Battle of the Sexes (2017)

[starri]

Fresh off her Oscar win, Emma Stone is Billie Jean King fighting against Steve Carrell's Bobby Riggs in a story about the infamous tennis match between the two.

And it's not glossing over King's female lover, either.  Looks like a lot of fun.

[tinaw]

I remember this when it was happening. I jumped up and down when Billie Jean won.

Can't wait to see this

[raezen]

I've already seen people comparing Steve Carrell in this to his Michael Scott. TBH I didn't think of Michael Scott, well, not much, when I saw this. Too many of Bobby's digs are clearly intentionally placed to get a rise. Michael Scott was so oblivious in his nature and here,,, no. There is definitely some poking the bear tactics going on.

[starri]

I don't know if I care about that.  He's a very good physical match for Riggs, certainly moreso than Paul Giamatti and Will Ferrell who were attached to two other BotS projects that ultimately didn't go anywhere.  And he's certainly got the skeeviness down cold.

I always like seeing Sarah Silverman in serious roles, so that's a plus too.

[Athena]

I am looking forward to this as I like both actors. Watching the trailer, I only kept remembering how Carrell played Stone's father in Crazy, Stupid Love. All in all, it does look like it'll be a lot of fun.

[Spartan Girl]

Oh how I long for the days when sexism was punished by karma.

[shaggylives]

It's the story of an out of shape, over the hill blow hard, barely getting beat by one of the best female tennis players of all time in her prime.   People that knew nothing about sports rejoiced while sports fans solidified their assumptions that pro women athletes do not belong on the same stage as pro men athletes.  Can't wait until they make the next movie of a WNBA championship team wins in overtime against a 50 and up YMCA team.

[starri]

The out-of-shape over the hill blowhard had just beaten the actual top-ranked woman in the world, Margaret Court.

Just saying.

[BetterButter]

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, shaggylives said:

 Can't wait until they make the next movie of a WNBA championship team wins in overtime against a 50 and up YMCA team.

If that 50 and up YMCA team acted the way Bobby Riggs acted, then I'd certainly be celebrating.  Perhaps not because of any physical accomplishment, but because the defeat would take their pregame behavior and shove it down their throats, making them look even more ridiculous in retrospect. 

[starri]

I was going to say that the use of "Dream On" in the trailer as an anachronism, but it turns out it was released the same year.

[shaggylives]

19 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

If that 50 and up YMCA team acted the way Bobby Riggs acted, then I'd certainly be celebrating.  Perhaps not because of any physical accomplishment, but because the defeat would take their pregame behavior and shove it down their throats, making them look even more ridiculous in retrospect. 

I would be surprised if any male athletes were cheering for Bobby.  He was a troll,  If the title of the movie was something like "The Crushing of a Troll" it would be more suitable.   Battle of the Sexes implies both people represented their respective sex.

21 hours ago, starri said:

The out-of-shape over the hill blowhard had just beaten the actual top-ranked woman in the world, Margaret Court.

Just saying.

That doesn't make the argument against him being out of shape.  When was the last time he had beat an ranked male player?

[starri]

Except, again, for the assumption that an out-of-shape man would beat a woman in her prime.  Because he'd beaten another woman in her prime six months before.

[shaggylives]

On 6/24/2017 at 11:09 AM, starri said:

Except, again, for the assumption that an out-of-shape man would beat a woman in her prime.  Because he'd beaten another woman in her prime six months before.

He hadn't played a ranked male player in 20 years.  He was 55 and looked every bit of 55.  Using an example that he beat a woman in her prime as to say he must not have been out of shape is like saying if one basketball bounces higher than another, it must be aired up properly.   Some people ignorant of sports think there is a WNBA and WPGA because women aren't allowed in the NBA and PGA.  On the contrary, women can attempt the NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, MLS etc.  The problem is, the top .01% of women athletes, aren't as big, strong and fast as the top 1% of male athletes.  Women can compete at the same level as men in skill and endurance but when size, strength and speed are important, the odds are stacked again female athletes.

Edited June 26, 2017 by shaggylives

[kiddo82]

There are also the rumors that Riggs intentionally threw the match due to gambling debts.  Obviously the article doesn't prove anything (and to be fair, doesn't necessary try to other than bringing Mr. Shaw's statements into light) but I think it's enough to cast a legitimate doubt on the spectacle.  And I know just as well as anyone that people, particularly when it comes to sports, will try to belittle the achievements of women so for those rumors to swirl should come as a shock to no one.  However, for OTL (which does a lot of good investigative sports journalism) to publish something so damning to something that so many people hold dear does give one pause. 

Edited September 16, 2017 by kiddo82

[Shannon L.]

On 6/23/2017 at 8:43 AM, shaggylives said:

People that knew nothing about sports rejoiced while sports fans solidified their assumptions that pro women athletes do not belong on the same stage as pro men athletes.

I have just seen the movie and I need to address this again.  I didn't realize that the event happened when I was 5 and therefore, everything I "remembered" was people telling me about it a few years later and not as it happened.  I hadn't heard anything about the spectacle, so in my head it was "a girl beat a guy.  Yay!"  It was certainly a fascinating story.  I understand what you mean about him being a troll and out of his prime and her at her peak, but having seen the story, it really did seem to be more about the mentality than physicality.  I think it was important for women that she beat him and, if the story is to be believed, then there were more than a few men who had a lot riding on his win (not just monetarily, either).  The women really were fighting some major chauvinism,  Bobby's amped up antics aside.  I really hope he didn't throw it, because it would make her point about equal rights pointless.

As for the movie itself, I enjoyed it, although it wasn't as exciting as other sports movies (but then again, I hate watching tennis even today when it's more powerful than it was 40+ years ago).  Emma and Steve did a great job and Sarah Silverman had a fun part.  I'm pretty sure they were using live footage for most of the match (that's probably been known for a while, but I don't read entertainment sites, so....), which, if true, was cool.  I really liked her ex-husband and the relationship that they had even after their marriage ended. 

[WritinMan]

The original event wasn't very interesting. Can't imagine that a movie about it will be any better.

[Ubiquitous]

The event was a bit before my time, but I assume it was some sort of publicity stunt with a predetermined outcome.

[starri]

17 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

The event was a bit before my time, but I assume it was some sort of publicity stunt with a predetermined outcome.

No.  In fact, Riggs had recently done the same thing against another top-ranked woman's player, Margaret Court, and won the match.

[Chaos Theory]

I do think it’s kind of funny that men tend to belittle the accomplishment and believe the conspiracy theory which reeks of truther bullshit. Despite his gambling addiction Riggs had more to gain by winning the match then losing.  There was a rematch in the cards if he won and beating King could have revived his career.   Plus she didn’t “barely” beat him.  She won every match and had him running the whole time.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Chaos Theory
Wow spellcheck is not my friend

[theatremouse]

For me the least interesting (or important part) of the movie was the actual match. They were just using that as a structure to revolve around. At least that's how it played to me. My main takeaway (not that I didn't already know) was:

A) Billie Jean King is a fucking badass.

B) It's only been 45 years since she founded the WTA, having told the main tennis body at the time to go shove it. They threatened her with not being able to play in slams, and now the main stadium at the US Open is fucking named for her.

She only played the match to shut him up. The whole thing was calculated and I don't think the movie suggested otherwise. It was presented because it was context for all the other stuff going on at the same time.