On The Basis of Sex * * *
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| Your honor, I can't go on. There seems to be an idiot film blogger in the court. |
To be honest, at times I was rather bored when watching this, which made me feel guilty because the subject is about a truly formidable woman. She has been the subject of two films in the past year. This dramatisation on the early life of Ruth Ginsburg comes hot on the heels of a documentary that was recently made about her (RBG).
Ruth Ginsburg, who is now a Justice in the Supreme Court, was a ground breaker in Law. especially in the area of equal rights for gender. This film focuses on her first success where she proved that a tax law was discriminatory on the basis of sex - against a man ironically.
It also focuses on her challenges early in her career. I am sure she was a highly capable woman but the way she jumps hurdles in this film makes you wonder if they are doing a disservice to the subject matter. She seems to make molehills out of mountains.
In the fifties, Ginsburg was one of very few women accepted into Harvard Law. There were nine women in an intake of five hundred.
She is subject to psychological bullying, but she still graduates as first. In the meantime, she has a small child and a husband who falls ill. He too is a law student. So he doesn't fall behind she attends his lectures for him and then types up his papers. I do not question whether Ginsburg achieved these remarkable feats but the movie makes it look like a walk in the park. The house doesn't look too messy either.
After she had graduated she found it almost impossible to get work, despite her remarkable scores. Most law firms felt that no client would take a woman lawyer seriously, so she went back to lecturing.
Aside from the admirable relationship she had with her husband, it also tells the story of her daughter who represents the burgeoning voice of feminism in the seventies and the influence it had on Ruth Ginsburg.
As a tax lawyer her husband uncovered a fascinating case where a man caring for his ill mother without support was being prejudiced because of his gender. He could not get the same tax benefits that a stay-at-home woman would receive. Together they took on the case in the appellants court. They won, and as a consequence the law was changed. This was in the seventies. The film pretty well ends at that point.
On the Basis of Sex is a competent film. It's entertaining enough, and somewhat informative. Starring Felicity Jones, it plays it safe, and has more than a few bluntly contrived scenes. Personally, I just didn't find it as inspiring or as moving as I was hoping it would be.
It also focuses on her challenges early in her career. I am sure she was a highly capable woman but the way she jumps hurdles in this film makes you wonder if they are doing a disservice to the subject matter. She seems to make molehills out of mountains.
In the fifties, Ginsburg was one of very few women accepted into Harvard Law. There were nine women in an intake of five hundred.
She is subject to psychological bullying, but she still graduates as first. In the meantime, she has a small child and a husband who falls ill. He too is a law student. So he doesn't fall behind she attends his lectures for him and then types up his papers. I do not question whether Ginsburg achieved these remarkable feats but the movie makes it look like a walk in the park. The house doesn't look too messy either.
After she had graduated she found it almost impossible to get work, despite her remarkable scores. Most law firms felt that no client would take a woman lawyer seriously, so she went back to lecturing.
Aside from the admirable relationship she had with her husband, it also tells the story of her daughter who represents the burgeoning voice of feminism in the seventies and the influence it had on Ruth Ginsburg.
As a tax lawyer her husband uncovered a fascinating case where a man caring for his ill mother without support was being prejudiced because of his gender. He could not get the same tax benefits that a stay-at-home woman would receive. Together they took on the case in the appellants court. They won, and as a consequence the law was changed. This was in the seventies. The film pretty well ends at that point.
On the Basis of Sex is a competent film. It's entertaining enough, and somewhat informative. Starring Felicity Jones, it plays it safe, and has more than a few bluntly contrived scenes. Personally, I just didn't find it as inspiring or as moving as I was hoping it would be.
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