I watched Venus Vs. I actually watched it twice: once when it aired on Tuesday night and again with Sharon and Jack on Wednesday night. This is the first film in a new series from ESPN films. Called Nine for IX (as in Title IX), the series includes films about women made by women.
The film looks at Venus' career and her fight for equal pay at Wimbledon. The documentary has some great footage of Venus as a kid. I didn't realize that she and her sister were raised in Compton. Whenever I hear a reference to Compton, I think about Straight Outta Compton and the images from the 30 for 30 film Straight Out L.A.
I particularly enjoyed the part of the film that examined the rise of Venus' career. There is some remarkable footage of her playing against Lindsey Davenport in the Wimbledon finals. While Venus is 6' 1", Davenport is almost 6' 3".
I thought the interviews talking about the equal pay for men and women got a tad bit repetitious. Nevertheless, there is a very powerful segment of video from the English Parliament in the middle of the film.
I don't follow tennis. I didn't realize how successful Venus had been at Wimbledon; five of her seven Grand Slam championships came there. I enjoyed the film and recommend it.
Venus Vs is available on iTunes.
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