Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers forChallengers.
Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated filmChallengers, which hit theaters on April 26,is currently taking over the box office. StarringZendayaas former tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan, this sexy romantic drama is laden with little details that flesh out the messy love triangle between Tashi and former best friends and tennis partners Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor).According to Zendaya,Challengersshould be watched more than once in order to pick up on all the nuances of the characters and the ever-changing power dynamics between them. However, one detail that’s nearly impossible to miss with just one viewing comes in the form of a gray T-shirt with the words “I TOLD YA” printed on it in huge black lettering. First worn by Tashi, the T-shirt reappears a couple more times on Patrick, its rightful owner, at pivotal moments in their relationship.The shirt, with its simple but cheeky refrain, is hardly incidental, as it reflects the shifting power dynamic between Tashi and Patrick and also makes for a genius marketing ploy.
Challengers
Follows three players who knew each other when they were teenagers as they compete in a tennis tournament to be the world-famous grand slam winner, and reignite old rivalries on and off the court.
Where Did ‘Challenger’s “I Told Ya” Shirt Come From?
If Patrick’s gray “I TOLD YA” shirt looks familiar, that’s because it has its origins in one of the most famous American dynasties — the Kennedy family. According toChallengerscostume designerJonathan Andersonin aninterview with WWD, he was inspired by the effortless, old-money style of John F. Kennedy Jr. in dressing O’Connor’s character Patrick.The T-shirt in questionis actually a replica of a shirt JFK Jr. was photographed wearing multiple times in the 1980s, which was said to be a reference tohis father’s campaign buttonsthat read “I told you so.” But inChallengers, it takes on a whole new meaning.While it’s primarily representative of the power struggle between Patrick and Tashi, the shirt being a reference to JFK Jr. is also a reminder that Patrick comes from money, which may contribute to his ego and less-than-serious attitude towards tennis, despite his present-day financial struggles.
The “I TOLD YA” shirt has also been incorporated into theChallengerspress tour, withboth Zendaya and O’Connor wearing a version of the shirtleading up to the film’s release. Anderson is the creative director of the luxury fashion house Loewe, which recently released an “I TOLD YA” collection, featuring said T-shirt, now on sale for $330 — though there are plenty of cheaper dupes out there. Aside from being a punchy symbol, it’s also a clever marketing ploy, especially worn by Zendaya, who’s known for her show-stopping red carpet looks that she oftentailors to whatever project she’s promoting.
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What Does the “I TOLD YA” T-Shirt Mean in ‘Challengers’?
The “I TOLD YA” T-shirt first makes an appearance when Art and Tashi are at Stanford, and he invites her to lunch to try to plant seeds of doubt about her relationship with Patrick, who is already on tour as a professional tennis player. Tashi sees right through his attempts to sabotage their relationship, and it doesn’t phase her when Art tells her Patrick doesn’t love her, as she was never looking for that in the first place. Shortly after, the shirt reappears, again worn by Tashi, when Patrick visits her at Stanford. They start hooking up in her dorm room, thoughTashi’s idea of foreplayis telling Patrick how he can improve his game, while he would rather focus on the task at hand.
Tashi goes cold when Patrick refuses to listen to her advice and kicks him out, so she can do her pre-match routine, but not before Patrick clarifies who exactly he is to her. Tashi needs to be in control of her relationships, and Patrick refuses to be just another member of her fan club, asserting that he is in fact her peer and nothing less.He storms out, now wearing the shirt himself, suggesting it belonged to him all along.Later that day, Tashi injures her knee during her match, and Patrick shows up to the training room where she’s being treated, still wearing the shirt, which comes across as Patrick trying to kick her while she’s down with a cruel reminder of their fight from earlier.
The “I TOLD YA” T-Shirt Is All About Power
The next time the shirt appears fully solidifies its use as a visual indicator of who exactly has the power.Years later, we see Tashi training Art in preparation for the Atlanta Open, and Patrick shows up, again wearing the shirt, and watches silently from the stands. It’s a reminder of his former relationship with Tashi, and, as the shirt spells out quite plainly, he was right all along about what she wanted in a relationship — someone she could control. While Patrick walked away because Tashi didn’t see him as her equal, Art was happy to swoop in and pick up the pieces, having been pining over Tashi all along. Unlike Patrick, Art is willing to let Tashi walk all over him, leading to a marriage that resembles more of a coach/player relationship than that between a husband and wife.
The shirt makes its final appearance later that same day when Patrick spots Tashi sitting alone in the hotel bar. At this point, Art and Tashi are engaged and Art’s career is on the rise; but when Patrick shows up, the sexual tension is palpable. In a way, this encounter levels the playing field between them.Patrick wearing the shirt all those years later, to a tournament he knows Art is playing, shows he’s still holding on to the past,something Tashi would likely see as a weakness were she not dissatisfied with her relationship with Art and clearly still attracted to Patrick. We later find out Art knew about this affair but never let on, confirming that the power struggle at the heart ofChallengerswas really between Tashi and Patrick all along, while he remained a bystander.
Zendaya is right,Challengersdoesbenefit from multiple viewings, and aside from being a fun symbol to track as it travels around the film, the “I TOLD YA” T-shirt is also emblematic of the film’s sense of humor. There’s no subtlety to the shirt with its massive block letters, and even just spelling “you” as “ya” makes the phrase more informal and tongue-in-cheek.Even the phrase itself, often used to assert a sense of self-righteousness over someone who didn’t take your advice, is Tashi and Patrick’s relationship in a nutshell.
Challengersis in theaters now.
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