'Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer' premiers on HBO, Thursday, April 26. This promises to be good. King told the New York Times yesterday, "I'm pretty open, I'm not hiding anything. So I pretty much spilled my guts." ('A Complex Life Gets a Closer Look' / AOL Sports/New York Times)
Outsports reviews the film and points out these remarkable facts about King:
"The first female athlete to earn $100,000 in a year (which got her a congratulatory phone call from President Nixon). Winner of a record 20 Wimbledon titles. An ardent feminist who had an abortion in 1973 (and whose husband told Ms. Magazine about it, much to her chagrin). Best buds with Elton John (who wrote "Philadelphia Freedom" in her honor). Founder of the Women's Tennis Assn., which pushed for bigger paydays for women players. Married for years before being outed in 1981 in a palimony suit. Named by Life magazine as one of the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century. Whew."
King accomplished a great deal, although we still have a ways to go. Blogger Shakespeare's Sister cites an interesting commentary (via Feministing.com) about an astonishing gender discrepancy in the prize money at Wimbledon that exists even today: $1.17 million for the men's champion and $1.1 million for the women's.
That's just so wrong, which is exactly why a brave woman like Billie Jean King was so right, and still is.
Tune in. See Trailer, Schedule (HBO)
2 comments:
Looks good.....I'll have to check it out.
NJLB
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