BATTLE OF THE SEXES

The year is 1973 - women are paid less than men, and gay people are still closeted out of shame and fear of disownment. No, wait, that’s 2017... no 1973... wait...okay, okay, I think I’ve got it. We’re currently living in 2017 but the film I just saw is set in 1973 and it seems that in the 44 years since the events depicted in said film, nothing and everything has changed. But what could inspire such a change? They called it the ‘Battle of the Sexes’.

In the early 70s Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) was the number one tennis player in the world and a formidable advocate for equal pay and women’s liberation. Angry at the extreme lack of respect and equality towards female tennis players, she was black-balled from the USLTA and started her own women’s tennis tour. At the same time, self-proclaimed male chauvinist, former tennis great and compulsive gambler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was in need of a win. He was quite the showman, and with his reputation as a chauvinist (one of his better qualities) he cooked up the Battle of the Sexes exhibition match in search/need of regained fame and glory. At 29 years old, King was also battling demons - she was a fierce competitor who strived for nothing less than the best. She also struggled with her sexuality as she was married at the time and coming out would mean the loss of endorsements, reputation and career. Challenging the sports and male establishments head on, the Battle of the Sexes ended up being so much more than a money-and audience-grabbing spectacle to entertain the masses and the chance to shut up a bored senior tennis player.