Sexism in “The Queen’s Gambit”
Chess player sues Netflix for five million dollars
Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon in “The Queen’s Gambit”.
© Netflix / Phil Bray
An ex-world chess champion takes Netflix into the legal knight’s fork because of “The Queen’s Gambit” and demands five million US dollars.
The Netflix production “The Ladies Gambit” is very well received by series fans. And the chess drama is also in the running for four prizes at the upcoming Emmys on Sunday (September 19). A woman in the field, however, can do little with the miniseries. Even more, the Georgian ex-world chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili (80) is suing according to the US site “Deadline” even the streaming provider because of an allegedly sexist and defamatory dialogue.
In the final of “The Queen’s Gambit”, the fictional chess genius Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy, 25) was the only woman to fight her way to the finals in the Soviet Union. One commentator sums it up in the series with the words: “The only unusual thing about her is her gender, and that is not uncommon in Russia either. There would be Nona Gaprindashvili, but as a female world champion she never competed against men.”
Gaprindashvili was disturbed by this formulation according to the court letter, the “deadline” is present, almost everything. She is not Russian, but “a popular icon in her home country Georgia”. And the fact that she has never dueled with men is “obviously wrong and also grossly sexist and degrading.” In 1968, when the final episode of the series takes place, she “measured herself against at least 59 male chess players, […] including at least ten grandmasters of that time. “
Legal battle seems inevitable
The allegation: Netflix “deliberately lied about Gaprindashvili’s achievements in order to create drama in a cheap and cynical way and to make it appear as if the fictional heroine had achieved something that no one has done before her.” At the end of the 25-page document, Gaprindashvili’s legal advisor is demanding US $ 5 million in compensation.
But Netflix doesn’t want to be checkmated that easily. According to a statement, “Deadline” says: Netflix has the greatest possible respect for Gaprindashvili and her glorious career. But we believe that these demands are unfounded and will vigorously defend our position. “