January 12, 2024,
You’ve heard these words to describe the women there.
Even if you haven’t been there.
Which means you should visit there. At least once. Here we go.
Enchanting.
Elegant.
Classy.
Refined.
Mesmerizing.
Beautiful.
English ladies. British women. British actresses.
We can’t get enough of them.
And Session Women. We can’t get enough of them either. Apparently the world can’t as well.
Let’s talk about a tennis player. Emma Raducanu.
Emma Raducanu MBE is a British professional tennis player who reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on July 11, 2022, and is a former British No. 1.
Our luminary is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships.
She made her WTA Tour debut in June 2021.
Her ascent was swift and bold.
With a wildcard entry at Wimbledon, ranked outside the top 300, she reached the fourth round in her first major tournament.
Here is the one we most remember her for.
At the 2021 US Open, Emma became the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a major singles title, beating Leylah Fernandez in the final without dropping a set during the tournament.
Did you just understand the gravity of that?
She went through an entire Grand Slam event without losing one set.
It was the second major tournament of her career, and she holds the Open Era record for the fewest majors played before winning a title.
Now, as great as that is, currently, here is what Emma, our British darling, is really getting known for.
Look at the headlines.
The informative news and information source telegraph.co.uk posted, “Emma Raducanu stands at No 6 in the new Forbes list of the world's highest-paid tennis players, with estimated annual earnings of $15.3 million (£12.2 million). This is 180 places above her world ranking, which underlines Raducanu's remarkable marketability.”
And another.
According to sportsmanor.com, “Post US Open victory, a sports agent told, “She can easily earn £100 million or more. She appeals to a broad crowd and is so young she can only get better. The offers have already been pouring in. She’s the biggest thing in sports right now. The sky’s the limit.” (via Daily Mail).
By comparison, according to the official WTA website, Emma’s 2023 tennis earnings in prize money is $237,627. They add that she is currently ranked 194 in the world.
See what we mean?
Beautiful British women mesmerize and captivate.
Then there are those incredible British actresses. Too many to name but here are two, perhaps for some, a little off the radar, who stand out.
Hannah Rae is a young fresh faced British beauty who may not stand out, but is outstanding.
You have to watch a lot of films shot in the UK to recognize her. Let’s go through a couple of them.
She came to prominence in her 2016 feature film debut City of Tiny Lights, for which she was nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the British Independent Film Awards.
City of Tiny Lights is a 2016 British crime thriller film directed by Pete Travis and written by Patrick Neate, based on his own 2005 novel of the same name. Set in London, it tells the story of a private detective who investigates the disappearance of a Russian prostitute.
It is a film where, much is not what it seems to be, and the plot thickens as the danger rises.
Sounds enticing.
Hannah’s next offering, even more so.
(Hannah - right)
Carmilla is a 2019 British romantic vampire horror film written and directed by Emily Harris in her feature directorial debut.
Based on the 1871 novella of the same name by Sheridan Le Fanu, it stars Jessica Raine, Hannah Rae, Devrim Lingnau, Tobias Menzies, and Greg Wise.
The film follows a lonely girl (Lara) preyed upon by the titular vampire.
See what we mean by intrigue?
So, we watched the film.
We didn’t feel that the girl was preyed upon. It was more like Carmilla, the supposed Vampire, filled a void that was missing. We thought about raising children, which Hannah’s character felt more like here, and the importance of trying to provide them with a well-rounded life.
In the film, the governess was too strict, laid down too many rules and didn’t appear to care about Lara’s emotional needs. Besides that, she had her own baggage from a disappointing life and appeared to lay her packages of missed opportunities down at Lara’s doorstep.
The young woman’s mother had passed away years ago. She spent so much time alone. So when this vibrant young girl comes along as a friend, how was Lara supposed to act?
We caution you.
The ending is very sad. Still, you should watch it.
Here is another young British actress that we are intrigued by.
Raffey Cassidy first appeared as a child actress in the television movie Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (2009), adding her first brief film role in Dark Shadows (2012), her first main cast television role in 32 Brinkburn Street (2011) and main cast film role in Tomorrowland (2015), a dual role in Vox Lux (2018), and her first top billing in The Other Lamb (2019).
That is quite a resume. Agree?
Vox Lux is a very heavy film. Too much to get into here.
What we will focus on is a film that has some parallels to our own experience.
The Other Lamb is a 2019 horror film directed by Małgorzata Szumowska.
Here is the basic storyline.
Selah is a teenage girl who is living in a remote forest compound belonging to a polygamist cult. The cult's messianic leader, the Shepherd, is the only male in the group. The women are divided into two groups: the younger Sisters, who dress in shades of blue, and the older Wives, who dress in reddish tones. The group raises sheep for food and sacrificial rituals. As she matures, Selah has become more of a focus of the Shepherd's attention, and she appears drawn to him. She frequently wonders about her mother, who died giving birth to her.
At some point, for sound reasons, Selah begins to question her life and the group she shares it with.
One of our associates was heavily involved in an International organized religion for over twenty years.
The storylines with groups, that some might describe as cults, is that when you are there, especially in the beginning, it is as though you found the meaning of life. They say things that make so much sense that you feel special.
You have found it and the rest of the world has not.
Many in the group are people you greatly admire.
Then the cracks begin to form.
They encourage you to be isolated from your family members and people of the world (anyone not a part of their organization). They say they are the only ones who God speaks to. The other religions are false. What happens over time is that, what they say and the outcomes of their guidance is not working and, most important, not matching up with your real life experiences.
Then one day our associate realized he had wasted his youth.
He didn’t live the life he wanted, he lived the life others told him he should want.
Movies about organizations that suck the life out of you and drive you to live a life that you ultimately find is not the one you want, due to personal experience, sadly, always resonates with us.
One more.
Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley is an English model.
She is best known for her work for lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret, formerly being one of their brand "Angels", for being the face of Burberry's 2011 brand fragrance Burberry Body, for her work with Marks & Spencer, and, most recently, for her artistic collaboration with denim-focused fashion brand Paige.
Completely gorgeous.
Are you ready for some action?
Moving into acting, she had supporting roles as Carly Spencer in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third installment in the Transformers film series, and as The Splendid Angharad in the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road.
Amazing.
Amazingly beautiful.
Were you able to escape? If only for the moment?
We hope so.
Think England.
In our fully competitive female submission wrestling articles, we often do.
There are so many beautiful reasons as to why.
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OPENING PHOTO Andrea-Piacquadio-pexels.com-photo fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com grapplingstars.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Huntington-Whiteley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Raducanu
https://www.wtatennis.com/players/328366/emma-raducanu
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Rae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Tiny_Lights