4 Stars — Inspiring
The admiration people have for Ruth Bader Ginsburg is well placed. The earlier documentary of her life, RBG, directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, presented her as a person with a powerful intellect and uncompromising convictions. In this dramatization of her life, On the Basis of Sex, directed by seasoned TV director Mimi Leder, we are invited behind the facts for a glimpse into Ginsburg’s soul.
This film begins the story on Ginsburg’s (Felicity Jones) first day at Harvard Law School, which had recently started admitting women. The year was 1956, and she was one of only nine women students.
Ginsburg was already married to a remarkable man, Martin (Armie Hammer), who was a year ahead of her at Harvard Law. Their daughter, Jane (Cailee Spaeny as a 15-year-old), was a toddler.
It was during that year that a life-threatening cancer both revealed and sealed the love they had for each other as Ginsburg attended her husband’s classes as well as her own to ensure that they both completed their assignments.
During the years after women gained the right to vote in 1920, many people thought that equality would come quickly, but that was not the case. Many laws were on the books that created an ongoing inequality in virtually every area of life, including the Internal Revenue Service’s tax laws.
Ginsburg experienced discrimination firsthand in her inability to land a position in the law firms of New York and so became a law professor instead. But the great passion of her life was to bring justice to women.
Even though the outcome of her life is well known, we won’t spoil the personal journey Ginsburg had to take in order to accomplish such a noble task. Determined, intelligent, strong and hardworking, she was the person of the hour. The film presents her in her first case of the many she won before the higher courts in our land.
Equality is seldom given by those in power. It can, however, be compelled by calling on the hearts and minds of those who hold the power such that true, reasoned justice can be achieved. This is the lesson of Ginsburg’s life and a powerful model for all of us.
Discussion
» The truth that every person is created in the image of God regardless of how well they reflect that image at any given time requires that we treat every person with respect and honor. Do you show honor and respect to every person with whom you come into contact?
» The brilliance of Ginsburg’s mind would be wasted were she not a person who worked hard to excel in her field of law. What gifts do you have that you are working hard to apply?
» The personal commitment of Martin Ginsburg to empower his wife is a great model for all of us. How are you empowering the people in your life? Have you placed any of them into a position of inferiority or a disempowered position? If so, what are you going to change to lift them up?
— Cinema in Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is a former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is the retired pastor of Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara and lead superintendent of Free Methodist Church in Southern California. For more reviews, visit www.cinemainfocus.com, or follow them on Twitter: @CinemaInFocus. The opinions expressed are their own.