In 2024, Rachael Gunn (a.k.a. Raygun) became a celebrity when she represented Australia in Olympic breakdancing.

It wasn’t the good kind of celebrity, though. Instead, she became famous for being ridiculed. She competed in three different battles before getting eliminated, and not a single judge voted her the winner in any of them. In her final Olympic performance, she pretended to be a kangaroo and then a sprinkler. She became an instant internet meme. At first, it was just people laughing. Then, as always happens online, things got worse. She was accused of cheating her way to the Olympics and of having privilege.

Breaking Badly, a new documentary on Netflix, is all about Raygun. It features interviews with her and her husband. They try to explain the logic behind Raygun’s performance and how she was trying to honor Australia. Raygun’s husband comes across as the sweetest guy, and it’s touching to see how much he still believes in both her and her talent. Raygun says she’s made peace with her fame and that she loves that people are still imitating her moves. A few people talk about how bad the performance was, but they all agree she was treated horribly online.

Back in 2024, I felt sorry for her when everyone was making fun of her. The documentary showed some of the worst of what people said about her, and I felt sorry for her all over again. At the same time, she knew the whole world was watching when she went out there and pretended to be a kangaroo. Raygun acts as if she had no idea that social media could be cruel. The documentary doesn’t address the real reason why Raygun started trending on Twitter. It wasn’t that she did the kangaroo and the sprinkler. It was because she was just a really, really bad breakdancer. She was outclassed by the competition, and she clearly didn’t belong among the best breakdancers in the world. The documentary acts as if Raygun was just made fun of because her routine was strange. She could have gotten away with being strange if she wasn’t so stiff and awkward in her movements.

I’m glad the documentary cleared up a few things. Raygun was legitimately picked for the Olympics. (Australia didn’t have many options to choose from when it came to breaking.) Her husband did not rig the selection process, no matter what everyone on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter claimed. She did her best, and her best just wasn’t very good.

I had totally forgotten about Raygun’s performance until I watched this documentary. I think almost everyone else had forgotten about it too. The documentary ends with a bunch of people talking about how inspiring Raygun is. I don’t know if I believe all that, but I’m glad she seems to be in a better place.