The Battle of Fact and Fiction: A Contrast Between the 2017 Film

Abstract

The date is September 20, 1973, 30,472 spectators and ninety million people across the world were glued to their televisions to watch Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs compete in a coveted tennis match at the Astrodome for a cash prize of $100,000. The match was a spectacle at its time as King defeated the 55-year-old Riggs in three straight sets. Although a plethora of matches before and after this have been coined “a battle of the sexes,” this match is regarded as a critical milestone for second-wave feminism. In this paper, I will be comparing the 1973 Battle of Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs to the 2017 film “Battle of the Sexes”, on which it is based. In my analysis paper, in addition to comparing the two pieces of media, I will be discussing the momentous events of both the film and the real events of the match and discussing why Battle of the Sexes is important in terms of gender equality in sports