The Notorious RBG, a Doc

BY: Claire Connors

Who knew that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was such a rock star? Julie Cohen and Betsy West, the directors of the new documentary RBG, apparently do. The two filmmakers were both aware of the lawmaker’s longstanding commitment to women’s equality but realized they knew nothing about the woman inside the black robes with the fancy neckpieces. They decided this feminist force of nature deserved a documentary, but more importantly, her fans deserve one, too!

Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1933, Ginsburg has achieved a lot of “firsts” in her long and eventful lifetime. After graduating from Cornell, she continued her studies at Harvard and was the first female member of the Harvard Law Review. She graduated tied for first in her class at Columbia Law in 1959 and was the first female professor at Columbia to earn tenure. During all of this, she was raising her daughter and helping her husband, Martin, recover from cancer.

In fact, one of the most charming parts of the documentary is the romance between Ruth and her husband, Martin Ginsburg. Throughout their careers, Martin, also a lawyer, stood tall behind his petite wife, unselfishly basking in her glory. He was the perfect funny, well-spoken partner for the smart, quiet Ruth. In the documentary, we see that he was always ready to sing her praises and watch from the sidelines while she made important changes to the laws effecting women’s very lives. He passed away in 2010.

Above all, this documentary shows that Ginsburg likes a good fight—FYI she stays in shape working out with her trainer twice a week and can do 20 pushups, and not girls’ pushups either! Her favorite punching bag over the years has been the stale, sexiest laws discriminating against women, especially in regards to their treatment in the work place.

Ginsburg’s clearly always been awesome but that went up a few notches in 2006 when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired, leaving her the only female serving justice. As she got more and more baller in her dissents, she gained the nickname the Notorious R.B.G., after fellow Brooklynite, The Notorious B.I.G. One of the funniest moments in the film is when Ruth notes the similarities she has to the now-deceased rapper. Her pop culture status was sealed when Kate McKinnon began portraying Ruth on Saturday Night Live as a high-energy liberal justice who doles out “Ginsburns” followed by her cool AF victory dance.

There are so many reasons to see this enlightening documentary, but the most joyful and inspiring is getting to know the mysterious woman behind much of the legal changes we’ve seen in the way women are treated in the United States. Bless you, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

RBG arrives in theaters May 4th.