What pissed me off the most about the commentaries of this movie were people excluding Tashi out of the triangle and claiming that Patrick and Art should be gay basically. It often happens in trios in media with one woman and two men, they try and exclude the girl especially if shes black, just transphobia and mysoginoir really
I really appreciated this video and as a fan of women's tennis I was aggressively nodding my head along, ha ha. (Tennis journalism is.. so scary and toxic and loves to perpetuate the most frustrating narratives and be so racist and sexist.) It's wild because it feels like pop culture and tennis rarely meet. I was happy to see Sloane quoted here... I feel like the average American has never even heard her name despite her being both a US player and a grand slam champion. I love Sloane, she's great.
In urban India women expected to work at offices qmd care for house Also dowry demanded from her in laws She has to taje care of in laws, spouse amd kids in one house
I understand he wanted to be breadwinner and home cooked food I understand some women want to be homemakers by choice HOWEVER 1. Some like Alice are happy with her doctors job 2. Men should not expect a perfect woman wife waiting for them for sex Even homemakers are exhausted like working women they may want a break at night and cannot give them intimacy 3. Not all women are meant to be homemakers 4. Both men and women should kwarj some basic cooking skills ( need not be exotic cuisine or a chef )
Love how thoughtful your analysis is as always. I went into the movie expecting to root for Tashi, and I did. Just some additional context from a huge tennis fan. One note, Art isn't a mostly good player- when we meet him in the present, he's an exceptional player who now has lost his taste for it. He has one 6 majors and is one away from a career slam(winning all 4 majors which is hard to do because style of tennis play doesn't tend to cross surfaces. That is why say, a great grass player might not be a great player on clay or hard court. That's why you will see players win the same tournament multiple time but not all 4 of the major championships. The surfaces require you to adapt and change your play.) Only twenty players in tennis history have completed the career slam(10 men, 10 women). I always think a big part of Tashi's frustration is completing the career slam means tennis history, as going down as one of the very best and Art doesn't even seem to want it whereas you know she would have already achieved it if the roles were switched. You touched upon racism in tennis, and class in general but class really plays out in the lack of ambition or fortitude in the male characters.. Yes Art is fragile, and Patrick is lazy and coasting on talent but a big part of that is the wealth they come from. Patrick's family is extremely wealthy(mentioned explicitly many times), Art family is well off as well(see his grandmother's rock of a ring on Tashi). Tashi's family is implied to be middle class(one of the first thing pat says about her is that she will make her family wealthy). I can imagine how enraging it must be to watch these men throw away a chance as she says in the movie, "She'd kill for".
Wait... I didn't know Challengers was a SPORTS movie 🥺! I was avoiding it bc it looked like yet another rom-dram 😅 I don't mind spoilers, though.. feed it to me like a baby bird, Mama 😂!
“tashi didn’t care about either of them” tashi knew patrick’s exact placement in the american tennis professionals ranking by heart even after a decade of not speaking to him.
"tashi doesn't really want art" you do not marry someone who isn't over their devastating homoerotic friendship from their teens unless you love them dearly. that would simply be charity work.
@@a.j.9410 but art was over their friendship when he met with tashi in cincinnati. if anyone's hung up over their friendship it's patrick alone, not art. and who knows if tashi really wanted art. it could very well be that she just saw him as someone she could play tennis through him. and even if she did want him she most definitely didn't love him dearly lol
naomi osaka's last clay court match 5/30 was BEAST she is sooo mesmerizing to watch her MIND the athleticism just like listening to music with a deep bass where you Feel it
Thank you for all the extra information and insights Really appreciate the connections you showed I'm not really into tennis, so most of this was new and unsettling, though unfortunately, not surprising
Yes I reject the idea of a villain in this movie too.I don't get why anyone would be the villain in this film. Nothing "villainous" happens. People are so weird when they have a crush on a character. They can't see straight.
Before actually watching this, I felt one can only picture the idea of Zendaya doing a sex scene would be a lot like watching this 6-foot piece of cardboard, with a brown frizzy hairpiece, sweating, and flailing all around profusely, with 0 enjoyment because that little nymphette is either a ditzy-dooty sociopath, or just hates white guys; as in anti-Tom Hollands. Also, I felt the end scene was just a ten-minute advertisement for Nike, Trojan, and Coco Chanel, and I should buy them all, for my mixed race floozy of a girlfriend… who’ll never be loyal/faithful to me in any public situation ever. Nymphomania and sociopathic behavior sure never seemed so, “empathetic”? Is that a smart word to say, because all the kids use it as oppose to having more original thoughts, feelings, and ideas of their own?
I was watching on Nebula and had to pause and come over here specifically because I am losing my shit over "sports Merthur AU" and needed to howl with laughter in the comments, it's beautiful, no notes.
I would love to read fanfic for this movie cause I need more of the trio in my life BUT I've been too scared to check ao3 for fear that people might villainize Tashi lmao
I read Challengers fics mainly for Tashi, and I'm happy to report that you can actually find good fics there! I totally get where you're coming from because I had that exact fear too lmao but thankfully writers are really having fun with the throuple dynamic
I passed on this film after watching a couple earlier reviews and coming away with the understanding that Tashi was made to be the manipulative evil Black women who came in-between the pure friendship of two mid white guys, it was giving 'bros before hoes' vibes and I wasn't feeling it. Thank you for bringing up Althea Gibson (?) and talking about the media's portrayal of the Williams sisters, I was largely unaware of Althea and the shitty practices of the media and tennis federation.
I genuinely don't think Simon should be at all considered in the wrong for "lying" to Daphne about being able to have kids. Him not wanting them should be just as valid and respected as him not being able. I think she's a big hypocrite for being okay with not having them if he's got a medical excuse but not accepting the same outcome once she feels like he's "witholding" something from her that she wants.
As a Tashi apologist I am SO HERE FOR THIS. She was such a compelling character. She IS a tragic figure and I felt so sorry for her at multiple points throughout the film. All three characters are messy and sympathetic in equal measures!
I never saw her as a villain, even in the trailers, she might be manipulatilave but not A VILLAIN. People can't handle a character thats not a saint like disney characters its not annoying
Just found your channel and love it. I love your thoughtful commentary and as a white AF person, I WANT to see diverse shows with POC in the "tent pole" roles. I mean why the fuck not?!
My first experience with smut was actually a murder mystery novel my mom had. Before reading it, my mom and I decided it would be fun if I read it first, and then she read it. And let me tell you, coming across such sexually explicit material in a murder mystery novel was jarring, and knowing my mom was going to read this after me (she hadn't read it yet) made me a bit squeamish. But I did genuinely enjoy the novel. The sexually explicit details actually made me feel more normal, more comfortable in my own adolescent, changing body. And when I told my mom that the book was sexually explicit, she simply said, "Oh! Thanks for letting me know." She read it after me, and we both agreed we liked it. No shaming. No regret from my mom for letting me read it. Just have open dialogue with your children. The kids will be alright, I promise.
Thank you so much for this video it gave me a better perspective and understanding of the movie I think everyone who watched challengers should see this to rllyyyy get it
I remember when Serena had her 'meltdown' against Osaka and my parents talked about it forever like it was the greatest insult to the sport of Tennis. But none of them, not once, complained about Novax Djokavic walking off the court and abandoning his doubles partner. Never did they criticize him.
26:55 Honestly this is such a underdiscussed part of proffesional sports coverege in general where atheletes that have outside intrests are constatnly talked down to. You see it in American Football a lot where if someone has a lot of outside intrests they are seen as less into the game as their peers.
The treatment of the Williams sisters was and is fucking disgusting. Their sister was MURDERED but they were wrong talking a break somehow!? Serena wears a suit to regulate her body but they were sexualizing her and got it banned ! That shit got me heated so bad
And now that G Rose is out of jail, people are making tons of money making fun of her, discrediting her story, picking apart everything she does and says, etc. People never learn, do they?
I felt so uncomfortable in that interview where the male interviewer singles out Tashi as the villain. The undertones of misogyny were strong and there was likely some racism at play too
im gonna be so fr and unserious rn but i am a tashi sympathizer forever... like if i had to watch a mediocre white man have the career EYE was supposed to have I'd be a little feral about it too
