RBG gives an intimate and informative look into the professional and private life of trailblazing US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The 98-minute documentary provides a blend of historical footage and photographs with current interviews from, to name just a few, former president Bill Clinton, Ginsburg’s granddaughter, and the woman of the hour herself, “The Notorious RBG,” as she’s referred to in the movie.
On the surface, this film plays out like a typical classroom documentary, but there is a raw realness that can be felt from the opening moments of the movie, which show footage of an 84-year-old Ginsburg working out with her personal trainer.
The documentary paves Ginsburg’s path from her simple childhood to her struggles as one of a handful of female Harvard Law students in the ’50s; along the way, the viewer learns of the injustice she faced being passed over by law firms who didn’t hire women and sees her battles against the Supreme Court for equal rights between men and women.
RBG is an educational film, but the heart of the story is really the tender relationship between the reserved Ginsburg and her jokester husband of 56 years, Marty. Their courtship and marriage unfold throughout the movie, giving glimpses into who Ginsburg was behind the scenes.
I couldn’t help but be moved listening to Marty—a top tax lawyer in his own right—discuss his pride for his wife and his willingness to support her by any means necessary at a time when a woman’s career was expected to take a backseat to her husband’s. He was the driving force behind her nomination to the Supreme Court; his unwavering belief in his wife mirrors the movie’s theme of gender equality.
By the time his death in 2010 played out on the screen, there was a definitive lump in my throat. They truly are #relationshipgoals.
This movie brilliantly and delicately balances the vulnerability of the woman behind the legend and the strength she continues to exude to this day; inspiring masses, fighting—with class—for equality, and giving hope to the future generations that the glass ceiling is capable of being shattered, as long as we fight for it.
RBG
Opens Friday, May 25
Odeon Theatre, Victoria