How to L0ve
How to L0ve (2021)
Created, starring and written by: Robert Cunningham
We love stories about tennis. It’s cinematic. There’s constant motion and action, brimming with sexual tension. We see this most recently in the film Challengers, which grossed nearly $100 million in worldwide box office receipts.
Yet we never focus on the people who make the game possible: ball people. These people support players by fetching and giving the ball to the players, saving us all time. Like the more often represented “towel boys” in other sports, it’s unglamorous, almost invisible labor.
In How to L0ve, Robert Cunningham puts a spotlight on these workers: young, diverse teens who are super-fans of the sport. They know all the players, not just the Williams sisters, and aspire to one day catch balls at the U.S. Open. In the pilot episode, we learn such an opportunity has emerged! The friends must compete with each other for a spot.
Funded by pop star Halsey’s Black Creators Funding Initiative, How to L0ve wrings all the comedy out of this somewhat ridiculous job. It should come as no surprise that a show about “ball people” is full of sexual humor, of the sort rarely open to queer/people of color in mainstream TV comedies.
In one episode, the ball players write sexy love notes like “DTF” (Down To Fuck) on the balls to seduce a player they’re crushing on. But the player thinks his sparring partner wrote it, and they get together never knowing the ball people were flirting with him. A testament to their invisibility!
In the episode, “mASSterclASS” the ball people take turns photographing their butts in the style of Nikki Minaj’s “Anaconda” cover. “Everyone has an ass, so everyone should love ass,” Xia (Felicia Oduh) says. “Eat or be eaten,” LT (Robert Cunningham) retorts in a nod to the Black/queer slang “eat” or do very well, showing how great you look or perform. (“LT” stands for “Left Testicle,” a nickname Robert’s character only partially consents to).
It’s not all fun and games. How to L0ve also lightly touches on serious issues. In the third episode “My Netta,” Xia tries to find kinship with V.V. Voorhies (Allie Woodson)--a Black female player ranked 169th in the world. The player is feeling a lot of pressure to perform.
“Not having to work twice as hard to get half of what they get,” Xia says, empathically. It’s a phrase many Black people use to discuss the increased expectations racism puts on us.
“This isn’t about race. This is about Saved by the Bell.”
“What?”
“You know the show, Saved by the Bell? You know the Black girl in that show? She’s my cousin, Lark Voorhees. No matter what I achieve or how good I am at tennis, I’ll always be second to Lark!”
Robert’s smart writing is always looking for the joke, keeping the tone light. This is, after all, a show about people who catch calls for a living, who are both the closest and farthest from sports fame.