By Mackenzie Ferguson

“The Court should never be influenced by the weather of the day but inevitably they will be influenced by the climate of the era.”      -Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Harvard Law School scene in On the Basis of Sex. Photo credit: Jonathan Wenk via Focus Features.

The 2018 film On the Basis of Sex tells the true story of how recently deceased US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg began her incredible journey with the law, the difficulties of being a mother, and the discrimination against women in her work force.

The movie begins in 1956 with Ginsburg, played by Felicity Jones, entering her first class of Harvard Law School. It is evident that she is one of very few women that are in the first year class, and she continuously is ignored or badgered for her gender. Nonetheless, Ginsburg’s intellectual skill rose above all of the other men, and she became one of the top ten students in her class. Meanwhile, at home, Ginsburg has to take care of her 14-month-old daughter, Jane. Marty, her husband, played by Armie Hammer, is also attending Harvard Law, hoping to become a tax attorney. But when Marty is quickly diagnosed with testicular cancer, Ginsburg attends and takes notes for both her and Marty’s classes, as well as taking care of her infant child. When Marty fully recovers, he gets a job based out of New York, and Ginsburg is hopeful to transfer to Columbia University to complete law school and stay with her family. 

Once the family is settled in and Ginsburg graduates first in her class from Columbia, she then interviews with several law firms to be hired. While all of the firms are thoroughly impressed with her knowledge of the law, they all come up with excuses as to why she is not fit for the job. But Ginsburg knows that their is gender discrimination, and no firm wants a female lawyer. She then landed a job as a professor, teaching young liberated females about the discrimination of gender within the law. 

The plot of the story takes a drastic turn when Marty brings Ginsburg upon a tax case, Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in which Charles Moritz was given a tax deduction for being a caretaker for his mother while he was an unmarried man, which, through the law, does not apply to him. Ginsburg uses this case to not only prove her knowledge of the law, but to also fight for gender equity, regardless of man or woman. As this was her very first case, Ginsburg put in hours of dedication, practice, and memorization towards this case, and was often left with a feeling of deficiency. But with the help of the ACLU, Ginsburg built the confidence to take on the case and win. 

As someone who had not heard of Ruth Bader Ginsburg until just last year, On the Basis of Sex was an eye-opening movie for me to watch. The first time I had seen this film was during my Gender and Society class with former Upper School history teacher Ginnie Kurtz (‘04).  When asked why she had chosen this movie to show to her class, Kurtz said that, “it showed the defining role that gender played–and continues to play–in human lives, and not just socially, but legally as well.” When watching the film in class, I did not pay much attention to the plot, rather the key moments in which I saw gender discrimination towards Ginsburg herself.

After watching On the Basis of Sex a second time, I found that I was much more deeply involved in the plot, and noticed many of the director’s intentions of symmetry, irony, and contrasting positions. I thought that the film was simple and timeless, which I find to be most compelling for a movie that tells the true story of such a powerful figure. While I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, Rotten Tomatoes—a trusted film review website—gave On the Basis of Sex a 73 percent overall rating. Many of the reviews claimed that the movie was well put together, but had seemed too uplifting to relate to our current political time period. And in contradiction to my views, many of the reviewers also found that the film was too “boring” and did not have as much excitement as they had wished. 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg. Photo credit: Ron Sachs.

Although some viewers found the story of Ginsburg’s beginnings rather tedious, there is no denial that she left a legacy with the Supreme Court. While working with the ACLU, Ginsburg won five out of six cases that she argued against the court, as well as taking part in 34 other Supreme Court cases. Ginsburg was so successful with her work at ACLU that in 1993 she was nominated by Bill Clinton to become part of the Supreme Court. And it was no surprise to anyone that she was almost unanimously confirmed to the court. From that point on, Ginsburg had auspiciously used her power and knowledge to fight for gender equality through the 14th Amendment. 

On September 18th, 2020, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87, after many years of suffering from cancer. Her death has opened up a spot for Amy Coney Barrett, a former lawyer and jurist, to be nominated and confirmed to replace Ginsburg as Supreme Court Justice. There was some controversy as to whether or not Barrett should have been approved by the Senate just days before the 2020 presidential election. Before her passing, Ginsburg’s final statement was, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Her final wish—to await for a new president to appoint her replacement—blatantly contradicted President Donald Trump’s intentions.

Nevertheless, Ginsburg ended her life as an impressive, brilliant, and commonsensical female leader. When asked about her final impression of Ginsburg after the justice’s death, Kurtz acknowledged that Ginsburg was “bold, unwavering, committed to ensuring true equality and justice for all, a pioneer not just for women, but for all those seeking equal treatment and recognition under the law, a voice for the oppressed, soft-spoken and small in stature but a powerful and fearless force for human rights.” Her work has inspired and changed many lives, and her legacy will be carried on for generations to come.

Feature image credit: Focus Features.