The first thing I noticed were the opening credits. As each name came on screen, I started to realize that every person making this film appeared to be a woman, from the music supervisor (Miriam Cutler), to the cinematographer (Claudia Raschke), to the editor (Carla Gutierrez), to the co-directors and producers (Betsy West and Julie Cohen). So right at the outset, I knew this movie was taking a stand. Believe me, as a lady who watches a lot of movies, I am NOT used to seeing this level of female engagement behind the scenes, so it already gave me a frisson of delight to begin the movie in this fashion.
And then we dive right in to the wonderful and inspirational life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a woman who grew up in Brooklyn in the 1930s, went to Cornell, then to Harvard Law, worked with the ACLU to represent cases on sex discrimination and gradually chip away at gender inequality, until she was eventually appointed as justice on the appellate court by Jimmy Carter, and finally an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1993 by Bill Clinton. That is a whirlwind of accomplishment, but watching how she accomplished it is rather astonishing. I did not realize that Ginsburg is a small, quiet, and reserved woman, and to watch her dismantle gender inequality using her exquisite intelligence and strategic thinking is like watching the world's greatest Chess Grandmaster at play.
Behind every great woman is a man, and while this movie is emphatically about celebrating Ruth, I would be remiss if I didn't mention her shockingly feminist husband Marty, who never saw any reason not to support his wife and give her career precedence over his. He had no qualms about giving up his successful career in New York to follow her to Washington, and he lobbied like crazy on her behalf when there was a chance she could be nominated to the Supreme Court. It made me wish more men were that matter-of-fact about recognizing and championing the brilliant women in their lives, and thought nothing of stepping aside to let them have the spotlight. I have no idea what happened in Marty's life to make him such a feminist, but we need more men like him around today.
But more than Marty, we need more women like Ruth. She embraced what her mother always told her, to "be a lady" and never get angry, which is why she was such a successful lawyer. She was passionate about her cases, but she never allowed herself to get swept away by emotion or raise her voice in court. Instead, the film gives us audio recordings of Ginsburg during her most famous cases (both as laywer and judge) and listening to that cool, calm, and wickedly incisive woman delivering her intricately worded arguments or questioning foolish logic from lawyers fighting on behalf of gender discrimination is one of the greatest pleasures known to woman. She fought with words and with the law, and by doing so, she was able to grant women so many more opportunities in daily life and give them a chance to get ahead in the world.
The final part of the film is a little dismaying, because now Ginsburg is mostly famous for dissenting from her conservative colleagues and is unable to hold much sway over the court. With the resignation of Justice Kennedy, and the possibility of losing the court for another generation and even overturning Roe v Wade, it's hard to see how much we could have had if the Democrats had stayed in power and Ginsburg had more liberal colleagues to progress an agenda of social justice and fairness. But putting all that aside, this movie still made me so happy to see a woman who embodied everything that a woman should be. Intelligent, feminist, and a champion for her fellow women. Like Madeleine Albright said, "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other." After watching RBG, I'm certain that Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be going to a very special place in heaven.
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