RBG

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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You probably know that Ruth Bader Ginsberg is an Associate Justice with the United States Supreme Court. She was the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court. But I’ll bet there’s a lot you don’t know about this feisty little lady.

At 85, she has become something of a “rock star.” The New York Times has called her “a full-fledged pop-cultural phenomenon.” She wears a T-shirt that says Super Diva.

Now there’s a documentary titled “RBG” that profiles Ruth Bader Ginsberg, “this little woman” who sits on the highest court in the land.

Directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West had both previously worked on projects involving Ginsburg and found her impressive. So they decided to produce a film that focused on her alone.

In 2016 Cohen and West followed Ginsburg around to various meetings and speeches, as well as conducting a face-to-face interview last year. That along with interviews ranging from friends and children to Gloria Steinem. Some 20 hours of footage all told.

Winnowing it down to 97 minutes running time, the resulting film made its debut at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

“RBG” is currently showing at Tropic Cinema.

Here, we follow Ginsberg from her days at Harvard Law School (where she was one of 9 women among 500 men) to her cofounding the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU to her appointment to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton.

This is the making of Ruth Bader Ginsberg: She recalls the dean at Harvard asking the female students, “How do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?” Perhaps it’s a clue to her becoming a fierce, uncompromising and gracious champion of women’s rights.

The documentary’s takeaway? “RBG” is a reminder that we should never take our rights for granted.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com