On April 12, 2019, the DAUK Film Committee and the DAUK Women’s Caucus screened the documentary "RBG: A Progressive Icon in these Troubled Times” in London. “Super Diva” is on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s sweatshirt at her weekly routine in this lively biography. And “Super Diva’ she is to the young students attending her recent public appearances. The term is well-earned as we hear family, friends and colleagues talk of RBG’s impressive legal acumen, tireless work ethic, quiet determination, and successful strategies to advance gender equality in the United States.
We see her 1992 Senate nomination hearing outlining some of the many cases pursued while a law professor and general counsel of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, winning five of the six gender discrimination case before the Supreme Court. It is shocking to remember that, in 1959, despite graduating first in her law school class, she was turned down NY law firms and denied a Supreme Court clerkship because she was a woman.
There are amusing vignettes from her private life: opera, travel and a supportive husband who famously promoted her Supreme Court nomination. But what shines through is her dedication to the law and her mode of overcoming sexism: “Be a lady and be independent.” And the Justice continues as a “rock star” with her independent thinking in eloquent dissents in today’s Supreme Court.
It was an excellent film and we would highly recommend it. RBG is now available on iTunes!
Watch the trailer