Battle of the Sexes
Billy Jean King’s victory on and off the court
It wasn’t always about Venus and Serena. Forty-four years after the fact, it’s hard to imagine that a tennis match would take over the national conversation, have families glued to their television sets, and change the public perception of women’s tennis forever. But thanks to the filmmakers behind Little Miss Sunshine and some magical casting, we get to relive the 1973 showdown between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King that deserved its larger than life title as The Battle of the Sexes.
Steve Carrell stars as Riggs, a former top player well past his prime but an avowed, self-promoting chauvinist who remains confident that his game is better than any woman’s. Academy Award-winner Emma Stone delivers a stunning performance in which she completely inhabits the complex emotional world of King at the time of this match. At 29, BJK is at the peak of her competitive powers having just won the Wimbledon Triple Crown (women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles). But off court, she’s struggling with her sexuality as her marriage falls apart and her first lesbian relationship develops.
Hype hardly describes the buildup to the event that set TV ratings records, but (spoiler!) King beat Riggs in three straight sets and the rest is, and will always be, history. The Battle of the Sexes opens on September 22nd.
