WEBVTT - Challengers with Princess Weekes 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:04.560 On the Bechdelcast, the questions asked if movies have women 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:07.960 in them, are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands, 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:12.440 or do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zeph and Best 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.160 start changing with the Bechdel. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:24.720 Cast, Game Match Point, Love Tennis podcast, fucking touching fingers, Oh, 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:25.639 sweaty hugs. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.360 What do you think Tashi majored in? I was wondering 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.320 that what did Tashi major in? Because okay, sorry for 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:37.440 just starting the episode. I just I can't stop thinking 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:41.600 about what was Tashi majoring in. Was it genuinely an 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:46.320 athlete style journey where she was doing general studies? Or 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.280 my guess, I feel like Tashi is she a woman 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:50.199 in stem? Is she? 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:52.080 I think she was a psych major? 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.120 I was gonna guess anthropology, Okay, something like that. I 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.440 don't know. Well, wait, let's start the episode. Okay, this 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:01.920 is I I have true clearly cannot wait to start 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:04.800 talking about challengers. Welcome to the Bechtel Cast. My name's 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:06.080 Jamie Loftus. 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:07.840 My name is Caitlin Deonte. This is our show where 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.120 we examine movies through an intersectional feminist lens, using the 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:14.360 Bechdel test simply as a jumping off point, Jamie, what 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.800 the heck is that test? Well? 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:21.000 The Bechtel test is a media metric created by friend 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:26.360 of the show queer icon Alison Bechdel, originally for her 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:28.760 comic collections to watch out for Our way back in 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.240 the eighties as a one off joke, as a way 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:35.119 of discussing something that is relevant to our conversation today, 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.920 why there was not more queer women depicted in movies, 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:45.360 and has since been you know, sort of transformed into 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.160 a more generalized media metric. So our version of the 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.240 test is it requires that two characters of a marginalized 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:57.120 gender with names speak to each other about something other 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.680 than a man for more than two lines of dialogue, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.320 and the dialogue should mean something. 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:06.880 We think so, we think so, and. 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:11.240 What that means to you? Look, we only have one life. 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.600 I once had the dog in me to argue about 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.160 the pedantics of the Bechdel Test, But frankly, we've got 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.440 bigger fish to fry today because we have. 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.400 Got bigger balls to hit with a racket, We've got 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:23.160 bigger tennis balls to hit. 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:27.840 I will say I watched Challengers with my dog bravely, 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.920 and he was locked in and I was like, Wow, 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:32.919 he doesn't usually sit for movies, and it's because there's 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:36.560 tennis balls everywhere. I was, literally honest, like, why is 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:40.040 Sunny so into this movie? And it's because there's tennis 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.320 balls in almost every scene and that's his past a dog. 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:44.560 He is a dog. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:47.320 Wow, makes so much sense. 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.680 But yes, we have an incredible returning guest, so let's 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:50.400 get her in here. 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:50.919 Oh. 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.560 Yes, she's a video essayist. You remember her from our 0:02:54.639 --> 0:03:00.400 episodes on Wild Things, Space Jam Gone Girl. It's Princess Weeks. 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:00.880 Hi. 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:05.000 Everyone, I'm so happy to be back. And I think 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.560 Tashi was a marketing major. 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:11.959 Oh yeah, because we do see her do marketing me. 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.800 Yeah, totally makes sense. I do feel like Tashi was 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:21.080 taking college. Seriously, we just didn't get to see it 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:22.600 happening exactly. 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.960 The movie was not interested in that. It was like, 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.480 what if she is a tennis dom Yes, and that's 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:30.720 what the movie's about. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:32.640 Thank god, And that is a compelling question. 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:38.120 Yeah yeah, Princess, tell us what your relationship with this 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:38.920 movie is. 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.960 Wow. I mean I just was so excited to see 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.720 Zendaya in a movie that had nothing to do with 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:50.240 anyone from Euphoria. That was initially the big draw, and 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:54.600 I grew up loving tennis. You know, I think every woman, 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.720 but especially every black girl grew up just loving the 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:00.720 Savina and Venus Williams, and so I have a lot 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.760 of just love for watching you know, black women in tennis, 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:09.280 and then you know the hint of bisexual men. It's 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.320 a siren song that'll get me every time. We didn't 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.960 know we were gonna have heated rivalry. So I was 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.320 just very much invested in, like, finally, after this sexless 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.359 drought that we were dealing with, with contemporary films that 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:26.400 actually have something that was erotic and interesting and like 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.039 for adults specifically, And so it just was this moment 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.640 of like, oh my god, an adult movie starring Zenda 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:37.360 that got pushed back during the pandemic. We're here, We're 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:41.000 back cinemas. Yeah. 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:44.720 I feel like Challengers walked so that heated rivalry could run. 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:49.960 It's true. It's true. Yeah, Challengers could kiss, so heated 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:51.920 rivalry could absolutely raw. 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.120 Fuck Thank god for that. 0:04:56.000 --> 0:05:01.039 Yeah, Jamie, what about you? What's your relationship with Challengers? 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:04.520 I really like it. I really like it. I saw 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:08.560 it in theaters in Boston when it first came out. 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:10.719 Which was kind of fun because a lot of this 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:13.760 movie is shot in Boston. Yeah, this was a movie 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.680 that from the second I saw the trailer, which I'm 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.720 very excited to talk about, and I was reminded of 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:24.400 because of Princess's wonderful video essay about Challengers and about 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:25.120 Tashi Duncan. 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.599 She's and yours sort. 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.640 Of like is she? 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.080 But from the second I saw the trailer, I was like, Oh, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.839 this is I'm in. I'm a horny. This was a 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:40.600 trip where I think I saw both Love Lives Bleeding 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:42.280 and Challengers. 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.320 Oh wow, which are That's a horny day. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:49.240 It was a horny, horny time for me. I was 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.599 looking to escape and there were horny movies out. It 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.240 was great. And I feel like these two movies are 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.240 weirdly in conversation with each other in a way I'm 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:00.880 excited to talk about. Anyways, I love Challengers. We'll be 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:02.320 talking about it critically today. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:04.600 But man, I turned this movie. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.880 On and I've blackout. 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:07.920 I'm fucked up. 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:13.200 I get horny. And that shot of Zendia watching the 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:19.440 boys kiss oh really goals a generational a generational image. 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:21.320 I'm very excited to talk about it. 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.520 Also, I didn't know shit about tennis really outside of 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:29.800 watching Venus and Serena growing up until like two days 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.200 ago when I started getting ready for this episode, also 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.520 thanks in part to Princess's video, So I'm very excited 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.880 to live, laugh, Learn, Kitlin, what about you. 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:45.920 I also saw this movie in theaters in Oxford, England, 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:51.919 because I was there during the Shrektannic tour that Jamie 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.720 you tragically were not able to join me for. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:07:00.600 I was in Boston witnessing death and seeing Horney movies 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.880 and see and those are sort of the two things 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:04.039 I was doing at that time, the. 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:08.039 Spectrum of life exactly, and so I just had sort 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.000 of like a free day that I didn't really have 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:15.640 anything else going on, and everyone was talking about Challengers. 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:20.160 So I went to go see it and I enjoyed 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:24.080 it a lot. I love the soundtrack, the score like 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:28.080 the music does a lot. I remember thinking that it 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:32.720 ended too abruptly and I wanted I kind of wish 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.559 the movie had the guts to like put them into 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.280 a throttle at the end or something, and I'll talk 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:43.280 more about that, but overall, I enjoyed it. This is 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:46.640 one of those movies where so sometimes when we watch 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.280 a movie for this podcast, and I'm prepping, and after 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.400 my first watch, I have pages and pages of notes 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:58.000 because it's such a cut and dry, like problematic things 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.800 that are very clear, and I have a lot to 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.760 say that is like exactly what you would expect us 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.640 to say on the podcast. And then there were other 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.320 movies where I've done my first watch and I'm like, 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:15.280 I don't know, I don't know what to make of this. 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.520 That's how you know he got a good one on 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:18.000 our hand? 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:19.760 Yeah, And this was this movie. And then so I 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:22.200 had that experience where I watched the whole movie and 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:23.840 then I looked at my notes and I had not 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.920 written a single thing down. And I was like, oh, no, 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:30.760 you were too horny. I was too horny. You're shaking 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:36.480 vibrating with horniness. And then I went out last night 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.120 with a friend. We got some drinks, we danced. I 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.319 haven't danced in ages, and I forgot how to fun 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:47.000 dancing is Wait, where'd you go this bar in? I 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:49.520 think I was in Cypr's park called Footsies. 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:52.040 Oh Footsies is so fun. 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.840 Yeah. Wow. I came home. I was tipsy. I was like, 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.880 I know exactly what I'm gonna say now, it was 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.600 just I just had to kind of loosen up, I think, 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:03.920 and now I have so many thoughts. 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.600 So this is a fascinating, Like you can watch this 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.199 movie with your brain fully on or your brain fully off, 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.680 and I feel like it's a good experience either way. 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.720 Absolutely, it's here's the hilarious thing. I was gonna say, 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.600 it's kind of you know, this movie is challenging. I 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.559 was to discuss I was challenged. I felt challenged by 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:25.960 this one. 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.679 And I also like the deep lore of this movie 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.160 is so fascinating in a very parasocial way. I'm so 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:39.240 curious about Selene's Song and Justin Kuritzky's as a couple, 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.200 Like what is going on with those two? Because this 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:48.000 is Justin Kurskis, who wrote this script, has been married 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.840 to it is I think most famously Selene Song's husband, 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:52.880 as it should be. But he's a great writer as well, 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:57.360 and he is like sort of we're led. I think 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.199 like he's he's kind of portrayed in Past Lives as 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:06.520 the writer of Boner. Remember yeah, the husband in Past 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.800 Lives writes a book called Boner. Justin Kritzky's also wrote 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:14.200 a novel. So I think you know, one plus one 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.320 often equals too equals too. 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:21.840 I mean we see a Boner in Challengers boner representation. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.480 And you're like, okay, yeah, genuinely Boner was on his 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.520 mind exactly at this time. 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.719 It's giving bisexual and I and I say that as 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.800 a bisexual. I'm like, there's something just very like because 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.040 he also wrote queer, I believe, right, and so there's 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:41.080 just something kind of algebras a quah about his work 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.920 that I'm very like intrigued ry and I'm like, tell 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:44.520 me more. 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.200 Me too, Yeah, I just I'm very I don't know. 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:53.040 There's few marriages that I'm I want to know more about, 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:57.280 quite honestly, but this is one of them. Also, he was, 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.880 did either of you I remember watching this in like 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:01.560 high school or college. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:07.079 The Potion Sellar video. What what is that? What is that? 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:11.280 It's like it's a very like lo Res viral video 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:15.680 from twenty eleven. It's so silly and it's justin Kurtzky, 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.640 he like went viral in twenty eleven for being wait. 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.240 I do think you should both watch it. 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:23.120 It makes me love it. 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.520 So it's literally it's so twenty eleven that it's a 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:31.200 joke that is based on a filter on photo booth. 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.240 Oh oh, photo booth. I kept so many nudes in there. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.000 Oh oh, yes, I used to love this video. It's 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:41.640 so old that he wrote challenges. 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.440 You know what. This is why we say that, like 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:49.000 men's rights do matter, because imagine a while. Every once 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.120 in a while you need a man who can just 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:52.600 do something like this for you. 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:54.480 It's true, it's true. 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.000 I love that we have more subscribers than him, though 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:01.480 that's also reassuring, very true. 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:07.920 One day anyway, So should we take a break and 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:21.040 then come back for the recap? Let's do it. Okay, 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:26.600 So here's the recap. We are in New Rochelle, New York. 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:28.640 Ever heard of it? I hadn't. 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:35.160 I had because someone who I dated in college briefly 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:40.280 was from there. Also, speaking of okay, I forgot the 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:46.000 other part of my history with challengers. With tennis. I 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.440 bought a tennis racket my freshman year of college because 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.160 I was like, I'm going to get into tennis. I 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:56.320 took a few lessons from a sophomore student who was 0:12:56.400 --> 0:13:01.960 on the men's tennis team. I took a couple lessons, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.720 and I was like I'm not good at this. I 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.520 like it, but I'm not sure if this is the 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.319 sport for me, because if I'm not automatically great at something, 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:14.800 I immediately quit me too. But I kind of kept 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.199 taking lessons with him because I thought he was very hot. 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.199 Kitlyn, you have a pattern of doing this. 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:23.120 Yeah, you're not wrong. 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:24.760 You're a bit of a challenger yourself. 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:26.520 I'm kind of a challenger in this way. 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:26.880 Yeah. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.160 And then I eventually was like, uh, I'm busy, I 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:34.600 can't anymore. Flash forward to four years later, I see 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.040 this guy at a bar and I was like, oh, hey, 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:42.000 remember me. I took tennis lessons from you, and he's like, yeah, 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.800 I remember, And I was like should we kiss or something? 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.240 And then and then I started a torrid affair with 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.600 this man. And when I say that, I mean we 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.400 had really bad sex because he was really bad at 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.480 sex a couple of times. And then I was like, wow, 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.120 I also quit this because this time, this time, you're 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.640 the one who's bad at the thing, and I'm out 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.240 of here. And so that's my hero Tennis. 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:09.040 Thank you for many reasons, But I just find that 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:10.800 that's very tashy duncan of you. 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.960 I feel like Hashi Duncan does not have time for 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:17.640 someone who well, actually, I don't know. Do do we 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.280 think our Donaldson is good at sex? 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:22.400 I think so. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:24.880 I feel like he's a tender lover. 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.040 I think he's a giver. I think he's definitely a giver. 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:30.800 He can find the clip, but he finds it so 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.160 quickly that the appeal gets lost, you know, because she 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:36.800 likes the challenge. Yeah, exactly, Yes. 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:41.200 It was really it was really interesting like watching this 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:43.520 movie not just to get horny, but to really pay 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:48.000 attention to the relationship dynamics because I think, like, Mike 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:50.560 is it Mike Feist? Feist? 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.120 Is that how we say it? Fist. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:56.720 I feel like his performance was talked about the least 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.720 and I understand why, but I think he's really cooking 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.720 in this he is. He plays he plays the cock 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:03.360 very well. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:08.640 I find his relationship dynamic with Tashi very compelling and 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.960 again goals because I want to be a domb to 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:13.200 a man. 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:17.720 Sub Yeah, as my friend Sidy would say, all blonde 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:24.200 men should be submissive. And he has like perfect bottom face, 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.160 like it's just like it's just like you look at it, 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:31.040 your like absolutely, it's the big eyes his open face, 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.920 but he's like very masculine still, but there's this like 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:36.720 tenderness where it's like, yes, open. 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.640 He's kind of like a diabolical bottom too, because he's 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.880 always like best kind, he's scheming. I kind of Yeah, 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:47.520 I was so taken in by the Patrick of it all, 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.000 which is always the case. You get taken in by 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:54.000 the Patrick, and then, like Tashi, you dump him. 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:56.880 You come for the Patrick, you stay for the art. 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.280 Yeah, but then you get bored of art, you know, 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.960 it's like it's it is, and then you maybe start 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:07.760 dating women. And that's maybe Tashi's story. We don't know. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.440 We don't know. We just know that at the end, 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.040 she's still blue baled. She's like, when are these men 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:21.600 gonna play real tennis? Yeah, they're hugging like losers. She 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.360 does not care about their relationship being resolved. She's like, 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:25.960 play tennis. I love her. 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:33.120 Okay. So we're in New Rochelle right right, it's twenty nineteen. 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:37.760 We are at a tennis competition sponsored by Phil's Tired Tone. 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.560 It's so random that we're in twenty nineteen, by the way, 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.880 like it is a period piece by way of like 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.840 three years. It's weird, but I thought it was kind 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:47.200 of fun. 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:47.960 Yeah. 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.280 I think it's just so that they could do hot 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.800 in here in the flashback. That's the only that's the 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:54.520 only reasoning I could find. 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:55.280 And that's worth it. 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:56.000 That's worth it. 0:16:56.200 --> 0:17:00.560 Apparently that's not the song that was playing and the 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.800 scene happened because everyone was like, why isn't Day of 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:07.320 Dancing so like off beat offat high here? And then 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.960 she was like, it wasn't me, guys. Apparently, like when 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:12.000 they were filming, it was like a Bowie song or 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.440 something melodic and dreamy, and then they just put in 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.040 hot in air and close, so sday I can dance, guys, 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:20.520 don't let them fool you. 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.800 I love movie. Wow, that's great movie magic. Anyway, So 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.240 there it fills tire Town Challenger, and I will mention 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:33.159 Phil's tire Town one hundred times throughout this throughout this 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.120 recap because we keep cutting back to this match. Anyway, 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:42.080 we meet Patrick Zwag played by Josh O'Connor and Art 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:48.160 Donaldson played by Mike fight story however you se it, yeah, 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:53.199 who play each other in a series of matches and 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:58.240 watching them in the stands is Tashi Donaldson formerly Tashi 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.639 Duncan played by Zenda, who is married to Art, and 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:09.240 then both men look at Tashi meaningfully and we're like, hmm, 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:11.280 what's that all about? This movie? 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:15.440 Is the male gaze is back and it's in the 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:16.480 movie Challengers. 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.560 Yeah, we are seeing men. 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:27.080 Gaze and not respectfully, but I'm into it. 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.560 I don't I kind of don't mind it. We also 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:35.040 see tennis ball gaze. We are seeing things from the 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.280 point of view of a tennis ball. At one point, 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:37.760 I was. 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:39.840 Trying to track that because I do think that we 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.479 generally see Tashi play tennis from the male gaze, but 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:48.159 we do see the guys play tennis from the female gaze. 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:50.560 It's not like it's exclusively the male gaze. And then 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.600 occasionally we switch to the tennis balls gaze, which I 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:54.840 had never even considered. 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:59.000 It's the pan sexual gaze. Everyone is getting their own 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.960 vision of like what makes them horny, and the tennis 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.040 ball just wants to be held, you know, it wants 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.800 to be at the center of the passion. 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:11.280 That's where my cocker Spaniel really locked in. He's like, yeah, 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:12.440 what about the tennis ball. 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.119 Finally, someone talking about the main character. 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:21.280 A protagonist of challengers the tennis ball. Okay, Then we 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:26.639 cut to two weeks earlier. We learn more about Art 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:31.080 and Tashi. Tashi is a former tennis champ but had 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:35.760 to retire and end her career early after a knee injury. 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:42.200 She is now Art's like coach slash manager. They also 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.359 have a daughter together who loves into the Spider verse, 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:48.399 so you know she has great taste. 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.400 I love that was a great child representation. 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:58.280 Yes, we see Art play a match and lose. He 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:03.040 is apparently rusty after recovering from a recent injury. Tashi 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:05.800 tells him to get his shit together and start winning, 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.199 which is why she suggests that he plays something that 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:14.679 he's sure to win, such as this Phil's Tired Town challenger. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:19.000 And I don't exactly know enough about tennis to know 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.359 specifically what a challenger is or what the parameters of 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:24.400 it are. 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:29.480 My understanding, because I really tried to understand tennis for this, 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:32.520 and I did. I stayed up late last night watching 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:37.199 one of many Venus and Serena docs, and I don't know. 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.520 I just like anyway, I was trying to get caught up. 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:45.159 A challenger I think is like a low rung pro match. 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:48.120 But like harder to be a lower rung. It's kind 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.400 of JV but it's still technically pro tennis. 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:53.679 And is it the type of thing that, depending on 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:55.920 how you rank in it, it can like qualify you 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.880 for one of these US open kind of things. 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.480 Yeah, because Patrick says that on his very depressing date 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.520 that poor woman, I know, but yeah, we're I think 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:12.600 he's saying that, like this is something that could, you know, 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:14.919 if you perform well, it could sort of get you 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:18.800 into one of those top one hundred and twenty whatever spots. 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:24.439 Yeah, okay, So then we cut to Patrick Zwag who 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:27.639 is trying to get a room at a hotel so 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.760 that he can rest before this tire Town Match Challenger 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:36.480 thing that he is also playing and it starts the 0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:40.360 following day, but he's completely broke and he can't afford 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.439 to pay for the room, so he sleeps in his car. 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:46.160 He's hoping to win the Challenger because the winner gets 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.800 seven thousand dollars, so he's in kind of dire straits, 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:53.280 although we learn later that he comes from a very 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.640 well to do family, and it seems like he could 0:21:56.720 --> 0:21:59.000 ask his family for money and then he just chooses 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.520 not to, so One of the most frustrating personality types 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.679 is rich guy. Cosplaying as poor guy is exhausting. 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:12.400 And it's like it's like pure early hobosexual representation. It's 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:15.720 just like, how does he where does he live? Underneath people? 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.520 That's how he like kind of a guy. I feel 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:21.040 like I met a lot of guys like this in college. 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:24.520 A guy that you are like, oh wow, I feel 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:26.160 like I have stuff in common with him, and then 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:28.480 later you see what his family is like, and you're like, 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:35.840 I cannot believe I've lent this person money. He's really frustrating, 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:38.639 which of course means that he's probably great at sex. 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:44.120 Absolutely. Also, I just love Josh O'Connor, Like, I know, 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:48.520 hot man, hot politics, hot girlfriend. 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:52.640 Like yes, wait, what's her? I just saw her out 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:55.680