What I Watched -- Battle of the Sexes

Another true life sports story, S and I watched Battle of the Sexes, which we stumbled across on a recent trip to the library.  I was on board right away, because I adore Emma Stone, who played Billie Jean King.

Billie, in 1973, reluctantly accepted an invitation to play a tennis match against Bobby Riggs, and former champion nearly twice her age, but a misogynistic braggart who was certain that a woman could never beat a man.  The match was played in Houston and broadcast in prime time.  By all accounts, there was exactly as much circus pageantry around the real match as there was in the movie.

There is also the issue of Billie's girlfriend.  Though she was married to a (very understanding) man, she met a woman while she was traveling on the tennis circuit, and they nurtured their relationship when they could.  It was still several years before same-sex relationships were publicly acceptable, especially for someone representing women as a whole in such an open and notorious way.

Bottom line: an interesting historical moment, captured in an entertaining film.