Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a.k.a. The Notorious RBG, is the superhero we need right now.
Forget about the Avengers or Ant-Man or any of those other comic book heroes, and run to see RBG, a riveting documentary about a real-life Wonder Woman.
For 25 years, RBG has been serving as a Supreme Court Justice, protecting human rights and fighting for equality for all. And, at 85, she is still fighting.
Directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen have crafted an emotional film that lets us get to know the woman herself in all her varied roles, both on the bench and off. Sure, she’s a brilliant and fearless advocate but she’s also a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend, and we hear from the lucky people who know her as such.
Michael and I cried through most of the movie.
It is moving and inspiring to watch RBG take on gender discrimination as a young litigator, winning so many of her cases and helping to lay the groundwork for women’s rights.
I loved the really personal insights into her long marriage, into her close friendship (which I will never understand) with the late, ultra-conservative Anthony Scalia and into her closet. Who knew she collected different collars for her robes?!
It’s amazing to watch Ginsburg work out with a trainer, doing push-ups in her “Super Diva” sweatshirt, and a joy to hear her giggle as she watches Kate McKinnon impersonate her on Saturday Night Live.
It’s easy to relate to the huge audiences who line up to hear her speak, and it gives me hope for the future that a female Supreme Court Justice has become an unlikely rock star, inspiring memes and daily Facebook posts that say things like, “I’m donating my organs to RBG – even if I’m still alive.”
I’m making it sound like this is a fluffy fangirl movie, and it’s not. It’s a celebration of a strong, determined woman who has spent her entire life fighting for people’s basic rights. Someone who has never backed down and has never been afraid to dissent. Someone who uses her brain to follow her heart.
She once said, “When I’m sometimes asked, ‘When will there be enough women on the supreme court?’ and I say, ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
Oh, for a Supreme Court filled with nine Ruth Bader Ginsburgs.
Thankfully, RBG has made it clear she has no intention of retiring yet. “Now I happen to be the oldest,” she’s said. “But John Paul Stevens didn’t step down until he was 90.”
May she beat that record.
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