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“Battle of the Sexes”: Game, Set, Zeitgeist
By Sandra Olmsted
By 1970, women in any number of roles in society were demanding equality. They wanted to sign for their own loans, choose any careers, succeed on their own merit, and be paid the same as men for the same jobs. This was never more true than in the world of sports.
Before the Title IX era, women were second class citizens in the public, financial, employment, and especially sports arenas. In 1973, two tennis players, Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) played a tennis match purported to decide whether women were equal to men; the events of which are recreated in the new film Battle of the Sexes.
When women are offered only $1,000 prize money for the same tournament offering men $8,000, King and her business partner Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman) form the Women’s Tennis Assn. (WTA), despite threats of blacklisting by US Lawn Tennis Assn. boss Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman). Heldman eventually enlists Virginia Slims to sponsor the WTA circuit. Meanwhile, Billie Jean’s devoted husband Larry (Austin Stowell) handles business and home issues so that Billie Jean can play undistracted. During beauty parlor makeovers for the entire WTA team, Billie Jean meets Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough), a hairdresser, and suddenly surprises herself by being attracted to another woman. Their relationship became the source of many nasty rumors about King following the match.
When Riggs, who’s addicted to gambling, lands on a scheme to draw attention to himself, win big on betting, and tout his chauvinistic attitudes, he proposes the match to King, who initially turns him down. Then WTA star Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee) loses to the showboating Riggs, and King decides it is game on. While the 55-year-old Riggs parties confidently, King, with the support of friends and family, trains hard to win.
Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ignore the apologetics of rumors about King which circulated afterward, and focus instead on facts and the match itself. They also bring to light an earlier match between Riggs and Court. Although the results are history, even those who remember the outcome will feel the tension of the match and what is at stake during the film’s recreation of it.
Battle of the Sexes, a Fox Searchlight Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for some sexual content and partial nudity and runs a quick volley pace of 121 minutes. An interesting mix of nostalgic period piece, off-beat comedy, character-driven drama, and typically inspirational sports movie, Battle of the Sexes, which is in theaters now, resonates today regarding threats to women’s civil rights.
PHOTO CAPTION: Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) left in photo, and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) right in photo, star in Battle of the Sexes.
