On The Basis Of Sex: A Movie Review

"On The Basis of Sex" tells the true story of how Ruth Bader Ginsberg, along with her husband Marty Ginsberg took on a groundbreaking case that set the precedent for rewriting laws that discriminated on the basis of sex.  Ruth Ginsberg was depicted as a brilliant, independent, and vivacious woman who was still somewhat timid in nature.  It was evident in the film that her dream was to be able to represent those who needed help, and to stand up for people who could not stand up for themselves.  Based on this film, it can be inferred that that is the reason she pursued a career as a lawyer.

Ruth Ginsberg was one out of nine women accepted into Harvard Law School's class of 1956.  As a woman in 1956, pursuing a degree in law was still generally disapproved of; in a dinner that the Dean of Harvard, Erwin Griswold, hosted at his house to welcome those nine women, he posed the question "how do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?"  Ginsberg's witty response spoke directly to her character; she had replied that her husband was in his second year at Harvard and she wanted to better understand his work so that she could be a more loving and patient wife.  This response struck a chord with the other self-assured and independent women around the table and was generally well received.

Ginsberg quickly proved to the school how deserving she was of her place there.  She excelled in her own classes, as well as helping her husband complete his coursework while he battled testicular cancer during his third year.  Despite his slim chances of survival, Marty Ginsberg beat the odds and, while in remission, completed his degree at Harvard and accepted a job opportunity in Manhattan, causing Ruth to relocate to Columbia University.  While Ruth was in the process of transferring schools, she went to visit Griswold.  During that visit, she begged of him to still let her collect a Harvard degree, despite completing her schooling at Columbia.  She reasoned with something that the Dean had once said to her; the most important part of law school was in the first two years.  She had completed her first two years at Harvard, so why shouldn't she be allowed to complete that degree, despite switching schools?  Still, the Dean would not let her collect a Harvard degree while she was studying at an outside school.  Nevertheless, Ruth followed her family to New York and completed her education at Columbia University.

However, once she graduated college she had a very tough time finding employment.  Had she completed her education at Harvard, she would have found far more opportunities, but as she had split her college education between separate institutions, many of those doors had been closed for her.  Despite the fact that she wanted to be a lawyer, she settled with the growing realization that she was unlikely to find employment and settled with a position that had opened up at Rutgers School of Law.

That is until Marty brought home a case in 1971 that would challenge laws on the basis of sex.  This specific case was of a middle-aged bachelor, Charles Moritz,  who needed to care for his elderly mother.  He had to hire a part time caretaker to assist with the duties of taking care of his mother.  Charles knew that there was a law that allowed for a tax refund for those that needed to hire caretakers, but when he tried to apply for it he was denied, ultimately because of his sex.  The policy was intended for women, or divorced or widowed men.  The law did not account that there may be a man out there who has never been married but who still needs to care for his elderly mother.

Her and Marty took this case on together.  Marty used his experience as a tax attorney to dispute the tax side of Moritz's case, while ceding half of his time to his wife who used her background with gender law to argue the discriminatory nature of the case.  In court, Ruth argued that the times had already changed, and that it was the laws that needed to catch up.  She was not trying to spark a great social revolution, as the defense brought up.  That great social revolution had already arrived; she was just there to rewrite some archaic laws.

In the end, the court ruled to repeal the law that had denied Moritz a tax refund.  This case set the precedent for other cases that discriminated on the basis of sex.

Now, "On the Basis Of Sex" is a representation of a true story.  Screenwriter Daniel Steipleman first came up with the idea for this film and pitched it to Ruth.  Stiepleman was the Ginsberg's nephew, and he knew both Ruth and Marty personally.  He recalled parts of their relationship and of their personalities to make this movie as realistic as possible.  Of course, there were parts of the movie that were played up for the big screen.  When Marty was battling testicular cancer, Ruth did not actually attend all of his classes.  Instead, she collected his notes from his classmates and helped him complete his coursework.  As for the court case, the decision to split their oral argument was not something they had come to during the mock trial; they had actually planned it that way all along.  Other than those types of minor story alterations, the way this film portrayed their story was incredibly accurate.

All in all, if you're looking for a captivating and entertaining movie that reminds you of how far we have come as a society within recent decades, then "On The Basis of Sex" is the movie for you.  It was historically accurate, captivating, and entertaining.  But, most importantly, it was raw and honest representation of the true story of Ruth and Marty Ginsberg, and their court case that set the precedent for rewriting laws that discriminated on the basis of sex.

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