King Richard
King Richard tells the true story of the man who raised Venus and Serena Williams to be champions. After watching the movie on Sunday night, Sibo, Mo and Elzita Beukes (from DSTV) had a riveting chat in studio on Monday morning. The 2021 movie, starring Will Smith, has won various awards including Smith’s Academy Award for Best Actor.
The film left a lasting impression on Sibo and a “nuance” on Mo (IYKYK). Richard Williams was, in Mo’s words, “a difficult man” with big dreams for his family. The movie shares some of his own childhood circumstances that made him the person and father that he is.
“You do not just wake up and you’re great,” Sibo decided. Success requires sacrifice. In the film, Richard is intentional and systematic in his planning for his children’s futures making huge personal sacrifices. He encourages them to plan ahead and journal their intentions, instilling good habits at a young age. He even has the girls do media training early on in preparation for their success.
Elzita noted that as parents, we should “have big dreams for our kids”. Richard shows how a parent can set their kids up with the best foundation and then trust them to make great decisions. Richard and his wife, Brandy, struggle against the tennis culture of the time (as an African American family in a caucasian dominated sport) and suffer accusations regarding their parenting.
About the film, Serena Williams has said: “I think it was a great opportunity to see how amazing African-American fathers are. A lot of black men aren’t seen in that light. And a lot of people think that my dad was a different character. He wanted us to have fun first over anything. That’s the thing that I loved most.”
Catch the Sunday night movie on M-Net channel 102 or on Catch-up and join Sibo and Elzita every Monday morning at 7:30 for their take.