RUTH BADER GINSBURG IN THE FILM ON THE BASIS OF SEX. RADICAL REVOLUTIONIST OR THE RIGHT WOMAN AT THE RIGHT TIME?

Abstract

This article on the film On the basis of sex (2018) uses a combination of legal and visual analysis with gender analysis to discuss the choices made by director Mimi Leder and director Daniel Stiepleman to visualise the life of late US Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), in a film that shows elements of both the biopic genre and the (classic) courtroom drama. The Moritz v. Commissioner case, in which RBG argues her first case as a pleading lawyer offers a solid ground for the filmmakers to adopt film language, iconography and symbolism to portray not only RBG’s life, but also the position of the female lawyer in the US in the seventies and the role of the law in a continuously changing society. As such, the film offers an insight in the initial motivation of RBG to become a legal activist for women’s rights, while at the same time posing questions on what the law is, should be and whether (and to what extent) an individual has the power to change it.