The RBG documentary follows the legal life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, from her days as a young lawyer all the way to her time on the Supreme Court. I was very moved by this documentary to an extent that I did not expect, and I encourage anyone (especially women) who do not know about the profound change that she brought about in this country to watch it.
First off, I did not know the extreme injustices in the law education and job field that she had to endure as “being a woman was an impediment”. I could not believe the laws that were in place that discriminated against women when she was getting an education and beginning to work in the legal field. I feel like after watching this movie there is an extremely large amount of things in my daily life I have taken for granted in terms of the equality of women in the education system and beyond. Justice Ginsberg forged a path and formed laws that protect women in ways that I did not know she orchestrated, like allowing them to attend an all male military school, including them in service as jurors, and hundreds of other federal laws that discriminated on the basis of sex.
The documentary also commented on her day-to-day life and some more personal aspects other than her impacts in the legal world. I was amazed at how she burned the candle at both ends, caring for a 14-month old child while still in law school full time, and raising a family as she became a more prominent and important lawyer, especially while she was working for the ACLU. She also worked extremely hard at every case she was part of, working until early in the morning until apparently 4 or 5 am. Even into her older life when serving on the Supreme Court, she would stay up working and then go to the court at like 7 am. Her husband and family described how she had to literally be pried away from her work at the office, with her husband sometimes coming to physically bring her home to have dinner and go to bed.
Moreover, the documentary had a lot more instances of Ruth herself talking about her life or commentating on major events than I expected. I really enjoyed hearing things from her point of view. My favorite part was when they asked her to watch the SNL skit that parodies her, which made her laugh very much. She was also so cute, with specific neck laces for dissenting or majority opinion, as well as a dry and clever sense of humor.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching the documentary and I would recommend. It is terribly disheartening to know that she is no longer around to help the Supreme Court see right and wrong and come together on a decision, and I can only hope that the future looks like what she imagined: with equality for all people under the law.
