• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

hop to it logo

innovation & creativity

  • Home
  • About
    • Susan Nation
    • Nina Beveridge
  • Kids/Family
    • Kids’ Pet Club
    • Cailan to the Rescue
    • Pop It!
    • Big Grin’s House Party
    • Penny P Pug
    • The Popiloco Pets
    • Jade & the Jaguar’s Eye
    • Ethan & Ella’s Epic Treasure Hunt
    • Suck It Up, Princess
    • Animal Rescue Adventures
  • Scripted
    • Sloppy Jones
    • A Mixed Up Fixed Up Christmas
    • The Backseat Barkers
    • Kids’ Pet Club
    • Jade & the Jaguar’s Eye
    • Cupid’s Cafe
  • Unscripted/Docs
    • Talent Hounds
    • Suck It Up, Princess
    • Hip Hop In The T-Dot
    • Kids’ Pet Club
  • Digital
    • Talent Hounds
    • Sloppy Jones
    • Dance Breaks
    • Kids’ Pet Club
  • News
  • Work With Us
  • Contact Us
  • search
  • Home
  • About
    • Susan Nation
    • Nina Beveridge
  • Kids/Family
    • Kids’ Pet Club
    • Cailan to the Rescue
    • Pop It!
    • Big Grin’s House Party
    • Penny P Pug
    • The Popiloco Pets
    • Jade & the Jaguar’s Eye
    • Ethan & Ella’s Epic Treasure Hunt
    • Suck It Up, Princess
    • Animal Rescue Adventures
  • Scripted
    • Sloppy Jones
    • A Mixed Up Fixed Up Christmas
    • The Backseat Barkers
    • Kids’ Pet Club
    • Jade & the Jaguar’s Eye
    • Cupid’s Cafe
  • Unscripted/Docs
    • Talent Hounds
    • Suck It Up, Princess
    • Hip Hop In The T-Dot
    • Kids’ Pet Club
  • Digital
    • Talent Hounds
    • Sloppy Jones
    • Dance Breaks
    • Kids’ Pet Club
  • News
  • Work With Us
  • Contact Us
  • search

Mobile Menu

hop

Suck It Up Princess – Review by Walter Owen, NYC

You are here: Home / News / Suck It Up Princess – Review by Walter Owen, NYC

March 24, 2010 //  by Susan Nation//  Leave a Comment

SUCK IT UP, PRINCESS –
Review by Walter Owen, NYC

When Renee Rodrigues, her tiny body wrenched by muscular dystrophy, her words straining past a breathing tube stuck in her throat, says she is scared of the gall bladder operation she faces, you shiver yourself.

But then you hear her mother, Edit, describe how Renee “chose to fight and stay in this world” and you get a glimpse of the strength of character in this ruined body. Renee’s twenty years on earth, nine more — and counting — than doctors gave her, are documented in “Suck It Up, Princess.” Despite the title, the film does not make a princess out of Renee.  Stricken after her first communion, she’s gone through too much to have illusions. When an uncle went on about how wonderful her new wheelchair was, Renee said to him, “If you think it’s so great, do you want one?” Of her absentee father, Renee says, “Who needs a Dad? They’re overrated.”

But pain is not, and the camera catches Renee exhaling through pursed lips when her gall bladder becomes agonizing, as it does several times a day. Doctors won’t remove the gall bladder until they believe Renee will survive the operation. Wincing in pain, Renee says she is afraid of going under aneasthetic. Then, with typical aplomb, she looks at the camera and assures us she can handle the fear, “as long as I wake up.” She pauses and adds, in her matter-of-fact way, “That’s very important, you know.”

So is work. Renee raises funds for Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and maintains a website. The computer is a lifeline for her because her disability is invisible on line. It is perhaps more in seeing the normal things Renee does than watching her struggle that we find ourselves wondering how we would cope with the obstacles she faces. This wonderful film gets us rooting harder for Renee the more we see of her, perhaps most thankful for her work, which “makes me feel that I’m just a regular person.”

Category: News, ReviewsTag: reviews

You May Also Be Interested In:

And that’s a Wrap on Sloppy Jones

How to Use Twitter for Discoverability

Sloppy Jones Receives Rave Review

Talent Spotlight: Lory Mpiana, Sloppy Jones Team Creative Consultant and Actress.

Sloppy Jones Creator Interviews

“Sloppy Jones” Winning at Festivals

Development Funding Announced for New Kids Series, Animal Rescue Adventures

Q & A with The Co-Creators of Sloppy Jones

Hop To It Announces Development Funding for New Web Series: Sloppy Jones

Previous Post: « Suck It Up Princess – Portuguese language documentary premieres
Next Post: Suck It Up Princess – WorldFest Houston Award Winner »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Recent Tweets

RT @cfcmedialab: 📣@hop2itNation President & “Sloppy Jones” Producer Susan Nation, is pleased to confirm that the first six episodes of Seas…
- Saturday Aug 6 - 3:24am

RT @ShowSloppy: Thank you @eBOSSCanada STREAM ALL 6 EPISODES OF SLOPPY JONES NOW ON https://t.co/Pkb9BoCBn8 Link to full BOSS article: htt…
- Saturday Aug 6 - 3:23am

  • Home
  • About
  • Kids/Family
  • Scripted
  • Unscripted/Docs
  • Digital
  • News
  • Work With Us
  • Contact Us
  • search

Copyright © 2022 Hop To It Productions · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme