TV and movie

Inspired by Hamilton's history lesson, Black-ish premiered with an episode about Juneteenth, complete with a Schoolhouse Rock-like cartoon and songs staged like Broadway. I mostly liked it, though the beginning talking about Christopher Columbus myths reminded me of their past shitty episode about replacing Columbus Day with Daddy's Day. So again it felt partly like the writers criticizing Columbus Day while ignoring the fact that many people want that day changed to Indigenous People's Day. Please acknowledge that, Black-ish, or stop revisiting the Columbus Day well.

I find it also sad that Dre complains about Juneteenth being ignored by his coworkers. Who cares what your coworkers think? Do you need their approval to take a holiday that day? Maybe it's because he lives in California, rather than Texas where there's already Juneteenth parades and such every year. But just because the Johnsons have to celebrate privately doesn't mean it's a "fake" holiday without meaning. I did like the joke about hibiscus tea and strawberry soda, though.


Meanwhile I saw Battle of the Sexes. It was enjoyable, funny, and underrated. I loved Sarah Silverman's character and how the women tennis players started their own tournament because of pay discrimination in Jack Kramer's league. There was even complexity to Bobby Riggs; his chauvinistic antics on the tennis court was mere showboating, a comedy act trying to get respect and win back his wife. (I kind of didn't understand the thread about his older son not showing up for the final game, though. He felt the vitamin guy was taking over too much? But he still wanted dad to win?)

Though the movie took creative license with Billie Jean King's first lover Marilyn, I liked that the gay costume designers helped and supported her, assuring her that someday everyone would be able to come out of the closet. Billie Jean's husband Larry seemed to be wilfully in denial about his wife cheating on him, but at one point he did speak to Marilyn, emphasizing that Billie Jean's true love was tennis, and that anyone who got in the way of that would be gone. In real life, it seems that Larry was able to stay friends with his ex-wife after she came out of the closet.