The problem with people like Rachel Gunn is they never see any faults in anything they do. Not everyone can sing with a golden voice and not pitch a fastball near 100 mph.
And not everyone can dance very well. For every Ginger Rogers, there’s an Elaine Benes kicking her legs as if they’re trying to kick their clothes off after a long day. There’s a famous sequence in Singin’ in the Rain where Donald O’Connor does a sing-and-dance routine “Make ‘Em Laugh” and hops up on the top of a piano with so much ease you wonder how long did he practice it.
It doesn’t matter if you’re Gene Kelley or Fred Astaire, Gregory Hines or Savion Glover, it takes practicing and a way to do it as a mixture between a hypnotic cadence and a regular stroll as if it’s you’ve done ever since you were a kid.
Gunn, who has a Ph.D in cultural studies with an emphasis on breakdancing, became a notorious Internet sensation following her horrible performance on Aug. 9, 2024 at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She received three scores of 0. But it was her third performance that left many people scratching their heads. Was this real? Was it parody?
Gunn appeared wearing green joggers pants and a pull over green colored shirt with yellow stripes and writing and a ball cap with the same color scheme. Gunn was about a month shy of her 37th birthday and looked like the last person who should be a breakdancer. But she could’ve still showed some good movies but she didn’t.
It looked more like interpretive dance and I’ve never cared for interpretive dance. Her performance reminded me of an awful performance I saw at a pageant. Gunn quickly became a topic of parody. Her most infamous moves was a kangaroo hop that she tried to trademark and a pose where she stood on one leg with her other knee pulled up that looked like it should be in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.’
That posd is used as the poster for the Netflix Untold documentary Raygun: Breaking Badly. I’m not sure if directors Chapman Way and McClain Way intended this to be serious or satirical but it comes off as both depending on what your point of view is.
Gunn walked away from breakdancing publicly and academics following the Olympics. But if you thought she deserved any sympathy, this documentary will make you change your mind. She comes off as arrogant and a bit of a narcissist.
But we’re introduced to Samuel Free, her husband, who has permed brown hair and a pornstauche that he looks like a sleazy used car salesman from the 1980s. He also speaks to her and about her with so much positivity you wondering if he’s lying to make himself look better. We’re shown home videos of them dancing at their wedding reception that look a little odd. I know they say “Dance like nobody’s watching” but there’s a difference between dancing around friends and family at a fun event like a wedding reception and performing along others on a global scale. I agree with a lot of online criticism that Gunn is the type who rarely hears “No.”
There’s nothing wrong with supporting your spouse but true couples are honest with each other. Free reminds me of Dyan Cannon’s obnoxious character in Deathtrap who spends most of her screentime just bragging on her husband played by Michael Caine and reassuring him he’s a great playwright.
But that’s the issue. Gunn came off as nothing more than an entitled woman. She didn’t want to exercise before hand. Even the dancing in Australia as she qualified doesn’t look at all like a competition. I watched Beat Street and the Breakin‘ movies as a kid and I was amazed.
But there was something else – attitude. Even though I didn’t care for Roll Bounce or You’ve Got Served, the performers had personalities and character. Gunn never had that. She pointed at Austrailia Olympic graphic on her shirt and made faces yawning at Dominika Banevič, a Lithuanian dancer going as Nicka. Yes, Gunn had confidence but just because you can can doesn’t mean you should.
And alone of the criticism of Gunn is she took away the glory from the people who did win medals. Nicka won silver and she had some great moves.
She deserves the criticism and the aftermath. Gunn whines that women were critical as if performing badly is only critical if men do it. It happened to be one of the famous Halloween costumes and people did her dancing and poses online.
I was in the marching band in high school and marching in step was crucial. But I’d feel Gunn would be the only one looking at everyone else and thinking, “I’m the only one marching in step.” And Free would agree.
I wish the filmmakers had talked to more objective people not connected directly to her by family or friendship. But they were probably afraid she would object and not do the documentary. And for what it’s worth, I think we could all do without giving her more publicity.
Zane Says 