loveANDbasketball
What keeps you on your toes, has your heart beating at a fast pace one on one, and challenges you to grow? Love and basketball, which are two very similarly intense subjects based on communication, focus, dedication, and pressure. The movie was very successful in conveying these topics while making an interesting story to follow along with. The two main characters, Monica and Quincy share similar interests, one of which is the other’s heart, and the other, a sport that causes them both pain and joy. The pressure of perfecting skills on the court has never helped two individuals more than Monica and Quincy. Both struggling to get to the top of the game, had obstacles in the way, whether it have to do with being a woman in a predominantly male sport(Monica), or living the life out from the shadow of your well known father(Quincy). It is only the support they share with each other over the years that gets them threw it all. Breaking the mold and stereotype is what this movie is focusing on and shows us where the thin line between love and basketball is drawn.
Meeting in the beginning of the movie, it is clear that Monica does not want to be seen as a girl. As she walks up to young Quincy and his friends she has her hat hung low as to not give off a girlie vibe. After they notice she is a girl they assume she won’t be hard to beat, saying “man, girls can’t play ball” and they couldn’t have been more wrong. She responds by saying, “I ball better than you” and so the competition between the two began. Both trained enough to be at the top of their game, with only one weakness that affected them: emotion. When Monica played, she would get emotionally invested into the game and would either throw a tantrum or foul unnecessarily. Quincy went through the same thing although it was further along in his career. After he found out about his father having an affair, he completely lost focus on the game and gave up before the clock was over. Monica’s choice to train and focus on basketball instead of boys did not make many people happy, especially her mother.
Monica’s mother was a traditional stay at home mom who was always living to take care of her family and Monica couldn’t stand it. There is even a heated discussion when Monica is older and returns home to speak to her mother about her life at home, and he mother says: “Yes, I think decorum is important, and yes I’d rather bake a pie than shoot a stupid jump up shot. If that makes me too prissy for you, then that’s just too damn bad.” Although Monica completely disagrees with her mother’s choice of career, it is easy to see that she is much happier taking care of her family than having a career, and she says so. Monica responds later to say, “what’s ridiculous is not being a cater. So your husband can feel like a man knowing that his woman is home cooking and ironing his draws.” The clash in thoughts of how a woman should live her life really pops up in that specific scene. I believe a woman should be able to do whatever she wants, whether it is through a career or raising a family. Knowing that there are options is the most important part about being a woman. Showing the different stereotypes of being either the stay-at-home housewife, or the career focused woman, we are able to see Monica stand up despite what people say, and follow her number one love: basketball.
“There’s only one way to be successful in anything, and that is to give everything,” said Monica’s coach at practice. This is very true and I believe Monica felt the same way, about basketball. She was willing to sacrifice everything to be successful on the court, which meant giving up other things off the court. Spending time with Quincy after he found out about his lying, cheating father, was one of the first obstacles she had to deal with as she became more successful in her basketball career. She had to make a choice about what she should be more dedicated to and by choosing basketball and going inside to meet her curfew, she lost out on her relationship with Quincy. As they broke up in college, she knew she was making a mistake, but in order to follow her career in basketball she had to keep moving on. It was her success in basketball that drew her away from Quincy. By going pro, Quincy felt like his life could change for the better, which it did not. He only realized basketball is not what he thought it was. As Monica was becoming a successful overseas, I can understand her thought process because I too have had to make difficult decisions when it comes to love and basketball. The hardest thing to do is remember what is right for you.
Many people believe that a girl either can’t play basketball, or if she can, she won’t be any good at it. After going through hardships together in and outside of their relationship, Monica and Quincy were able to support each other whether they did or did not have basketball apart of their lives. I have played basketball for over 10 years and can agree with many of the hardships that Monica had to deal with. There is a lot of dedication, focus, pressure, and communication needed in order to succeed. For the most part I believe everything I sacrificed was for my better well being and I was glad I did it. As far as being called a lesbian, and not looked at like a “real lady”, I am really frustrated that people still think that women shouldn’t play sports. I eventually quit, because I realized I had another passion that was even stronger than the love I had for basketball. It was dancing.
Meeting in the beginning of the movie, it is clear that Monica does not want to be seen as a girl. As she walks up to young Quincy and his friends she has her hat hung low as to not give off a girlie vibe. After they notice she is a girl they assume she won’t be hard to beat, saying “man, girls can’t play ball” and they couldn’t have been more wrong. She responds by saying, “I ball better than you” and so the competition between the two began. Both trained enough to be at the top of their game, with only one weakness that affected them: emotion. When Monica played, she would get emotionally invested into the game and would either throw a tantrum or foul unnecessarily. Quincy went through the same thing although it was further along in his career. After he found out about his father having an affair, he completely lost focus on the game and gave up before the clock was over. Monica’s choice to train and focus on basketball instead of boys did not make many people happy, especially her mother.
Monica’s mother was a traditional stay at home mom who was always living to take care of her family and Monica couldn’t stand it. There is even a heated discussion when Monica is older and returns home to speak to her mother about her life at home, and he mother says: “Yes, I think decorum is important, and yes I’d rather bake a pie than shoot a stupid jump up shot. If that makes me too prissy for you, then that’s just too damn bad.” Although Monica completely disagrees with her mother’s choice of career, it is easy to see that she is much happier taking care of her family than having a career, and she says so. Monica responds later to say, “what’s ridiculous is not being a cater. So your husband can feel like a man knowing that his woman is home cooking and ironing his draws.” The clash in thoughts of how a woman should live her life really pops up in that specific scene. I believe a woman should be able to do whatever she wants, whether it is through a career or raising a family. Knowing that there are options is the most important part about being a woman. Showing the different stereotypes of being either the stay-at-home housewife, or the career focused woman, we are able to see Monica stand up despite what people say, and follow her number one love: basketball.
“There’s only one way to be successful in anything, and that is to give everything,” said Monica’s coach at practice. This is very true and I believe Monica felt the same way, about basketball. She was willing to sacrifice everything to be successful on the court, which meant giving up other things off the court. Spending time with Quincy after he found out about his lying, cheating father, was one of the first obstacles she had to deal with as she became more successful in her basketball career. She had to make a choice about what she should be more dedicated to and by choosing basketball and going inside to meet her curfew, she lost out on her relationship with Quincy. As they broke up in college, she knew she was making a mistake, but in order to follow her career in basketball she had to keep moving on. It was her success in basketball that drew her away from Quincy. By going pro, Quincy felt like his life could change for the better, which it did not. He only realized basketball is not what he thought it was. As Monica was becoming a successful overseas, I can understand her thought process because I too have had to make difficult decisions when it comes to love and basketball. The hardest thing to do is remember what is right for you.
Many people believe that a girl either can’t play basketball, or if she can, she won’t be any good at it. After going through hardships together in and outside of their relationship, Monica and Quincy were able to support each other whether they did or did not have basketball apart of their lives. I have played basketball for over 10 years and can agree with many of the hardships that Monica had to deal with. There is a lot of dedication, focus, pressure, and communication needed in order to succeed. For the most part I believe everything I sacrificed was for my better well being and I was glad I did it. As far as being called a lesbian, and not looked at like a “real lady”, I am really frustrated that people still think that women shouldn’t play sports. I eventually quit, because I realized I had another passion that was even stronger than the love I had for basketball. It was dancing.
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