Emma Stone Looks So Good In 'Battle of The Sexes'

If you thought your throwback photos were good, then you’re going to want to get a load of this. Apparently, nobody does throwbacks quite as masterfully as Emma Stone and Steve Carell. In the first image from Battle of the Sexes, Stone and Carell pose perfectly as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, the two tennis greats that went head-to-head in the exhibition match dubbed the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. And, seriously, they put every single throwback Thursday post you’ve ever made to shame. Even if it was a picture from the actual ‘70s. That’s how amazing these two look in the photo, posed in the period’s best as the two tennis greats who started a national conversation about equal pay, women in sports, and gender equality.

Really, there is so much to say about this picture and about what makes it such an amazing throwback, but I want to start with Carell’s sideburns. I want to start there, because they are amazing. All bushy and perfectly graying, they’re almost identical to Bobby Riggs’ own sideburns. Coming in at a close second is Stone’s haircut, which perfectly frames her face in the way that every single hair style in the ‘70s seemed to do. After that, it’s the clothing, of course. The winged necklines, the shiny polyester, and the buttons that just won’t stop. All together, these amazing stylistic choices make this photo so painfully ‘70s it’s hard to distinguish it from the real thing.

In addition to the amazing fashion choices of the 1970s, the movie will also highlight the personal battles of both Billie Jean King — the No. 2 ranked female tennis player at the time — and Bobby Riggs — a retired Wimbledon champion — during the time of the showcase. It will document this pivotal period in the history of gender equality and will highlight the early conversations about women in sports and equal pay. Starring Sarah Silverman as magazine founder Gladys Heldman, the woman who helped to organize other female tennis players into a women’s only circuit when she realized there was a huge disparity between what the women were being paid and what the men were being paid, the movie will dive deep into this formative time in our country’s history.

In other words, with both timely gender issues and fierce ‘70s style parading through the film, this is a movie to watch out for.