RBG
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all citizens under the law. Through intimate interviews and unprecedented access to Ginsburg’s life outside the court, RBG tells the electric story of Ginsburg’s consuming love affairs with both the Constitution and her beloved husband Marty—and of a life’s work that led her to become an icon of justice in the highest court in the land.
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- Cast:
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Gloria Steinem , Bill Clinton , Orrin Hatch , Joe Biden , Donald Trump , Barack Obama
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Reviews
A lot of fun.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
This is a fascinating peek behind the curtain of the Supreme Court. It chronicles Supreme Court Justice Ruth Badger Ginsberg, also known as RBG. She gets that name from a well known rapper Notorious BIG. It recaps her career as a woman who was not afraid to question the status quo and break barriers. From being one of the first women in a male dominated law school to standing up for the little guy in her legal disputes. Even in her 80s she stays true to herself and what has made for a remarkable career. It also serves as a good movie to explain a bit more of this often forgotten but powerful branch of the United States Government.
Co-directed by Julie Cohen ("American Veteran") and Betsy West, RBG is a celebration of the life and career of 85-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also known as the "Notorious R.B.G," a reference to the famous rock star "The Notorious B.I.G., and the title of a book about her by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. The documentary is a tribute to the accomplishments of the diminutive and pixieish woman whose legal career has promoted the cause of gender equality, abortion rights for women, laws governing search and seizure, and other social issues. The film does not pretend, however, to offer a balanced, objective perspective of Ginsburg's strengths and weaknesses as a jurist or examine any valid disagreements with her legal opinions. The only negative discussed is (what some consider to be) her inappropriate comments about a 2016 Presidential candidate. The film opens with some carefully selected name-calling from unseen accusers who call her a variety of pejorative words such as "vile," "wicked," "zombie," and "witch," words you would normally only see strung together in a presidential tweet. Interviewed are former President Bill Clinton, Playwright Arthur R. Miller, Finist icon Gloria Stein, and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, as well Ginsburg's children: Jane, a professor at Columbia Law School, James Steven, a music producer, and granddaughter Clara Spera, a graduate of Harvard Law School who refers to her grandmother as "Bubbie," an endearing Jewish term. The film highlights major aspects of Ginsburg's life including her confirmation hearing in 1993, her 56-year-marriage to the late New York tax attorney, Martin D. Ginsburg, her two-time battle with cancer, and her struggle for acceptance as a woman at Harvard and Columbia Law Schools, and her frustration in seeking to find employment as a law clerk after graduation. Though the film has a serious purpose, views of Ginsburg doing push-ups at the gym, attending the opera, talking to high school students wearing Ginsburg T-shirts, and watching a spoof of her by comedian Kate McKinnon on "Saturday Night Live," provide a lighter side to her personality, one that we rarely see. She even jokes with the late arch-conservative jurist Anthony Scalia, and makes a humorous comment about her falling asleep at the State of the Union address. After her tenure as a law professor (one of only twenty female law professors in the country) at Rutgers University, Ginsburg became active in the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, and the most compelling part of the film is the discussion of some of the landmark court cases she was involved with. In her capacity as general counsel for the Project, she argued and won five of six cases before the United States Supreme Court. When she argued her first case, she said, "I knew that I was speaking to men who didn't think there was any such thing as gender-based discrimination, and my job was to tell them it really exists." The cases include Frontiero v. Richardson (1973) which challenged a statute denying a married female Air Force lieutenant the right to receive the same housing allowance as a married man. In Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975), she represented a widower denied survivor benefits under Social Security, opposing the statute that allowed widows but not widowers to collect special benefits while caring for minor children. In one of her arguments, she quoted Sarah Grimké, 19th century abolitionist and attorney, who wrote in an 1837 letter, "I ask no favors for my sex. I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks." After being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, her opinion was a determining factor in allowing women to attend the Virginia Military Institute for the first time. She also authored the majority opinions in United States v. Virginia, Olmstead v. L.C., and Friends of the Earth Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. Though she considered herself to be cautious in her approach to the law, when the court made a sharp right turn, her dissenting opinions presented a counter argument to the majority. Among others, her voice was heard in Bush v. Gore (2000) which decided the 2000 Presidential election, and in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), a decision that found Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to be unconstitutional. It is clear from RBG that Ginsburg's appeal has gone far beyond her legal opinions and that she has now become an icon to millions of people throughout the world. Emma Goldman once famously noted that she did not want any part of any revolution that did not let her dance. Ruth Bader Ginsburg's lifetime of support for human rights has allowed many to dance, some for the first time.
You can disagree with Ruth Bader Ginsberg all you want, but it's hard to refrain from agreeing that this is a well-made documentary. Recommended.
One of my friends highly recommended the documentary to me. She said it was so good, and she saw it twice. I was laughing and crying when watching it. The most moving part is Ginsburg's marriage with her husband. He was a successful tax lawyer in NY but he gave it up because of her wife. He took care of kids and house work when she was pursuing her career goals. He supported her and encouraged her to be a justice in the Court. What a wonderful guy! I love my wife, and this really resonated with me. This documentary provides some insight into Ginsburg's life before she was a judge. She really did something to change the legal scope of women rights in 1970s. The most impressive case is the widower case. She was so smart that she chose a man to demonstrate gender discrimination hurts everyone no matter you are a woman or a man. The end of the documentary is a scene that a host ask Ginsburg a question that if she regretted not having stepped down during the Obama administration. She replied she would not resign unless she could not do her job. I think she does not regret about that. She may not concern about whether she can insist on 3 or 7 years more. Rather, she enjoys every day and every case she fights for.