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  • 34 minutes ago
Shelley Beattie, a Deaf woman and champion bodybuilder, found fame in the 1990s on the hit TV show American Gladiators, where she competed under the name "Siren" before her untimely death in 2008. While charismatic, gorgeous, and a fierce competitor, Beattie also battled personal demons, struggling with mental illness, addiction, and questions of her own identity. Framed by the insight of another Deaf woman in Hollywood who found herself in the spotlight at the same time, Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, the documentary unpacks the story of Shelley "Siren" Beattie and her complex legacy entwined with beauty, mental illness, and love.
Transcript
00:03It's from so much more than what I dreamed.
00:28All of the bodybuilders were athletes, but Shelly was exceptional.
00:33The difference was how hard she worked.
00:35Her deafness afforded her a cocoon of being able to focus.
00:39She was one of the top bodybuilders in the world.
00:47To know Shelly, you need to know both sides of her.
00:53Shelly became a bodybuilder because she needed to pack on all this armor.
00:58Experiences that Shelly shared about how she grew up and being in foster care seemed very painful.
01:08Shelly would say that no man will ever hurt me again.
01:13This is her story that she threw out.
01:17Shelly learned to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.
01:20It goes so much deeper than the physical addiction.
01:23And with this, a master can be the best of her.
01:28Her outlet was her training.
01:30In her training, she was free.
01:34She had a physical strong heart, but she had a strong loving heart too.
01:40She had a real soft spot for deaf kids.
01:43When I saw how much it meant to them to meet her, it made me realize how special this person
01:48was in the world.
01:50I was a little bit different girl wanting muscle, but I did it because I made me feel good about
01:58myself.
01:59I needed to follow my heart.
02:01I need to follow my heart.
02:28You
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