Challengers

LIGHT 9. an ideologically ridiculous movie but somehow quite charming? Challengers carries itself with this vividly modern tone, which is evident through the simple snare soundtrack, creative cinematography, and loyalty-less litter. this movie (and its auxillaries) serve as such poignant cautionary tales to me, and i think that that’s best evident through mike faist’s art donaldson. he doesn’t love his wife, instead he worships her. he can’t make choices that please him, instead he needs permission and punishment. he doesn’t realize love is conditional, instead he think it’s one-and-done. but the biggest warning lies in the fact that art and josh o’connor’s patrick zweig ultimately fall out “over a girl.” that resonates a little too uncomfortably true with me. it’s interesting that, despite being foils of one another, both art and patrick fail — the former wants unconditional love and the latter wants professional success but neither of them get what they seek. perhaps they could’ve gotten what they sought if they fawned over a girl who wasn’t as flawed and manipulative and selfish as zendaya’s tashi donaldson. i look back to one of my friends who told me that i was “submissive.” and as absurd as that is, i think i kind of see their point — my “for the best interest of those i love” trait may, in the eyes of the ungrateful, come off as exploitable and submissive. that is not who i want to be, at all. “i’m a peer. i’m not your fucking groupie.” that pre-serve tick was so satisfying.