Is Tashi Duncan Really the Villain of Challengers
Added 2024-05-28 02:30:00 +0000 UTCSPOILERS FOR CHALLENGERS
Challengers is the movie of the summer. Ever since the first trailer and I saw Zendaya sandwiched between those two fanfiction simps ... I knew my butt was going to be in that seat as soon as possible.
Discourse has been trying to establish who is the villain of the movie Challengers. Well, I know one thing for sure: It is not Tashi Duncan.
Sources:
*Venus, Serena, and the Inconspicuous Consumption of Blackness: A Commentary on Surveillance, Race Talk, and New Racism(s)
Delia D. Douglas
Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 43, No. 2 (MARCH 2012), pp. 127-145 (19 pages)
*A People's History of Tennis by David Berry
Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/sports/tennis/frances-tiafoe-black-tennis.html
https://www.gq.com/story/all-your-challengers-questions-answered
https://www.vulture.com/article/challengers-justin-kuritzkes-interview.html
https://www.hersport.ie/tennis/its-2020-sexism-in-tennis-has-to-stop-18839
https://www.hersport.ie/tennis/its-2020-sexism-in-tennis-has-to-stop-18839
https://andscape.com/features/where-are-the-black-men-in-tennis/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-tennis-players-make-historic-gains-us-open-rcna103448
Footage Sources:
ESPN
Wimbleton
US Open
NBC News
Comments
I didn't expect there to be so much history on sports and Black athletes, I thought this video was going to be purely a textual analysis, but I am pleasantly surprised by the route you took. Fantastic work, as always!
Chewie Cheshire
2024-06-18 15:53:36 +0000 UTCWatched it! Really interesting point on the marketing, I guess I hadn’t read the tone of that trailer as her being a “villain” so much as being powerful/intriguing/a player in the narrative. Then again I guess maneater doesn’t generally have positive connotations, so I might just have been blinded by Zendaya
Philippa Russell
2024-05-28 06:36:26 +0000 UTCIt's been interesting seeing all the different interpretations of this film. A lot of people think Art is The Villain! As a fellow supporter of women's wrongs, I didn't perceive Tashi to be a villain either. I took it to be a Sense vs. Sensibility dilemma for Tashi. As the (implied) goose who lays golden eggs for her family, there is a lot of pressure on her shoulders, and she makes the sensible decision to attend college, so she will have a backup plan in case tennis doesn't pan out for her as a career. And lo and behold, it doesn't! It's telling though that she stays in the tennis world and doesn't leave to do something else like she seemed to suggest she would. She can't be a tennis player proper, but she can't leave this world she loves behind entirely either. Her relationship with Art and Patrick mirrors this tension in her character, this desire to have it both ways. The ideal partner for her would be an amalgamation of the two boys - someone who has Art's discipline towards refining his game and Patrick's passion for the sport.
e.lonnrot
2024-05-28 05:05:56 +0000 UTCI really loved this video, and I truly loved this movie. Also, tennis is the ONLY sport I keep up with, so this movie definitely moved me in deeper ways. I started watching tennis at the height of the William's sisters and Federer greatness. I remember when the William's sat out for a "season" when their sister was murdered. Fortunately when they came back, I will say the tennis commentators did acknowledge their loss, and rooted for both players once they came back. However, those were all former tennis players or coaches that acknowledged their family loss, not the rag mags being gross. This movie will be a frequent rewatch for me. Saw it twice, first time in IMAX, an experience, indeed! P.S. "dirtbag" is literally the same word I used for these characters, and I love that I felt that way about these characters.
Shannon of House Lee
2024-05-28 04:45:25 +0000 UTCI knew you would see Tasha clearly! That trailer was the one I saw for the movie and it did set her up as the bad thing that entered these boys’ lives. But she did not ask them to push her for dates and coaching! They pushed her. She made it work, to the extent that it worked. But they couldn’t and wouldn’t be her. I wanted more of her that was just her, but I do like that the film ends on her finally getting some satisfaction. Love the Poliwrath comparison XD
The Raven and the Swan
2024-05-28 03:26:35 +0000 UTCApologies as I still need to watch the video, but shocked that people think anyone is the “villain” of challengers. They are all at turns unpleasant and manipulative, but they’re all also very pure, if contradictory characters in a fascinating way. There’s a line early on about tennis being a conversation, “for a moment we were in love” and I think the entire movie can be encapsulated in the understanding that it’s about a volley of intentions between these three characters, ending in a shared moment of genuine understanding/joy.
Philippa Russell
2024-05-28 03:15:52 +0000 UTC
