well being Taskforce in April, however this was by no means talked about contained in the documentary. This context would have been useful.
Regardless of these flaws, what’s mentioned in The Weight of Gold is nonetheless vital, and if the documentary does something, I hope it can act as a place to begin for much more athletes to come back ahead and encourage others to get assist.
I am a sucker for an excellent Olympic sports activities story. I additionally respect content material that goals to finish the remaining stigma round psychological well being. Significantly as a result of The Weight of Gold accomplishes the latter of those two issues, I can suggest it. Nevertheless, it is vital to understand in viewing the documentary, that there are various extra tales not proven on the display which are additionally value listening to out. The dialog surrounding psychological well being, together with the methods wherein it pertains to Olympic athletes, should proceed. This can be a stable begin.
The Weight of Gold premieres July 29 at 9:00 ET on HBO.
