Venus and Serena are not two of the best black, not two of the best female, just two of the best of tennis players in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD! There’s no doubt that they were the ones who put in the hard work, but every great person has a driving force behind them and for the Williams girls it was their father, Richard Williams. This is what the newest biopic on HBO Max, King Richard is all about.
I don’t think there is a single parent in the world who was as prepared for their children’s future as Richard, seeing as how he wrote a 78 page plan on how his two girls would be the greatest tennis players in the world before they were born. As we see depicted at the start of this heartwarming film, everyone doubted that these two little black girls from Compton could ever actually be good enough to train and surely not win in tennis. In fact tennis to them tennis was a white sport and boyyyyyy I know every single person who turned down working with them is choking on a racket to this day!
The girls were raised in an seemingly unconventional manner however, IT WORKED! Richard and his wife Oracene, were both former athletes and saw the tremendous potential in Venus and Serena and both coached and trained them as kids. The movie puts a sharp focus on Venus and her father’s role in her rise to fame while Serena stood in her shadow waiting for her time to be “the best there ever was, the greatest of all time.” I promised you, I bawled my eyes out through this entire scene and when he said “You got next,” baby I almost screamed because that’s the kind of wild faith everyone should have from their parents.
While Richard might have been overprotective, erratic in his behavior, a little wild in how he spoke to people and in what he demanded out of others, he knew exactly what he was doing! His drive and determination to make sure his kids were the best is unmatched and not only Venus and Serena.
Three other sisters were depicted in this movie who were also brilliant in their own ways. In a very intense scene in the movie where a Social Worker and cops were summoned for a welfare check we learn that Yetunde, Isha, and Lyndrea were the first in their class . This wasn’t the first sign that Richard stood behind all his kids 100%. Closer to the beginning of the film he is beat up by a group of boys harassing Yetunde and when they arrive home, Lyndrea mentions to their mother that he got beat up again, alluding to what one can assume is a common occurrence.
There is so much more in this film, I recommend that everyone watch it and take notes. I believe everyone should take a chapter out of Richard’s book, put faith behind your goals and dreams, plan for the life you want, and be relentless in your pursuit.
My Key Takeaways
- Don’t worry about them, let them worry about you. – Oracene
- You can do anything, literally anything that you put your mind to.
- Trust YOUR instincts. You know what is best for you!
You can check out King Richard today on HBOMAX or in theaters! Need tickets? Grab yours on Fandango!
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