The Truth about the Movie "Love and Basketball"

The Truth about the Movie Love and Basketball

I remember being in the fifth grade and seeing this movie in theaters with my mom the week it was released. She put her hands over my eyes during the scene when Monica lost her virginity to Quincy. I remember re-watching it years later and seeing that scene, like, girl! My ten-year-old eyes could have watched that, lol. Especially considering the adult conversations I sat in on, that scene was child’s play. Nevertheless, in recent years I have seen many posts on social media suggesting this movie is trash. Monica had low self-esteem, and this was not the love story we initially thought it was. Although I do agree with some of those claims, I would like to argue that the love story was there. There were some underdeveloped moments in the writing that could have made things flow better. However, I would like to argue that this is still in fact a love story. For starters, we have not addressed the real villain of this story. Which in my opinion is Quincy’s mother. Because I think his mother was the true villain of this story while being a supporting character it allows the audience to focus their attention strictly on Monica and Quincy. Also, considering their love story was not the only theme of this movie should impose grace for how their love story developed and ended. For these reasons, I believe that is why so many people have decided to cancel this as a love story, but I still think it should be considered a good love story. Let me explain.

·        One of the major themes of this movie was to attack traditional gender roles. Another major parallel theme was basketball, the movie was broken into quarters to illustrate that their love story was essentially a basketball game. Keeping that in mind changes the outlook of the intended love story.  

·        The only reason this movie was credited as being the great love story was simply because of two scenes. 1. The scene when Monica has Quincy open her college acceptance letter and then she loses her virginity to him. There was an innocence in that scene that represented how pure their love was. 2. In the final scene when Quincy is holding their daughter and they are cheering Monica on as she prepares to play her game. Again, considering that one of the major themes of this movie was to attack traditional gender roles, the ending left a soft spot in the viewer’s heart. 

·        It can be argued that Quincy and Monica’s love and admiration for each other were established after their first encounter. During their first basketball game together, Quincy pushes Monica into the grass causing her face to bleed. Later, as Monica is cleaning her wound we see her look at the scar and smile in the mirror. Now, considering that she is labeled as a Tom Boy one would think she is proud of her scar because it represents that she is not a typical, soft, and gentle girl. Or, it could be argued that she smiles because the scar was given to her by Quincy. Then, we see a frustrated Quincy composing an apology letter to Monica for pushing her. Similar, to the previous scene, this moment could have a duality in its representation. It could be argued that Quincy simply has no desire to make this card for Monica and is then frustrated by the task. Or, it could be argued that he likes her so much that he wants to make it perfect for her. Considering that soon after he asks her to be his girlfriend, I would assume it was the second possibility. Not to mention, in previous scenes, once Monica’s mom informs her that Quincy will be walking with her to school the next day, she suddenly cares about the appearance of her hair. In that same scene, we then see Quincy basically spying on Monica and her sister. Therefore, the interest these two share for each other is established early on in the movie. As the movie progresses to Quarter Two the two are high school seniors and we still see their unspoken love and admiration for each other. For example, during Monica’s game, we see Quincy there with his friends it appears that he is not paying attention to the game but he is. Once Monica is removed from the game due to misconduct, Quincy leaves the game. We see Monica look up and roll her eyes at his departure. However, it could be argued that during this moment, his interest in being in attendance was only to see Monica play. Once she was removed from the game there was no reason for him to stay. (It’s givin “I’m just here to see my girl”) Before their spring dance. We do see more moments of Monica’s jealousy whenever Quincy is engaged with another woman and I think this contributes to why so many people are now saying Monica loved him more than he loved her. Yet, I would like to argue that I think their love was a mutual feeling.

·        Before I continue my argument over Monica and Quincy’s love. I want to touch on the real villain of this movie. Quincy’s mom. We see early on that she may have trapped Quincy’s father into marrying her. Early on in the movie, we see her and Quincy’s father hugging and playing around with each other. Their affection and physical attraction toward each other are evident. However, Quincy’s father says, “This is how your mom caught me. The ol’ fake and bake. Had me thinking I was catching a sister who could burn.” Now, it was presented as a joke, however, as we see how their marriage ends it is safe to assume there is some truth in his statement. We then see the decline in their marriage once his father retires from the NBA. The couple went from smiling and laughing with each other to fussing and arguing. Both we loudly heard throughout their home might I add. Also, I want to point out how it was only Quincy’s father who was at his basketball games. We see his father standing on the sideline alone without his wife as Quincy is playing his game. We then see his father lecture him on the importance of education versus the NBA. There is a scene when his mother asks him about his game but the movie does not present a logical explanation as to why his mother was not present. (We even see Monica’s mother at her games and she contends that the sport was dumb and unladylike) Quincy’s mother then warns Quincy about the girls he is engaging with and it could be argued that she is advising him from a place of experience. She mentions, “They only see dollar signs.” Yet, as his parent’s marriage declines it can be argued that she too only saw dollar signs when she met his father. “We have enough in savings to keep your fine ass in Gucci and gold.” Despite us seeing Quincy’s father at his game and seeing him counsel his son and the dynamic of their relationship, she then accuses him of not spending time with him or the family. Yet, she was the one absent from his game and we clearly see Quincy and his father’s relationship dynamic on screen.

·        This leads to my next point. There were parts of the writing that in my opinion were underdeveloped and Quincy’s disdain for his father was one of those moments. At the beginning of the movie, we see Quincy’s father pouring into Quincy more than his mother, yet, he completely disconnects from his father and makes decisions to spite his father because of his infidelity. However, during the scene when Quincy is in the hospital, we see that his mother has moved on with a new man, yet, she is still upset with the father. Also, the movie never confirmed if Quincy had another sibling or not and this was a monumental moment for Quincy’s disconnect and newfound hatred for his father. In my opinion that could have been written better. Then we see Quincy and his father share a moment in the hospital room but it still was not a solid reconciliation. Again, I think that was a bit underdeveloped. However, the demise of his parent’s marriage ultimately led to the disconnect between him and Monica, and I believe that if his parent’s divorce had been a bit more developed the love story would have flowed much better. We have to keep in mind that the dynamic of his parent’s marriage was always the lens Quincy saw his connection to Monica. Returning to the beginning of the movie, the two broke up at age eleven because Monica did not want to ride Quincy's bike with him. She wanted to ride her bike, and Quincy said, “But my dad always drives my mom around.” Again, I believe this is one of the elements surrounding Quincy and Monica’s love story that is now being criticized, however, the writing was underdeveloped. 

·        Now, I’m just going to bypass the entire break-up madness. Because, as I mentioned before I think the writing around their separation was underdeveloped. For instance, during the hospital scene, we see Quincy mention that he tried to call Monica and she blames it on her answering machine as to why the two did not speak. Again, I think that could have been written better, and had we seen subtle signs of Quincy during her time in Spain that would have made their reconciliation better. We then see Monica abandon the game and later learn it was because Quincy was no longer playing with her. Going back to one of the parallel themes of this movie being basketball and their love for the sport, I do think this could have been written better as well. Now, I have seen so many people criticize the play for your heart scene. Yes, I agree it would have been so much better had Quincy come after Monica. If Quincy had chased Monica down, and challenged her to the game it would have been better. However, I have to argue, that one of the major themes of this movie was to attack traditional gender roles. Therefore, it would have gone against one of the major themes of this movie had he done so.   

·        I believe Monica’s time in Spain was underdeveloped as well. We should have seen subtle signs of Quincy around this time to completely tie into the love element of this movie. Again, this love story had so much potential and in my opinion, what messed it up was the underdeveloped parts surrounding their lives after their breakup. When Quincy doubles her points after she plays for his heart, that part connects to a previous part of the movie where he explained that he lost on purpose so she could win to benefit their relationship. (When the couple played strip basketball in Quincy’s dorm room).

·        It was also a bit underdeveloped to me how Monica resented her mother yet admired her sister and both women operated with almost identical feminine energy. Perhaps it was because her sister had more acceptance and respect for how Monica chose to live her life. However, in the entire movie except for one scene, we see Monica and her mother bumping heads and simply not getting along. Monica resented how her mother waited on her father and believed the energy was not reciprocated. (Going back to the overall theme of this movie was to attack traditional gender roles and norms) Yet, I do believe it had to be her mother who told her to go after Quincy. Considering the writing of this movie she was the only character who could have suggested that. This again, falls into the overall message of the movie, which is to combat traditional gender roles and norms because the tradition was for the man to pursue the woman.  

Do I still love this movie? Yes. Do I think parts of this movie could have been written better to tell a complete love story? Again, yes. I don’t agree with a lot of the critique I have been seeing online suggesting that Monica did not know her value, or suffered from love self-esteem. Because Monica always chose herself. She chose herself when Quincy told her to ride on his bike. She chose herself when she left him so she could make curfew. She chose herself every time her mother criticized her appearance or behavior. Monica never conformed or reduced herself to being in a relationship with Quincy. Things were always on her terms. Even the “play for your heart scene”. I believe this movie did a great job establishing their love story and the influences surrounding their connection early on in the movie. However, Quarter Three in my opinion was underdeveloped and poorly written. I think if we saw subtle signs of Quincy when she was in Spain things would have connected better. Perhaps if he had been at her championship game, or sent her flowers, something, it would have made their reconnection better. I also think we deserved to see a much better reconciliation scene between him and his father. His father was his biggest advocate during his childhood then torn apart. Had his father pushed Monica onto Quincy the same way her mother pushed Quincy onto Monica that would have made their reconnection better. Because I believe quarter three was poorly written, consequential, and impacted the reconciliation scene. This may contribute to the recent criticism and enlightenment of this movie. Yet, I still consider this a love story and I still consider it a classic Black love story too. But I will argue that the only reason this movie was credited as a great love story is simply because of the two scenes I mentioned previously. The scene when the two had sex for the first time together and the final scene when we see the couple is now a complete family. In response to all the Love and Basketball slander I have seen recently online, all I have to say is, not too much on this movie, okay! Comment below which Black love story you want to see me analyze next!