The Brittney Griner Story, a documentary directed by Alexandria Stapleton with a running time of 1hr and 47min, streaming virtually by the St. John’s International Woman’s Film Festival, shows that BG was not only detained but she was kidnapped, considered a pawn, a hostage, an object in a trade. We discover there was much more behind her detainment than under a gram of hashish oil.
The story of WNBA player Brittney Griner is more than just one about incarceration, it’s one of dehumanization. It sends you through a whirlwind of emotions and uncertainty by connecting you to BG in a way makes you feel like you are experiencing it first-hand. Ten months in prison, all for political leverage. This documentary didn’t just highlight the struggle Brittney had, but showed the power a corrupt government can hold when they are aiming to make an example, but more notably, the pain BG and her family suffered not knowing if she was going to live another day.
BG was one of a kind, her family’s support was unmeasurable, they had always known she was going to be a star. You watch BG build her life around the court, seeing her go through hardships in her childhood, and finally succeeding in her basketball career, you become proud.
WNBA players make less than 1% of what a rookie in the NBA is paid, giving us understanding on why BG had to leave her family to go play in Russia. The WNBA simply doesn’t pay enough, so female players are forced to play consistently, 12 months out of the year, in order to make enough money to live. But year after year, BG’s body starts to wear down, injury after injury, we see her struggle to keep up on the court, applying lidocaine patches, footage of her games shows her in constant agony.
They show the dimly lit, dismal concrete jail, and you feel cold. The unsafe conditions, the forced labour, lack of every necessity, BG still made the most out of it; getting a small workout by lifting heavy fabric rolls at a penal colony. The tension when waiting for a verdict makes you wonder if BG gets released, the flashbacks to jail, photographs of loved ones, the handwritten letters, they work together to turn this documentary into a personal experience. But after watching this documentary, you feel grief, you’re reminded that it can be anyone, but you are also reminded that you can do things that seem impossible, you just have to be loud, just like BG’s loved ones.
The story of BG is one to remember, it makes you cry, makes you laugh, it makes you feel empowered, but helpless, but it should also make you think, how can I make a change? How can I be loud? The answer seems simple to me after watching this documentary, it showed the community’s support for each other in ways I’ve never seen, or quite understood, but I think you should find out for yourself.
The Brittney Griner Story can be streamed virtually from October 20th till October 25th at 11:45pm by clicking here. Tickets are $10!