It’s a cinematic portrayal of a Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she starts her legal career. Her focus for equal rights among the sexes stand out in her first case and paves her future prospects and the US court’s view on gender discrimination.

Year 2019

Directed by Mimi Leder

Stars Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer

From the very start my mother has instilled a feminist spirit in me. The fact that I’m female has never meant that I needed to enjoy the color pink or take up baking. I can, but it’s never struck me as a need. My mother enjoyed action movies and football. She let me get my hands dirty and watch Ren & Stimpy. She never told me that because I was a girl I couldn’t do something. I can’t imagine growing up in an environment that restricted it’s people based on their sex, but yet, my mother did. Lucky for the current generation, so did Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Men might be thinking that this subject matter is just on feminism, and doesn’t really involve them, but they are forgetting the true definition of feminism. It is about equality. The first case that RBG takes on is not for the betterment of women, but the betterment of all of us. She unraveled a whole ball of gender discriminatory mess that we had been dealing with for years. In fact, it’s paved the way for men to have parental leave and care taking rights. True, the movie does focus a lot on her struggles as a gender minority in the legal world. It’s a glimpse into a time when career women where getting attention, not all of it good. On the Basis of Sex does a good job at setting this tone and portrayal. Just the opening shots create a critical backdrop into what you are walking into, which might scream “I Am Woman”, but does paint an accurate picture. Men do need to know that this was and sometimes still is a thing.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is hot right now, with the 2018 documentary RBG and the general public fashioning various T-shirts with the rock star Justice on them, it’s not hard to see why when you take a look back. Felicity Jones does a compelling job at making us believe she’s 1970’s Ginsburg. The story is about her, but more importantly about what she accomplished at the very start of her mission. It was never just for women, but her being a woman and tackling it took some guts. The general public need to know this story because it’s important to realize that laws and government can and should change over time with progression of our society. What is accepted now maybe foolish to our future citizens. It’s ground-breakers like Ruth that put this to the test.

I have to let you know that I did cry like a baby upon the viewing of this movie. I don’t know if was the thankfulness I felt for revolutionaries like her, but it tugged hard at my heart strings. I’m also a big emotional marshmallow so that’s probably part of it too. Either way, I clapped and cried so you could say it was a great watch for those like me that enjoy history told in an inspiring way. It’s also for those that really love her. In my opinion, she deserves all the love.