‘Challengers’ Will Leave Your Jaw on the Floor
by Tribekah Jordan
“Challengers” is the most provocative movie I’ve seen this year. Surprisingly, there are no sex scenes in the film. It is a very tasteful look at what actors can do with on-screen chemistry. Some scenes I did watch with my jaw dropped or giggling. My inner dialogue was mostly: “Okay Zendaya, we see you. Maybe, those two mediocre white men are hot.”
“Challengers” hit theaters April 25 and has been trending on social media due to its intense scene work and powerful characters. The film takes us through the love triangle of Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O’ Connor) and Art (Mike Faist).
Tashi, a promising tennis player turned coach, enters the lives of tennis-playing best friends Patrick and Art, who agree that Tashi is the “hottest woman alive.” This “hotness” is attributed to something beyond Tashi's physical appearance; it is due to the confidence she displays while elevating her tennis career.
One scene sets the tone of the film. When college boys, Patrick, and Art watch Tashi playing a tennis match, they turn their heads in unison to get a better look at her, melting in their seats, like drooling dogs pining after a bone. The innocence of two schoolboy crushes is amusing at first and then it takes a sinister turn alongside the realization only one of them can date Tashi. Throughout the film, the audience gets detailed glimpses of the trio's tangled past and how it has affected the present-day pro-tennis “Challenger” tour where Patrick and Art are brought together in their later adult years to compete.
As a biracial woman, the same as Zendaya, I found it refreshing to see a black woman as a feminine, powerful sex symbol while white men served her and wanted to prove themselves for her affection. It’s my favorite thing about this film.
Why?
Some men I know personally, whether white or POC, have shared the opinion they don’t find black or brown women attractive. When I was younger, for instance, one of my high school crushes concluded that I was a nice person, but they didn’t want to date me because they didn’t find black girls pretty. Today, young black actresses like Zendaya and Taylor Russell (two actresses director Luca Guadagnino has used as love interests in his films-- go Luca!) have done a lot to change this perception, while encouraging representation in media.
I also appreciated the complexity of the characters. Some characters can be placed in a film to serve only one purpose, to be written in as the “funny one” or the “sporty one.” In “Challengers,” Tashi, Patrick, and Art are all insecure in their own ways, powerful when they want to be, or arrogant in certain aspects. Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, Director Guadagnino, and Zendaya who produced as well as stars, all had a clear direction of where they wanted this film to go, and it translated beautifully.
“Challengers” stars, from left, Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures)
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