Unlike Monica-a ball player at heart, who knows exactly what she wants-my heroine hates basketball and has no idea what to do with her life after graduation. My latest is the love story of two high school basketball players. It felt like being united with a huge piece of my identity. And then one night, I sat down at my drafting table and started writing. I went on a winding path through the sports and entertainment industries and the interior design field. But the freedom and aliveness that came with being more at home in myself kept me pushing forward. After finishing my first year of law school, I didn’t go back.Īnd, as expected, people called me crazy. But 20 years ago, watching this movie, I knew I had to have the guts to find out. I didn’t know what I wanted my future to look like. It took dismissing the pressures from everyone else and standing strong in herself. She’s living a life of her own, one she created. But at the end of the movie, Monica’s running onto the court in a Los Angeles Sparks uniform with Quincy cheering her on from the sidelines. And of course, she and Quincy have their drama to get through. While playing at USC and then overseas, she encounters more haters and difficulties. Monica may know what she wants in life, but getting it isn’t easy.
LOVE AND BASKETBALL PATCH
In the grassy patch between their bedroom windows, he reaches for a congratulatory hug, but Monica takes a kiss. They want her! On top of that, Quincy will be playing there, too. But a few days later, Monica gets a letter from USC. She doesn’t get there that day-her team loses the game. I couldn’t even entertain the question without the fear of judgment in my ear: Have you lost your mind? What kind of fool drops out of Harvard Law School?īut up on the big screen, Monica isn’t letting her dad, her fear or anyone else tell her what to do. But what was I supposed to do, drop out and find myself? Impossible. I’d been trying to become a lawyer for so long that I had no idea what I wanted for my future. Sitting there in that darkened theater, I didn’t even have a dream. “There’s still a chance!” she yells, defending her dream. But her vision of herself as a ball player holds strong.
There’s only one game left in the season, and-unlike Quincy (Omar Epps), who has his choice of colleges to play for-Monica hasn’t been recruited yet. Flash-forward to later in the movie: she’s a high school senior (played by Sanaa Lathan), sitting at the dining table, listening to her dad urge her to consider options besides playing basketball.
No way Monica would let that happen to her. And I was starting to get this terrifying sense that if I stayed in law school, I could get trapped in her the rest of my life. I was uncomfortable inside her-sad, confused and anxious. But I hated this sanitized, diminished version of myself. That mastery had led me to the most prestigious law school in the country. I’d become a master at taming, hiding and cutting out the parts of myself that weren’t compatible with the person other people wanted me to be: the rebellious, curious and sexy parts the questioning and fearless parts. I played basketball in high school even though it wasn’t my thing. It might have crossed my mind to yank my head away from my mother as a child, but I wouldn’t have dared. It was like she was showing me parts of myself I’d forgotten about, ignored or maybe never knew were there. Looking up at this strong-willed girl who knew exactly who she was and what she wanted in life, a light flicked on inside me.
0 kommentar(er)
