ICYMI: How Challengers Took Over the Internet

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This episode is brought to you by sacks.com. At sacks.com ORG, it's easy to find your new vibe. Dive into the Western trend with gold cowboy boots from Stott ORG. Or go full 90s throwback with platforms from Prada ORG. You can shop for everything on your agenda. Whether it's a breezy Zimmerman PERSON dress for garden partyor a bright Chloe ORG blazer for brunch. Find inspiration for your new vibe. Every day at sacks.com ORG. Hi, I'm Rachel Hampton PERSON.

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And I'm Candice Lim, and you're listening to ICYMIMI ORG.

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In case you missed it. Slate's podcast about internet culture. And Candice PERSON, how are you? I'm going through it. Rachel PERSON, I'm going through it.

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Yeah, yeah, I could tell from our morning meeting. You're either double-dosing your coffee or turning into a werewolf. I couldn't tell.

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But I like it, whatever's going on. So tell me what's going on. This combo, it's just between you and me

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and our thousands of listeners. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for checking in because let's just say

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I am Tashi tormented. I am art afflicted. And most of all, I am Patrick Pilled PERSON.

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So I'm understanding that you went to see challengers?

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Rachel, I did not see challengers once. I did not see it twice. I saw it three times in five days.

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I would also just like to point out for all of y'all who can't see our script, there are three tennis emojis.

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Oh, yeah, and I put them there. Oh, who else would?

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Who else would? So, spoiler alert, in case you couldn't tell, this episode is going to be all about Challenger WORK_OF_ART, specifically the internet's reaction to it, and how Challenger, a movie that was supposed to come out last year, and got pushed back because of the Sack PERSON strike absolutely smashed the box office. I just saw that they beat, call me by your name. So Luca is up. So Candace PERSON,

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let's talk about it. I loved everything. Okay, so here's the deal. I have been excited for this movie since it was first announced. So this is last year before it was supposed to open Venice Film Festival. They end up not doing it. And I'm like, I'm sad, but it's fine. I at first thought that my excitement to this movie paralleled Barbie and how I was just kind of like, I need to watch this movie because everyone's talking about it, talking about it, talking about it. But the difference is I actually think this is how I felt when I watched season one of the bear. And that summer, it was just car me up and down the wall.

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Alex Zaragoza, Nicole Perkins PERSON, like, writing the horniest, thirstiest tweets, and me just being like on my work computer.

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Yes, yes, like, retweet, retweet.

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Like, it was unparalleled. And I think for me, what it is is my favorite scenes from this movie were like Zendaya and Josh O'Connor PERSON, two people who have won Emmys WORK_OF_ART who are just meeting each other at their best in a way that is so chemically intoxicating. And the way that the score also proves that, the way that the score kind of carries Mike Feist, someone that I actually didn't really care about even in West Side Story WORK_OF_ART. And now I'm like, where have you been all my life?

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And I love this movie. And I kept going back and I can't stop. I can't stop talking about it. I can't stop thinking about it. I am diseased like a cow with that H5N1, except for my H5N1 is Challengers ORG.

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So for those of y'all who haven't seen this movie or who have somehow missed the hype cycle around this movie, Challenger stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan PERSON, a former tennis prodigy, turned coach who was injured before having a major career. In the present day, she's married to Art Donaldson, who is played by Candace's new favorite man, Mike Weiss PERSON, who is a rich and famous tennis player who has won every grand slam except the U.S. Open, and he's currently on a losing street. Art PERSON needs to gain his confidence back. And so Tashi PERSON, who is now his coach and his wife, gets him to go to this challenger tournament in New Rochelle, New York, which is the second highest tier of men's pro tennis. And he phases off against Patrick, who is played by Josh O'Connor PERSON,who was once arts best friend and Tashi PERSON's ex-boyfriend. This is a movie directed by Luca Guadenao PERSON. It's written by Justin Carritschus, who is married to Sleem PERSON's song, who wrote Past Lives WORK_OF_ART, which is another movie about a threesome. What I love about this is that we have two extremely talented writers writing about marriages, friendships, relationships that are disrupted by the entry of a third person, which means that the next movie that is about a threesome is about the third that wasclearly involved in Celine and Justin PERSON's relationship. And I will be looking out for that,

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because I want to know. Yeah. It's so interesting how Celine and Justin PERSON have both written films that make you side with their perspective. Not that anyone necessarily did anything wrong in their relationship. Obviously, Justin and Celine are still together. They're still succeeding together. I have a feeling he's definitely going to be nominated for best screenplay at the Oscars next year.It's just so interesting to see how they both took clearly this circumstance that maybe possibly allegedly happened to them and just created something so different, right? Because past lives is not running at this tempo. Rachel PERSON, what did you love

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about this film? I think what I really loved is the structure of the movie. I enjoyed that we kind of enter in present day, present day being Art and Tashi PERSON being married. And we keep getting flashbacks to the beginning of both their relationship, but also Art and Patrick PERSON's relationship as friends. I really love the way the relationships between each character are kind of slowly revealed to us. Even as the first time we see all of them, we can tell that something's going on.

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You know, I really have to say that on top of this movie being really great, I really think Twitter is like maybe the reason that I was so addicted to it and I kept going back because I was doing this thing where I was basically trying to do anything I could to relive the movie.So, you know, I'd come home, I'd see the tweets. I'd be like, oh, I missed that, I need to go watch it again. I'd go, I come home, I listen to the soundtrack and I go, oh, like, I don't remember when they play that song. I need to go again. And it was just this back and forthunto which Luca PERSON played with my brain. And I really think the internet played a huge role in this.

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I mean, the internet and Luca PERSON were just batting your brain across the net.

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Literally.

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Back and forth. Back and forth. And you're not alone because this marketing campaign, this

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press run, the absolute looks Zendaya ORG was pulling off, I think was really

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influential in making people show up, along with the really long lead time we had because

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this movie was supposed to come out last year. I think you're right in that people haven't been

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so excited for a movie like this since Barbie Heimer PERSON. And if you've been on Twitter for the

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past week, it feels like everyone has seen challengers as someone who tries to avoid knowing anything about a movie before going in. It was actually hard for me

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to avoid running into memes as I was waiting to see this movie. But I really love the conversations

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people are having. So let's have one of our own. It's time for a short break, but when we

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come back, we're going to talk about the internet's best challengers tweets and how Zendaya ORG made it all happen.

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Hey listeners, hope you're enjoying today's show. If this is your first time listening, then welcome. We are thrilled to have you here. In case you missed it, our show comes out twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. So make sure you never miss an episode like this past Wednesdays on the drama all over R4U pages surrounding the abrupt closure of two popular venture-backed brands, Fox Trot, and Outdoor Voices. This podcast is brought to you by Progressive ORG Insurance. Whether you're driving, cooking, or doing laundry, Progressive knows the podcasts you listen to go best when they're bundled with another activity, much like how

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And we're back. So, Candace PERSON, I have a few questions for you as the challengers head in the chat.

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Let's start with this. What was your favorite kind of moment or scene from this movie? I know it's probably going to be hard to pick.

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And it's not the scene that a lot of Twitter likes, but I think for me, there's a part where Patrick has just gone on his first day with Tashi. They're practicing and Art PERSON like really wants to know if they hooked up. And Patrick PERSON is being kind of coy. And right before they get on the court to start hitting, Patrick like holds his hand out for Art PERSON to spit his gum into his hand. And then he just, like, hold it and shrugs, which I thought was very Josh O'Connor, not so much Patrick, but very smirky and cute. So that's my first one. And my second one, Art is about to play the French kid. Art with his whole team in Tashi PERSON, walk down the corridor. The French NORP kid comes up with his dad. And he's like so excited.He's like, oh, my God, it's Art Donaldson PERSON. And when the French NORP kid passes, he's so excited to say hi. Art PERSON gives him the meanest, dirtiest, stankiest predator hunting his prey stare in the world. And the French NORP kid is like, oh, my God, he's going to kill me. I thought that was so funny. What about you?

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I think one of my favorite parts that I also think is a very good kind of character description moment is when Patrick in present day is basically using Tinder as Airbnb ORG because he's broke.

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And so you just see him like swiping through Tinder on this cracked phone screen.

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Also, I think a good character setting moment.

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And he basically ends up going on a date. And we watch this date happen as all of us are thinking, I know why this is

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happening. I just feel like the way they add these layers to each character of showing you who they are was really smart. I feel like I knew who all of these people were by the end of the movie in a way that I really enjoyed.

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Yeah. And here's a thing. I have to say, I walked out with this film. I'm on Patrick PERSON's side. I'm on Patrick PERSON's side. I think Patrick Innocent PERSON, art manipulative.And the reason why is because I think Patrick PERSON is so honest about how grungy and gross and disgusting he is. There is a feralness to him that I've never seen be so brash and so open and unashamed. That's kind of what I really like about him.

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Yeah, there's a level of awareness to Patrick that I think both Tashi and Art PERSON don't have, which makes them bounce off of each other really well. That was not a tennis pun. But a one. But speaking of bouncing, speaking of jaunty, let's talk about this score, which was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross PERSON,who you may know as the guys from 9-inch Nails PRODUCT, but they're also the guys behind the social network soundtrack, which won the Oscar for Best Original Score. from 9-inch nails, but they're also the guys behind the social network soundtrack, which won the Oscar for Best Original Score. They also won that Oscar for Soul back in 2020, which means, is this the trifecta? Can you describe the way the music works? Because it's a very

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different kind of score than I think I'm used to for a movie. There is something about this music that both Trent and Atticus PERSON have talked about. They've both said it's techno, it's house, it's electronic.

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It really drives in that way. And it is kinetic. It is perfect workout music.

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It bounces. And I actually think the bouncing is important because something you notice is that Tashi PERSON, and I think art because she coaches him, they do this thing when they're waiting for the other person to serve, they bounce between left, right, left, right, left, right. And I really felt like the music was completely parallel to that. Just this idea of like when you're playing tennis, you can never just stand still. You have to always be in motion. You always have to run to center, all this stuff.And the music does the same thing. It doesn't let up. And I know a lot of people on Twitter have been saying that like the music was so loud. I couldn't hear what they were saying. And I completely understand there were parts,especially when Patrick and Tasha PERSON are in the car. Then I'm like, I need captions. I need captions. Same. But at the same time, the music seeps into you in a way that your molecules are like, I don't give a fuck what they're saying. I love to dance in this AMC the way that those Swifties did.I get it. And I would actually compare it to the theme song from Season 2 of White Lotus WORK_OF_ART. The way that that kind of drives in the second half and the way it was playing in clubs that summer, I was like, I want to go to Lindsay Lohan's Grecian Beach Club ORG. I want to listen to Brutelizer PRODUCT on repeat. I got to go.I got to go. But I would say that my favorite score hit is probably Challenger's PRODUCT Match Point. It's the first song from the soundtrack, but it's also the song you hear when Art PERSON and Patrick are playing their final round. And I love it. It just, it really reminds you of the film. Itreminds you why you love it. So that is a song that I keep replaying. But what about you? What did you

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like from the score? So it's less of a specific moment and more of the notes that Luke PERSON gave

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Trent and Atticus, which they both were like, man, I wish I had the notes that Luca PERSON gave us.

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They were so funny. And Razner PERSON said, unending homoerotic desire.

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It was all a variation of those three words.

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And I just, I love a man with a vision of unending homoerotic desire.

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You know, so that was my favorite bit about the score, was that it clearly had an intent.

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It had a purpose.

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And I think we all felt that.

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But I think it's time to move on to the scenes that most people who have been online have

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seen.

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And the memes that kind of came out of them. So I, in my attempt to avoid spoilers, have been scrolling really fast past any videos of this movie.

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So what scenes that the internet love? So one is definitely the churro. And it's funny because it's a three-second long moment that people keep clipping. But it's Patrick and Ard PERSON close up. They're both eating churros.Josh O'Connor takes a bite, gives it to Mike Feist PERSON. He bites it too. And people are like, oh, the thing is the other scene that people are loving is just right before that. It's when Josh O'Connor PERSON pulls the stool closer. Be like, Art PERSON, come sit closer to me. People love that.And I love that.

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Rachel PERSON, maybe we should talk about the poster, the fake horrible poster. Please tell us more. Yeah. Yeah. So you were the one who told me about this poster. So it is a challengers poster. And this Twitter account called Films to Films ORG posted this self-made challengers poster where they divided the word challengers into two lines. So the first line is chow, C-H-A-L-E, and then the second line is N-G-E-R-S. And I'm sure most of you can figure out where most people's minds went to when they saw that. And Black Titterer PERSON went crazy. Yep, yep, yep.

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This account was roasted so hard. It actually got so bad that people were starting to believe it was an

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official movie poster. And Amazon MGM ORG had to say something. So the official challenges account tweeted,

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Happy Challenges Day from our only official posters. And the official challenges account tweeted, happy Challenges Day from our only official posters. And the official posters do not have that specific error in that. Exactly. So I feel like we've kind of been circling around Twitter ORG and how it's responded to this movie. But I haven't actually had a chance to ask you yet, Candice PERSON, what are your favorite tweets about the movie? Whose words are running through your mind when you inevitably go see Challenger for a fourth time?

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It's funny because this one I had seen, but you had sent it to me at the same time. So, you know. It's from Joel Kempbooster PERSON. Comedian we love, who wrote, I can't stop thinking about challengers. My whole life is consumed.Just called an Uber, like in Challengers ORG. Working on my laptop. Zendaya works on a laptop in Challenger. Kissing a man. Wish I were doing this in front of Zendaya, et cetera. And I was like, ugh. I completely understand. Because honestly, when I listen to the soundtrack, I literally go into this walk that literally reminds me of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho WORK_OF_ART when he's walking into the office. I'm like, focused, but in a deranged way.

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to the office. I'm like, focused, but in a deranged way. Speaking of deranged, my favorite tweet is from Josh PERSON. And they tweeted, dating apps aren't working anymore. I'm going to start sitting next to couples at Challenger WORK_OF_ART screenings, which is the funniest thing in the world.

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I also keep seeing people sharing screenshots of their theater maps and seeing like two people in the back of the theater or three people in the back of the theater and being like, what's going on there?

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Yeah, I will say this. My first screening of challengers, I sat behind a mother and her teenage son.

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And the entire time, I was like, oh, I am praying for your relationship at the end of this movie. And I really feel this need, since I'm already in the trenches, to shout out like two people on Twitter who have really kept me living this week. One is at Allie underscore civi PERSON, whose username is bald and tennis dowd. Wow. So many tweets about this. I will say my favorite one is, quote, my favorite character in a movie or show will always be the one who'd get most annoyed by two-factor authentication. Dot, dot, dot. Roman Roy and Patrick's Vag PERSON are very different, but they have this in common.

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And they do.

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I can see that so clearly. I also feel like we can't not talk about the insane amount of edits,

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the videos that are set to the challenger score.

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I've seen so many tweets along the sign of,

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fuck it, X, Y, and Z to the challenger score.

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Yeah, I've seen Top Gun PRODUCT.

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I've seen Dune PRODUCT, too, like, it's going off.

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And I will say, we have a winner. We have a winner of Best Edit WORK_OF_ART.

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And this is community sponsored.

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And the winner is Emma B underscore videos PERSON, who made this great edit set to, I the Way You Kiss Me by Artemis.

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What do you think?

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I'll fucking do.

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I like the way you kiss me. I can tell you miss me.

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I can tell it.

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This, yes, yes, yes, yes.

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So we're talking about Twitter, and it makes me want to ask the question, why do you think this movie hits so hard with the internet? There aren't a lot of movies that immediately get a kind of meme cycle in the way the challengers did. So, box office wise, this movie did very well.

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Domestically, it made $15 million in its opening weekend. And it's interesting because the Hollywood reporter said that female moviegoers made up 50% of Friday's audience while a whopping 76% of ticket buyers were between ages 18 and 34. And that is young. This movie wasn't supposed to be commercial. It's like literally called by AMC ORG an AMC artisan film. And so it's really interesting that it's taking over the internet in a way that is like comparable to Barbenheimer PERSON. You know, I've been trying to figure out what is it about this movie that has really engaged the internet. My first thing is that I often look at movies as like,okay, am I trying to engage or escape? For this one, it was a bit of an escape. But I wonder if possibly an explanation for why younger people really came out for this movie, for women, why they came out to this movie, is because it's May and college campuses are undergoing a lot of chaos right now. You know, I'm in L.A. GPE where one of the biggest stories of the past three weeks has been surrounding USC, who, according to the L.A. Times ORG, canceled the upcoming graduation speech of an undergraduate valedictorian who has, quote,come under fire for her pro-Palestinian views. USC ORG later canceled their main siege commencement, and that situation just keeps getting worse. Then we have UCLA ORG, who has been going through some really terrifying violence. You know, the LA Times has been following that story, which escalated after UCLA ORG reportedly declared an on-campus pro-Palestinian encampment, quote, unlawful. Then a group of pro-Israel counter-protesters attack the camp, and police officers reportedly took, quote, hours to stop the violence. It is pretty hard to be a college student right now, I imagine.A place for me to be in this, like, sporting and rich universe for two hours and be my hyper fixation as the thing that's bringing me joy. And I wonder if a lot of students and a lot of young people really needed that right now.

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I think that's such a smart analysis of this moment because my Twitter timeline, I mean, my Instagram feed too, honestly, has just been a sea of videos and photos of unarmed students peacefully protesting the genocide in Gaza at schools like Columbia ORG or CCNY, the City College of New York. And observers like CNN's Miguel Marquez PERSON are reporting things like, quote, I've covered lots of this sort of stuff around the world, and I've never seen this many police moving into one area, end quote. And those images are immediately followed by Challenger WORK_OF_ART memes.And honestly, oftentimes even being retweeted or reposted by the exact same people. Like, they're existing at the same time and with a similar level of engagement. So I really do think you're capturing something about this moment where, quite honestly, things are feeling pretty dire. And sometimes you just need two hours to watch hot people kiss. And it's a privilege to be able to do that to be clear, to be able to take abreak from the news. But it seems like the people who have that privilege are taking it. I mean,

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I mean, we are clearly. But speaking of taking a break, it is time for us to take one.

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We've been talking about everything from our favorite scenes from challengers, our favorite tweets about challengers, our favorite needle drops in challengers. And when we come back, we'll be talking about challengers. We'll be diving into some more elements of this movie and its press cycle that kept the internet highly entertained, including my personal favorite part, Zendaya ORG's fashion. All of that and more after a short break.Eat stress-free this spring with factors delicious ready-to-eat meals. Every fresh, never-frozen meal is chef-crafted, dietitian-approved, and ready-to-eat in just two minutes. Choose from a weekly menu of 35 options, including popular options like calorie smart, keto, protein plus, or vegan and veggie. Also, discover more than 60 add-ons every week like breakfast, on-the-go lunch, snacks, and beverages to help you stay fueled and feel good all day long. What are you waiting for? Get started today and fuel up your springtime goals. I had the best week of my life when I hadfactor meals in my house because for the first time in years, I did not have to think about what I was going to feed myself for lunch. I feel like I'm always compromising between something healthy and something fast. But with factor, you you get both. There was this delicious Poblano beef bowl. Their green beans that they serve on the side of their proteins are so good. There was a delicious sun dried tomato pasta that I'm still thinking about. You can get chef prepared meals on the table in two minutes with factors ready to eat meals so you can get chef-prepared meals on the table in two minutes with factors readyto eat meals so you can get back to doing what you love this spring. No fuss, no mess meals, factor meals eliminate the hassle of prepping, cooking, or cleaning up. Simply heat and savor the good stuff. Head to factormeals.com slash I see YMIMI 50 and use code Icy-M-50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box. That is code I-C-Y-M-50 at Factor Meals.com slash I-CY-M-50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next box while your subscription is active.

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So Rachel PERSON, you have probably seen the many, many, many tennis-inspired looks and moments. Zendaya ORG has been serving on this press tour. So I have a question for you. What has been your favorite Zendaya ORG style moment so far?

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So first, I want to give a shout out to at Sarah Saint, who did this incredible magazine spread edit of Zendaya's press tour outfits that I have just been zooming in on for the past few days because it's all so good.

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I mean, so famously Zendaya has been collaborating with La Roach PERSON for basically her entire career.

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Law Roach also styles Celine Dion. He's done a lot of incredible work with people's images and describes himself as an image architect.

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I love this custom Vera Wang dress that Zendaya ORG wore that is pink and black and is, I think, supposed to be inspired by one of the outfits that Zendaya wears in the film. There was this really beautiful, ready-to-wear set from Brunella Cuchinelli

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that she wore that's like all white and gives Martha's Vineyard ORG. You know, like she just looks

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expensive. She's been wearing a lot of tennis-themed outfits when she's in a more casual

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setting. So like tennis skirts, when she's kind of walking out of someplace. But her skirts in general have been evoking for me, this kind of 1950s moment. Like, she's been wearing a lot of, like, kind of A-line, midi, round skirts. I'm interested as to why she chose that silhouette for this movie and what she's trying to go for, but I always feel like Zendaya ORG's style is so well thought out that I'm just like, tell me the story.

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What's the story here? I want to hear it. And I also, I'm sorry, Magalabi PERSON, I know you were tired of wearing pink by the end of it, but that was just so boring to me because it's like, of course you're wearing pink for Barbie PERSON. I appreciate this Zendaya ORG is not just wearing tennis green, but she is also wearing tennis green at various moments.Exactly.

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And I would actually like to talk about Jonathan Anderson for a second, who is the costume designer for this film. You may know him as the creative director of Loeweve ORG, which is the brand that you know. They love Josh O'Connor, Mike Feist, Luca PERSON. They've all been to the show. You've probably seen it on the internet. That shirt, I told you that like Zendaya wears. First off, that shirt, yes, you can buy it. You can buy it on the Loeweve website for $330.000. Not saying you should. I'm saying you could.But the other thing is, Jonathan Anderson said that he got that shirt because JFK Jr. once wore it. And he said that the character of Patrick is kind of based on JFK Jr.'s PERSON style. And I love JFK and the Carolyn Beset PERSON vibes. It all makes sense in this cohesive way that is unfortunately catnip for me.

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I mean, I think what so many of the fashion choices these actors have made on the kind of red carpet press tour, whatever, have also fed into the internet hype cycle. Like one thing that both law of Roach and Dea PERSON understand very, very well is that just the image of a person

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is enough to give them star power. So much of what preceded Zendaya ORG's rise to being in a movie

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like this, to being in Dune 2 WORK_OF_ART, to being the kind of star that she is now, is what La Roach did with her, which is to put her on red carpets in these very iconic outfits that

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immediately screamed movie star. So that now we look at Zendaya ORG and we think movie star. It's this almost moment of wishing yourself into existence. And so this press cycle feels almost like a completion in a way where before the fashion felt aspirational. Not in that Zendaya ORG couldn't pull it off because quite honestly Zendaya could model and shit on all the girls out there. She is a phenomenal model. But it feels like a completion point in that she is now the movie star that they were making her to be in her fashion over the past 10 years that they've been working together.

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So I really appreciated that kind of full circle moment for her.

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I think the internet has been a huge part of that. There are so many Zendaya ORG looks that are constantly, constantly put on my feed because they're so iconic.

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And the reason she's even serving us these looks is because she has to go on this huge campaign tour for challengers. Now, a big reason why this movie was pushed from September 2023 to April is because of the SAG After Strike EVENT, which meant actors could not promote their work. And I think in this instance, Sendea, Josh O'Connor, Mike Feist PERSON, I do think they needed to get on the campaign trail and they freaked it. So, Rachel PERSON, what has been like your favorite moment from the press tour?

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An element of real synergy kind of working underneath this press cycle is that all three of these people, Josh O'Connor, Mike Weiss, Zendaya ORG, they are all quite private.

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And so we rarely see them unless they're on tour, unless they're on a press tour, like right now. And so by kind of keeping them away from us, it means that all these videos are going so much more viral than I think they would if it was like a Sydney Sweeney PERSON who people charge as being overexposed. All to say, I just don't think that there would be a piece breaking down how much Josh O'Connor loves the movie Ratatouille WORK_OF_ART and keeps mentioning it on the campaign trail.

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Had he not been an extremely private person up until this moment.

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And so I just appreciate that, like, the real key to virality is people think it's posting a lot.

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And it can be if you're that kind of person.

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But it's actually knowing when to back off, like, when to be quiet, when to make people miss you. So that when there's a flood of content, which we're going to have for this movie until the Oscars EVENT wrap up,

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we aren't sick of them.

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And speaking of just like press cycle, I really love this tweet from at YREV ORG, who wrote,

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obsessed with the fact that three introverts have to do a worldwide press store together. Because like you were saying, I think their like privateness also just comes from their like, they don't want to showboat anything. I love how this press tour has kind of really separated the actor from the role because it not only shows like how good they are as actors, but it also kind of showed how much physical work they put into this film by training so much,

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how much like personality work they had to do for Josh O'Connor PERSON to be like, I am now going to play an asshole. That looked hard. That looked hard.

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Speaking of physical work, an actual moment that we're going to play on the show from this press tour that I think has been going absolutely viral is when Josh O'Connor PERSON and Mike Fice were talking about the regimen they had to do when they were training for this movie, which, by the way, paid off. They both were phenomenal. But in a way that actually meshes with their characters,Mike seems to have followed the plan. And Josh PERSON didn't. Josh PERSON did what I would have done. But here's the clip.

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We met with a nutritionist. They gave us a diet. They put us, we had like the same. We all had the same coach,

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but a lot of the training Josh PERSON and I did together. And we're like, okay, we're going to do this together. And, you know, I found out just like a week ago that Josh PERSON, like, fully was not sticking to the nutrition. He was eating whatever

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he wanted. And then, like, behind, like, I would be on the bike, and Brian, who trained us,

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would be working me, and I'd be, like, masochistic and, like, going so hard. And meanwhile,

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Josh is like, oh, thank God PERSON. Yeah. Here's the funny thing. Josh PERSON looked crazy hot in this movie.

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Farrell, like Jeremy Allen White PERSON, just like dirty hot.

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Yeah. And I actually think you're right that it was possibly a choice as well. Because the whole thing is that like Mike Feist's PERSON character is trained.

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He is disciplined. He drinks the agey one that's given to him. Or as Patrick PERSON has no team, he has no sponsors. He's just like freewheelingness. He doesn't care. And that really speaks to the physicality of it.

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It does.

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I mean, even their appearances.

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Like Mike Feist being so blonde and Josh O'Connor PERSON being like very dark-haired, curly hair, a little bit of ginger in his beard.

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Anyway, yeah, this entire press cycle, I just, I always appreciate a well-oiled press cycle as people who are required to kind of weigh through a lot of PR. There's a real skill to it that I think most people don't understand. The reason you like certain actors, the real reason is that some of them have really good teams behind them. Yeah. And Zendaya ORG definitely has a

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phenomenal team behind her. The fact that she went from Disney Star ORG to now with no scandal,

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like she has a phenomenal team behind her, and you can see the way that she actually brings all of her co-stars into it. There's a way that her co-stars get the Zendaya ORG gloss on them whenever they're touring with her.

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I would like to spin this on to you, because I actually have one question I've been dying to ask, which is, who are you?

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Wow. Like, who do you think you are in the movie? So, I don't know if I'm anyone in the main trio. Oh, interesting. Just because, I mean, quite honestly, all of them are bad in very specific ways.

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They're all just, like, deeply self-centered in a way that athletes have to be.

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And I don't relate to any of them. But if I had to, I would say I relate the most to art, even though you hate him the most. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Because art wants to be good at something, but also, I think for him that something doesn't consume him.

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What consumes him are the relationships that he makes through the thing that he's doing,

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which is tennis.

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And once he gets to a point in his life where tennis no longer is the primary mode that he's

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meeting people, you can tell that he's over it. And I think I would also reach a point where I'm just like, I actually don't need to keep performing at this level for my entire life. It doesn't make any sense. Like, he's like, I paid my dues. I want to be done with this.And I just don't think Tashi or Patrick PERSON have the ability to know when it's time to stop. Yeah.

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I think with art, another thing he kind of exemplifies is that just because you're good at something doesn't mean you should or have to do it forever. Or that you should or have to be the best. To be good at something

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is good enough. And it's not even like art is not good. He is very good. But he's like, I actually

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don't need to be the best. And I don't know if I want to be the best. And I don't know if I want to make the sacrifices that I have to make to be the best. And I don't know if I want to make the sacrifices that I have to make to be the best.

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And I appreciate that about him. So I think I'm Patrick PERSON.

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Patrick PERSON is always alone.

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You know, he's walking into the court alone.

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He's driving his CRV PRODUCT alone. Whereas art is constantly surrounded by people. But you know that feeling of like just because you're not alone doesn't mean you're lonely. And I find that really interesting. But I just relate to the way he sees life and navigates through it, just coasting on charms. He doesn't care.He is feral driven. And I completely get that.

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I envy that because I just do not have the flexibility of character to ever live out of my car.

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Oh, yeah, that's a no-no for me. That's a no-no.

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But if you're Patrick and I'm Art, who is Artashi PERSON? Oh, easy. Club Chalemay. And I'm Art. Who is Artashi PERSON? Oh, easy. Club Chalemay. All right. That's the show.We'll be back in your feed on Wednesday, so definitely subscribe. That way you never miss an episode. Please leave a rating and review on Apple or Spotify and tell your friends about us. You can follow us on Twitter at ICYMI ORG underscore pod, and you can always drop us the note at ICYMI ORG at slate.com. ICYMI is produced by Sierra Spragley-Ricks PERSON,

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Rachel Hampton, and me, Candice Lim PERSON. Deza Rosario PERSON is our senior supervising producer, and Alicia Montgomery is Slate's vice president of audio. See you online.

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Or I'm a tennis court.

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