美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Battle Of The Sexes' Poised To Be A Crowd-Pleaser All Over Again

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The movie "Battle Of The Sexes" takes its title from a tennis match that helped define the 1970s - Bobby Riggs versus¹ Billie Jean King. The match drew an enormous audience. More than 90 million people watched it on TV. It was widely seen as a proxy² battle over feminism. Now with Steve Carell and Emma Stone trading serves, critic Bob Mondello says "Battle Of The Sexes" is poised³ to be a crowd pleaser all over again.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁴: It's 1970. Billie Jean King is a top-seeded player and a major draw at tennis tournaments, so she bridles⁵ at men being offered eight times the prize money she is.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BATTLE OF THE SEXES")

EMMA STONE: (As Billie Jean King) It says here that you're offering the men's winner $12,000 and 1,500 to the women's.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) The men's prize needs to be that high to attract the best players. We're trying to make this the most prestigious⁶ tournament in America.

SARAH SILVERMAN: (As Gladys Heldman) And paying the women less than ever makes it more prestigious.

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) What's your argument, Jack⁷?

BILL PULLMAN: (As Jack Kramer) That men are simply more exciting to watch. They're faster.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Fact.

PULLMAN: (As Jack Kramer) And they're stronger.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Fact.

PULLMAN: (As Jack Kramer) And they're more competitive.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Just a fact.

PULLMAN: (As Jack Kramer) It's not your fault. It's just biology.

MONDELLO: Taking that as a challenge, King and eight other women players start their own circuit, getting suspended from the Lawn Tennis Association but quickly catching⁸ on with fans, which gives three-time world champion Bobby Riggs an idea. At 55, he is long past his athletic⁹ prime. He's also sorely missing the limelight, though. So he wakes up King with a midnight phone call while she's on tour to propose this.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BATTLE OF THE SEXES")

STEVE CARELL: (As Bobby Riggs) You and me, Billie Jean - three sets, five sets - your choice.

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) Are you drunk, Bobby?

CARELL: (As Bobby Riggs) No, of course not. How about this - male chauvinist¹⁰ pig versus hairy legged feminist¹¹ - no offense¹². You're still a feminist, right?

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) No, I'm a tennis player who happens to be a woman.

CARELL: (As Bobby Riggs) And I am a tennis player who says that he can beat any woman on the planet. Think of the publicity¹³ that we'd get. Think of the money.

MONDELLO: She says no. But when he clobbers¹⁴ another woman's champ, King understands the stakes. Riggs has nothing to lose. Women's tennis has lots to lose. So she accepts his challenge. And as he serves up insults, she returns every volley.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BATTLE OF THE SEXES")

CARELL: (As Bobby Riggs) Don't get me wrong. I love women in the bedroom and in the kitchen.

(LAUGHTER)

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) Keep talking, Bobby. The more nonsense you spout¹⁵, the worse it's going to be when you lose.

(LAUGHTER)

CARELL: (As Bobby Riggs) Well, I'm the ladies' number one. I'm the champ. Why would I lose?

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) 'Cause dinosaurs¹⁶ can't play tennis.

MONDELLO: Advantage King. The film is directed appropriately enough by a mixed-gender¹⁷ pair, Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton. They're the folks who made the Oscar-nominated "Little Miss Sunshine" a few years back. And they bring a similar interest in the personal to this film. They show Steve Carell's Bobby Riggs chafing¹⁸ at an emasculating marriage, for instance, to make sense of his trying to assert male superiority. And they have Emma Stone dive into the more complicated backstory of Billie Jean King's marriage, devoted¹⁹ to her husband even as a hairdresser upends her life.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BATTLE OF THE SEXES")

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) It doesn't matter. Can you just get it out of my face?

ANDREA RISEBOROUGH: (As Marilyn Barnett) You don't care about how you look, someone as pretty as you?

STONE: (As Billie Jean King) I'm not pretty. I mean I don't - thank you for saying that. What's your name again?

MONDELLO: Keeping this blossoming affair under wraps was essential in the 1970s, a compromise King made in a quest for gender equality. The film is nicely even-handed as it lays out that quest and clever in illustrating²⁰ it. At one point, sportscaster Howard Cosell, who died some two decades ago, is seen with his arm around one of the film's performers, a bit of digital wizardry that connects that era with ours, as does the script. Back in the 1970s, Billie Jean King knew well that the battle she was engaged in was bigger than she was. And as upbeat and entertaining as it undeniably is, "Battle Of The Sexes" sees that battle as ongoing²¹. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF NICHOLAS BRITELL'S "ONE DOLLAR - PRESS CONFERENCE")

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

3 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 bridles   

约束( bridle的名词复数 )； 限动器； 马笼头； 系带

参考例句：

• The horses were shod with silver and golden bridles. 这些马钉着金银做的鉄掌。

6 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

9 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

10 chauvinist   

n.沙文主义者

参考例句：

• I don't know how she can live with him;he's such a male chauvinist pig!我真不理解她怎么能与他一起生活，他是个典型的大男子主义者。
• How can you do the Muslim chauvinist thing?你怎么能做穆斯林沙文主义的事情？

11 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

12 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

13 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

14 clobbers   

n.狠揍， （不停）猛打( clobber的名词复数 )；彻底击败v.狠揍， （不停）猛打( clobber的第三人称单数 )；彻底击败

参考例句：

• A digital file by today's desktop scanners simply clobbers the sharpness of a typical consumer DSLR. 以现今的扫描器，在锐利度上一张35mm的底片远远超过典型的数位单眼。 来自互联网

15 spout   

v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱

参考例句：

• Implication in folk wealth creativity and undertaking vigor spout.蕴藏于民间的财富创造力和创业活力喷涌而出。
• This acts as a spout to drain off water during a rainstorm.在暴风雨季，这东西被用作喷管来排水。

16 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

18 chafing   

n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒

参考例句：

• My shorts were chafing my thighs. 我的短裤把大腿磨得生疼。 来自辞典例句
• We made coffee in a chafing dish. 我们用暖锅烧咖啡。 来自辞典例句

19 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

20 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

21 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。