Review of Gender Wars (2015) by Peter G — 07 Oct 2017

First, the movie should be rated R due to the lesbian sex scenes. As a parent, it definitely is not appropriate for anyone who is not an adult.

Second, the title is misleading in that it really isn't a true "Battle of The Sexes" factually and in the film. Factually, King was 29 years old and the no. 1 women's player in 1973. The no. 1 men's player in the world at the time was Illie Nastase of Romania, who won the French Open that year and, at 6'0", would have overpowered and crushed the 5'5" King.

Serena Williams with her 22 grand slam singles titles to King's 12 is a much stronger player and even she admitted that Andy Murray would beat her 6-0, 6-0. Seriously, a true "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973 would have had Nastase crushing King 6-0, 6-0 in short fashion.

Instead, Riggs, once a fine pro player was 55 years old in 1973 - certainly old enough to be King's father. So it would have been more accurate to title it "No. 1 Women's Tennis Player Versus Guy Old Enough To Be Her Dad." AT 5'7" and 26 years older than King and not even on a senior tour, this hardly fits the bill of "Battle of the Sexes.".

The other issue is that, unlike the film titled "Borg/McEnroe" which focuses on their epic 1980 Wimbledon final, this film is focused on King's sexuality and the women's rights movement which is misleading to film goers. There are quite a few lesbians in women's tennis so why does King's sexual life deserve our attention? Furthermore, aside from the carnival atmosphere created by this ridiculous event, why should a film be made of it? Remember, people loved the Gong Show as well in the '70s so what does that say about the time?

A more interesting film, I believe, would be about how Riggs threw the match for the mob. It is undisputed that Riggs had a gambling problem, as covered in the film, and that he did not train for the match, perhaps because he knew he would lose anyway in advance. But I don't believe there will ever be such a film because some people want to believe in fantasy rather than truth.