Battle of the Sexes

King begins a same-sex relationship with Marilyn Barnett while she is married to Larry. The film shows her attraction, secrecy, fear of losing sponsors, and conflict about her public image. The filmmakers link her private identity struggle to her public fight for equal pay and respect. The relationship is a sympathetic and visible subplot with intimate scenes. The tennis match remains the main event, so this theme is important but not the whole movie.

King repeatedly faces a male-led tennis system that pays women far less and treats their work as less valuable. Kramer and other men defend old gender roles, while King challenges their control of the sport. The film also mocks Riggs’s public sexism and the men who cheer him on. The criticism stays tied to the 1970s tennis world and does not become a broad attack on Western society or capitalism.

A conservative review called the movie “woke cinema” and said it preached women’s equality and gay rights. Another right-leaning review said some conservatives found it too woke, even though its writer enjoyed the history. Some audience reviews also objected to making King’s sexuality a major subplot. The complaints were limited to scattered reviews and online comments, with no large boycott or organized campaign.

Dayton and Faris mostly make character-focused stories about personal relationships. Beaufoy often writes about class hardship and people who overcome difficult odds. Boyle adds a mild left-leaning signal and has spoken about cultural care in creative work. The supplied creator context does not show a strong repeated pattern of DEI, identity, or queer activism.