flaming ginger

Josh has such a precious little face and smiles constantly. Re the headline: "Josh O'Connor says he was turned away from being an altar boy for smiling too much." He just can't play mean characters, in my opinion. He's too perfect. He's a wonderful actor, but he just can't be mean.

His character in EMMA is a selfish, shallow priest who only cares about money and access. (As an Austenite, I can tell you he's very faithful in rendering this character's assholery.)

His character in GOD'S OWN COUNTRY is a closed off prick who is used to being rough and tumble, and dismissive of other people's feelings. Yes, he changes, but the lover who changed him could have easily left him too (as per the original ending).

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Also, Josh's persona as a soft boy is just that, a persona. You and I don't know him personally! Now, that's not to say that everything about him is made up or a lie, but ofc the image and histories put forward in interviews are intended to give you the best self about the actor to make you excited about their film and to go see it. That's it. If you read between the lines, he's got some issues he still needs to work on, but he's got enough media training to know how to hide his hypocrisy (or make it look palatable to the masses).

29/6, 10:00 PM - He wants to go outside, where there are wolves.

CHALLENGERS (2024), dir. Luca Guadagnino

you know what it is?

i firmly believe art expresses his love not only through kissing, but through the mouth itself. oral fixation is putting it lightly. the act of him kissing is one aspect of a greater complex that involves a man using his lips to express his desire, devotion, dedication, determination, and desperation. donaldson's mouth is nothing if not a way for him to give himself (perhaps even control and power) to the other person. the spitting of the gum into both patrick and tashi's hands, the biting of the churro from patrick, kissing tashi's thigh.

art's mouth is also the one thing that gives him away as a character. when he's contemplating, when he's lusting, when he's mad, when he's frustrated. during his kiss with patrick, we see a second mini kiss yes, but we also see his unfiltered desire and even greediness as a character to take through the same mouth that he expertly gives through.

*originally posted on Reddit*

I like how Tashi’s jealousy and possessiveness manifests itself in different ways.

Patrick: We see her jealousy and possessiveness in the way we are used to seeing it. At 19, we see her get visibly upset over Art suggesting Patrick may not be loyal and that he may not love her. I think this possessiveness started when they first got together when she asked him not to tell anyone or she’d stop seeing him. It meant something to her because I think Patrick was her first serious relationship. In the original screenplay, Tashi mentions to Patrick in the Atlanta scene, that her dad hated his guts because as far as he was concerned, Patrick was the boy who ruined Tashi’s life. In the film, we see Tashi mention her parents didn’t want her to go to boarding school for a multitude of reasons, one being distracted by boys like Patrick and Art. Tashi’s cross necklace also pointed me in this direction. I would remiss if I didn’t point out the chaotic hypocrisy. Challengers has strong motifs of repeated behaviors coming in cycles of 3 and specifically with Tashi’s relationship with Patrick- cheating together has been inevitable. Patrick cheated on his girlfriend with Tashi and Art at the Junior US Open, Tashi and Patrick cheated in Atlanta, and Tashi and Patrick cheated in New Rochelle. Each time, Tashi attempts to ignore Patrick’s luring charm and fails spectacularly. Our girl is nothing but consistent and I can’t say I would’ve fared much better. The specific jealousy part of it is fascinating to me. Tashi gets irritated with Art over the simple idea of imagining Patrick being with other girls on tour or being filled with quiet, simmering anger when she sees Patrick with Helen at the hotel bar, and even making a snarky comment when Patrick mentions he’s still staying at Helen’s house. But we never see her jealous when Patrick is with Art. Tashi only smiles and cheers when they’re together, she’s devastated when Art tells her they fell out of touch, and she’s pissed off when Patrick tries to put Art down in the alleyway. Patrick and Art are just as much of each other’s as they are her’s. What pops out at me also in the midst of this, is seeing Patrick both excite and frighten Tashi. Here is someone who can see through her facade she puts on, calls her out on it, still thinks she’s hot, and loves her anyway. I can easily see why that would scare her. It’s not secret that Tashi loves to be in control in any and all aspects of her life. Patrick disrupts that and gets under her skin like no one else does. It’s not a feeling she’s used to. She’s probably used to getting praise from others like Art (though I think his is so raw and genuine) or ignoring the not so glamorous parts of who Tashi is as a person. Patrick doesn’t allow for that and it drives her (and Art) crazy.

Art: We see her jealousy and possessiveness in a unique way. Tashi is simmering with jealousy over Art being able to heal from his surgery with no issue. The thing really withholding Art in the present, is his emotional and mental exhaustion from a myriad of things. Art still gets to play the sport that Tashi lives and dies for and it drives her crazy that Art’s heart doesn’t seem fully in it. She tries to do everything in her power to help him get his confidence back despite saying she can’t do that for him. Art is her avatar in tennis. His body is her’s and through him, she can still play the sport snd accomplish her dreams. The idea of hanging up her racquet is unfathomable. Tennis is so intertwined in her soul. The question rises who is Tashi to the world without tennis? Tashi clearly wants to delay that answer as long as she can. This possessiveness and jealousy unravels when the night before the final match. I honestly think Tashi’s conversation with Patrick opened her heart. As much it hurts to leave tennis, I think she’s finally fully allowing herself to see it from Art’s perspective. He’s tired. I think in the best way an emotionally repressed person can, I do think she does try to reassure and comfort him by saying he doesn’t need her permission. It’s okay and he can retire. What throws Tashi for a loop is when Art questions her being okay with it, he was expecting and hoping for similar argument he had with Patrick, something to fuel him. I think he wanted Tashi to neg him in a similar way. Tashi and Patrick are extremely similar but there are key differences. As much as Tashi can be quite brutal with her words when talking to Patrick about his tennis career, we don’t see her be as harsh with Art. In fact, Tashi highlights his skills and praises him. Tashi doesn’t really neg Art and we can see why. She goes too far with her statement. At first, she looks visibly ill before and after she says it. Topped off by her rubbing Art’s head, asking if that helps him. This makes Tashi spiral into desperation with her feelings all over the place. I think she’s too stubborn to take her words back so she comes up with a last ditch effort plan to get Patrick to throw the match so Art can win. So she doesn’t have to lose Art or tennis. The chaos of this act is logically speaking, Tashi could’ve texted or called Patrick. Getting in the car in the middle of the night with the your ex that you’ve been passively aggressively flirting with and gotten jealous over is setting yourself up for failure. But Tashi’s feelings and intentions are all jumbled up because she’s desperately trying to cling on to tennis and she isn’t ready to leave it or them because she cannot have it without Art or Patrick.

walk with me.

she does it to establish a connection with them, whether that’s romantic or platonic. patrick may have won the game, but she still acknowledges art’s intelligence and talent. when tashi got into a relationship with patrick, she tried to strengthen their bond by giving him advice on improving his game. patrick misunderstood this as criticism of his skills, but in reality, tashi just wanted to help him become better so that they could succeed together, as a couple. you see what i'm saying? it's more about the relationship than just the tennis.

Oh, my god, the poor woman. No wonder she's so aggressive with both men, because here she thought she was only dealing with Art's crisis, and then Patrick flounces in his "help me be great now" feelings onto her. (Which truly, what a slap in the face, because she's gave him free advice he never wanted to listen to while they were dating.)

Tashi Duncan is a fucking saint. (I still love Patrick. You couldn't make me hate Patrick. But damn dude! It took you too damn long to finally appreciate her knowledge about tennis!)

CHALLENGERS (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino

Art is shy, Art lacks swagger. He uses generalizations when he flirts. But every compliment he ever made to Tashi was positive. Aren't you everybody's ideal? Shouldn't everybody find you beautiful? Doesn't everybody want to date you? He isn't even sure she would accept his offer for her to coach him. Imagine hearing that for YEARS and then suddenly having your spouse say "but you won't love me if I don't beat my ex bestie who you dumped for me?" SHE HAS PROVEN SHE LOVES HIM. Time and again. Why is she NOT ENOUGH?

This is the scene where she threatens to leave him if she loses, but then she turns around and tries orchestrate with Patrick that Patrick should lose to Art. NOBODY is stopping her from divorcing Art. Shared custody exists, and it's not like she's be jobless as a coach. Yet, she fights tooth and nail to help Art gain his confidence back. Even during the match, when Patrick is swaggering by Art, and Art pulls out his racket, she points to her head, which you know: focus, remember, think, be confident baby! She could be looking away dismissively, and she's not.

But this is Tashi. This is the self-described homewrecker, who recognized that her two loser bisexuals needed a good makeout to release that pent up tension and love they had for each other back in that hotel room. Her disdain isn't completely uncaring. She does have the right to be bitter, and probably on level she is, except why she's still fighting for her marriage? Her parents are practically raising their daughter, so it's not like Lily would be ruined if her parents broke up.

This is also the woman who says the most interesting thing in tennis the RELATIONSHIP between the players. (Yeah, she cares about winning, but come on now! Look at who her two great loves are! Art thinks he is a loser and Patrick actually is a loser. She isn't one to just throw people away because they are losing or didn't live up to their potential. Why would she? She lost her own career to a knee injury. Is she of lesser value because she's a coach and not a player? She absolutely isn't. And she must be a legendary coach in her own right because the advertisements feature her alongside Art.)

(Why is so impossible to stick to writing meta about one character with this damn film?)

I hate that we don't see what sets Art off into this shitspiral. It could have anything. It could have nothing. But it's amazing that he has the actual nerve after all the good and the bad, truly the highs and lows and all the mundane moments that we don't get to see, that Tashi has been through with him, that he would say that to her. She should be enough.