Class Discussion

Summary: Navigating Documentary ‘Venus and Serena’ with the Williams Sisters Was Not Easy

In the article, Navigating Documentary ‘Venus and Serena’ with the Williams Sisters Was Not Easy, it displays venus and serena’s true reaction to the film “Venus and Serena.” The film was premiered last September at the Toronto Film Festival. The primary reactions that were received by the sisters were that they didn’t approve of the film and that they did not like how their father was portrayed. They then have sent out an email saying how much they support the film and they were both busy with work and tennis that they were not able to make it to Toronto. Another article was written about the reasoning of their actions and was “conceived as a story that would mark the decline of their careers, the beginning of a conversation about their legacy,”

Questions:

1. There is constant negativity about the “lack” of spark, meaning no excitement and lack in audience in women’s tennis and it is due to the fact the best female tennis players of this generation are “black women”. Would the media complain if white women were dominating the WTA again? Why do you think there is a lack of spark? Do you think its because the WTA feels like they are losing some audience due to the fact the best woman tennis players are black? If so, why is that the case?

    2. During one of Serena’s matches years ago, the crowd began to “boo” at Serena, Venus and their father Richard. Richard then    turned towards the crowd and began to stick up for his daughters. After saying whatever it was he had said, he held up his left fist and left it there for a minute. In 1968, John Carlos, an olympic track star, has done the same thing but was then suspended from the Olympics and asked to go home. Since Serena was not thrown out of her match nor stripped from her title, do you think that the issue of social injustice in sports has gotten any better over the years? How do you think it has changed, if at all?

     3.  Richard, Venus and Serenas father, is a big reason as to why they are who they are today. He has taught them and formed them into the players they have become and has seemed to be aggressive towards the sport itself. Richard just wanted his daughters to be the best and live the best life they could. With that came intense practices and behavior towards his daughters that people took to an extreme. The Williams family is a family of black athletes, why is it that Richard Williams behavior has been talked about as such cruel behavior? If Richard was a white father, how do you think the backlash for how he trained Venus and Serena would be any different?

4. Serena Williams receives a tremendous amount of criticism for her physical appearance. On a Russian television show, Serena and her sister were referred to as the “Williams brothers” and in another instance, a freelancer who covers tennis for the New York Times, wrote a story that casted Serena’s body as being too muscular. The typical body figure of women tennis players tends to be slim and lean. Serena Williams clearly does not fit this image. Do you think that if a white woman tennis player did have the body figure of Serena Williams they would also receive criticism? Do you think if Selena played a different sport where her body figure wasn’t so far from the typical norm of these athletes that she would continue to receive criticism?

5. In one of the articles read, we become aware of the fact that very often, the experience of black women athletes are compared to the experience of black male athletes, focusing on the racism that they both have and continue to face. However, it is easily overlooked the unique experience that women have and still continue to face in this country, sexism. Do you think that if a black man who is a tennis player was in the same situation as Serena, being that his body was much more muscular than that of a typical man who was a tennis player, he would receive criticism connecting it to his race?

6. In the article, The Meaning of Serena Williams, it tells us how Serena’s father would toughen Serena and her sister, Venus, by bringing in bus loads of kids to surround the tennis court in which they were playing on, and have the kids to call them “every curse word in the English language”. He knew that on the court they would be facing two battles. Do you think that this was a smart move? Do you think that this played a role in Serena’s attitude both on and off the court towards racism? Do you think that other black athletes should implement this kind of training?

7. In July of 2015, a list of the most markable sports stars was released by the London School of Marketing. In its top 20, it only had two girls, Serena and Maria Sharapova. There is no controversy that Serena is a better tennis player, their records to show, however, Serena was ranked 20th while Sharapova was ranked 12th. Then the following month, Forbes listed Sharapova as the highest-paid female athlete, worth more than $29 million, while Serena was at $24 million. A major part of this has to do with race. As Chris Evert says in references to the list, “I think the corporate world still loves the good-looking blonde girls.” Other than looks, what else is associated with whiteness that makes white women more marketable than black women? Are there any companies that you can think of whose advertisements consist of a balance of different races?

Outside source:

Q: What do you think Serena took away from Caroline Wozniaki’s actions? Why do you think Serena had this response? Do you think she should have reacted differently?

Outside source:

Q:  Doug Adler was the commentator of this game and has made this comment about Venus. He was fired due to the racial slur that he thought was appropriate to use. Why do you think that him referring to an animal when talking about Venus is inappropriate? Or do you think that it was a mistake that people are just “taking the wrong way”? Why?