Billie Jean King movie balances feminism, athleticism in legend's life

American media has claimed that tennis legend Billie Jean King's latest inspiring documentary 'American Masters

According to The Washington Post, King is fond of noting that she played with her whole body, which included her mind.

She had, and still very much has, a way of resolutely articulating her vision of equality for all, the report said.

The film begins with King's idyllic upbringing in Long Beach, California, where, as an athletic girl, she despaired of ever playing sports until a classmate invited her to play tennis at a members-only club, the report added.

The report further said that the movie rightly concentrates on sports culture more than sports stats.

'Billie Jean King' does a fabulous job of re-creating the excitement, tension and symbolic weight of the 'Battle of the Sexes' and also unpacks some of its residual effects on American life, according to the report.

The movie also talks about King's later challenges when her female assistant sued her and revealed that they had been lovers, and how she came out of the closet as a lesbian, at a great financial cost.