On September 16th, I headed over to Westwood for the world premiere of Battle of the Sexes starring Steve Carrell and Emma Watson to name a few. Prior to researching the movie for the premiere, I knew Battle of the Sexes was a movie about tennis but I was not aware that it was a true story about tennis legends Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Directors Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Davis (known for Little Miss Sunshine) thought it was a timely movie because of we had the first female Presidential candidate and a renewed passion for female equality.
Battle of the Sexes is a fairly accurate or as Billie Jean King would say, 99% accurate of the essence of the actual events, of the 1973 tennis match between Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrell) and Billie Jean King (Emma Stone). In three straight sets, King beats Riggs on live television. The true idea of “girl power” happened that day and we continue to celebrate and work for more of it.
Not only did King inspire girls and women all over the world that women were equal to men and it was an idea worth fighting for but also that traditional relationships between men and women were not the only way. King was exploring her relationship and friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough).
One of my favorite interviews of the night was with Martha MacIssac who played Peaches, one of the “Original 9′ female tennis players:
It was also really cool to chat with some athletes that came out to support their fellow female athletes like Laila Ali and Coco Vandeweghe:
It was a fantastic red carpet and more importantly a great movie inspired by real events and real history. It is amazing to see how far we have come with equality between men and women in the last 30-40 years but that we still have so far to go. Women to this day do not make equal pay to men.
I cannot wait to see this movie again this weekend, out tomorrow September 22nd in 7 theaters and then nationwide on September 29th!