“GENDER EQUALITY” –

THE BEGINNINGS OF
GENDER CONFUSION IN
ON THE BASIS OF SEX (2018)
“On the Basis of Sex” (2018). Overview
Directed by Mimi Leder

Produced by Robert W. Cort

Written by Daniel Stiepleman

Starring Felicity Jones,

Armie Hammer,
Justin Theroux,
Sam Waterston,
Kathy Bates

Music by Mychael Danna

Cinematography Michael Grady

Edited by Michelle Tesoro

Production Focus Features,

companies: Participant Media,
Robert Cort Productions,
Alibaba Pictures

Release date November 8, 2018 (AFI Fest),

December 25, 2018 (United
States)

Running time 120 minutes

Country United States

Language English
“On the Basis of Sex” (2018). Overview
Full Cast:
Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Armie Hammer as Martin D. Ginsburg
Justin Theroux as Melvin "Mel" Wulf
Kathy Bates as Dorothy Kenyon
Sam Waterston as Erwin Griswold
Cailee Spaeny as Jane C. Ginsburg
Callum Shoniker as James Steven Ginsburg
Jack Reynor as James H. Bozarth
Stephen Root as Professor Ernest Brown
Ronald Guttman as Professor Gerald Gunther
Chris Mulkey as Charles Moritz
Gary Werntz as Judge William Edward Doyle
Francis X. McCarthy as Judge Fred Daugherty
Ben Carlson as Judge William Judson Holloway Jr.
Wendy Crewson as Harriet Griswold
John Ralston as Tom Miller
Arthur Holden as Dr. Wyland Leadbetter
Angela Galuppo as Emily Hicks
Arlen Aguayo-Stewart as Protest Leader
Holly Gauthier-Frankel as Millicent
Tom Irwin as Greene
Ruth Bader Ginsburg as herself
Awards and nominations:
Heartland Film 2018
Winner Truly Moving Picture Award: Mimi Leder (director)
Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) 2018
Nominee HMMA Award: Best Original Song - Feature Film
Kesha (written and performed by), Drew Pearson (written by), Wrabel (written by)
Song: "Here Comes the Change"
Women Film Critics Circle Awards 2018
Nominee WFCC Award: Best Equality of the Sexes
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards 2019
Nominee Movies for Grownups Award: Best Director Mimi Leder, Best
Grownup Love Story
Humanitas Prize 2019
Nominee Humanitas Prize: Drama Feature Film Daniel Stiepleman (Written by)
ReFrame 2019
Winner ReFrame Stamp: Feature Focus Features
Women's Image Network Awards 2019
Winner WIN Award: Outstanding Feature Film
Nominee WIN Award: Outstanding Actress Feature Film
Felicity Jones, Supporting Actress Feature Film
Kathy Bates, Supporting Actress Feature Film
Cailee Spaeny, Outstanding Film Directed by a Woman Mimi Leder
Young Artist Awards 2019
Nominee Young Artist Award: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting
Young Actor Callum Shoniker
Young Entertainer Awards 2020
Nominee Young Entertainer Award: Best Performance Young Actor - Feature
Film Callum Shoniker, Amblin Partners
Description of genre
Format /medium: Drama, Biography/Biopic (a movie dramatizing the life of a
particular person, typically a public or historical figure)

Historical periods: The story begins with Ruth Bader Ginsburg entering Harvard
Law School in 1956, cut to the early 1970s when she gets involved in two sex
discrimination cases, which set the stage for radical social change.

Character type:
- an advocate for gender equality and women's rights (Ruth Bader Ginsburg)
- a lawyer who specializes in tax law (Martin D. Ginsburg)
- a constitutional lawyer (Melvin "Mel" Wulf)
Following the events described, the main characters participated in the process that
became one of the fundamental elements of the laws prohibiting gender
discrimination.

Geography: United States - New York

Storyline
The film is a true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a
historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.

 The movie opens with Ruth starting Harvard Law School in 1956, only one of nine women in her class.
Meanwhile, Ruth’s husband, Marty, is one year ahead of her at Harvard, and they have a 14-month-old baby,
Jane. Ruth proves to be one of the smartest people in her class, but tragedy strikes the family when Marty is
diagnosed with testicular cancer. While Marty’s recovering, Ruth helps him with his studies as well as her
own. When Marty graduates, he gets a job as a tax attorney in New York City. Ruth transfers to Columbia
Law School for her final third year.

After graduation in 1959, Ruth can’t find a firm willing to hire a woman, even though she’s top of her
class, but she does get a full-time teaching job at Rutgers Law School. Cut to 1970, Ruth is teaching a class
on sex discrimination at Rutgers, but she still yearns to practice law like her husband, Marty, who’s become
one of the nation’s top tax attorneys. Their daughter Jane is 16, and they have a young son named James.

Knowing Ruth’s passion for ending sex discrimination, Marty finds a tax case in Colorado where an
unmarried man was denied a tax deduction for his invalid mother’s nurse. Ruth enlists the reluctant aid of
the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal director, Mel Wulf. Mel Wulf was a strong supporter of ending
alleged discrimination against women in the law, even if until now, no other sex discrimination case has won
in court.
Ultimately, the main argument comes down to the social changes she wants have already happened in the
society at large. This is represented by her daughter’s character in the movie, who’s much less timid about
demanding her rights in public than her mother. Thus, the argument that convinces the appeals court judges
to rule in favor of Ruth Ginsburg is the idea that, in the past, women weren’t even allowed to go to law
school or become judges, but that, by 1972, that was no longer true.

Outside the courthouse, Wulf, Moritz and the Ginsburgs celebrate that, win or lose, Ruth has finally found
her voice as a lawyer. Titles over the closing scene indicate that the Court of Appeals found unanimously in
Moritz's favor. Ruth went on to co-found the Women's Rights Project at the ACLU, which struck down many
of the gender-based laws Bozarth identified, and in 1993 the Senate voted 96 to 3 for her to become an
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. The final scene shows the real-life Ginsburg walking
up the steps of the Supreme Court building.
“On the Basis of Sex” (2018). Critic reviews
On review web-site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73%
based on 255 reviews, with a weighted average of 6,5 out of 10. The website's
critical consensus reads, "On the Basis of Sex" is just the latest example of
remarkable, tough and historically important people being the subject of
unremarkable. Ruth Bader Ginsburg's extraordinary life makes a solid case for it self
as an inspirational, well-acted biopic.

On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 6,4/10, based on 59 critics,
indicating "mixed or average reviews". The website's critical think it is a
revolutionary and interesting biopic film. It portrayed Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life
prior to becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Not only did it provide information on
her life, but it also provided an inspirational message to many to stand up for your
rights and beliefs.
The books to read after you watch the film
“On the Basis of Sex” (2018)
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life" by Jane Sherron De Hart. In this large biography, written with the
cooperation of Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself and based on many interviews with the justice, her husband, her
children, her friends, and her associates, Jane De Hart explores the central experiences that shaped
Ginsburg's passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, her meticulous jurisprudence: her desire to
make We the People more united and our union more perfect.

"Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and
Changed the World" by Linda Hirshman. This book discribes the relationship between Sandra Day
O’Connor - the first female Supreme Court justice and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Republican and Democrat,
Christian and Jew, western rancher’s daughter and Brooklyn girl) transcends party, religion, region, and
culture. Strengthened by each other’s presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on
the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal
place for all women.

"Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court" by Sandra Day O'Connor. This book
sheds light on the centuries of change and upheaval that transformed the Supreme Court from its uncertain
beginnings into the remarkable institution that thrives and endures today.
"Because of Sex: One Law, Ten Cases, and Fifty Years That Changed American Women's Lives at
Work" by Gillian Thomas. This book shares the stories of five women, through first-person accounts and
vivid narrative, tells the story of how one law, our highest court, and a few tenacious women changed the
American workplace forever.

"My Beloved World" by Sonia Sotomayor. The first Latinx (Puerto Rican) and third woman appointed to
the US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Here is the story of a
precarious childhood, with an alcoholic father and a devoted but overburdened mother. She speaks with
warmth and candor about her invaluable mentors, a failed marriage, and the modern version of extended
family she has created from cherished friends and their children. Through her still-astonished eyes,
America’s infinite possibilities are envisioned anew in this warm and honest book, destined to become a
classic of self-invention and self-discovery.
Iconography/content of images
Key words: misogyny; women's rights; equality; cancer ; based on true story; lawyer; marriage; gender
discrimination; female lawyer; protest.

Key visual signs:

- this film focuses on just two key elements: her wonderfully supportive marriage to the late tax
attorney, Martin Ginsburg;
- the one case they argued together, a landmark in outlawing discrimination “On the basis of sex”.

Quotes:
- Professor Freund - "A court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate
of the era.“
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg - "It's not a privilege, it is a Cage. And these laws are the bars!"
- Dorothy Kenyon - "The country isn't ready. Change minds first. Then change the law.“

Anachronisms:
- In the 1959 scene where Ruth, Marty & baby Jane celebrate Ruth's job, they toast a glass of
champagne and little Jane drinks a toast from a sippy cup. The "sippy cup" was manufactured by Playtex in
1981.
- At 29:10, even though the passer-by is wearing correct costume, her makeup is modern.

Character error:
- When they are playing Charades, Ruth said the second word was 7 letters. The name of the movie was
The Seven Year Itch - the word Seven has 5 letters.
Factual errors:
- In the ACLU office, Dorothy Kenyon tells Mel Wulf about a letter Abigail Adams wrote to John
Adams in 1776 saying "As you write this new constitution, remember the ladies." The Constitutional
Convention happened in 1787. In 1776, John Adams was involved with writing the Declaration of
Independence.
- While presenting her rebuttal to the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, one of the judges
states, "The word 'woman' does not appear even once in the U.S. Constitution." Ginsburg replies, "Nor
does the word 'freedom'." The word "freedom" is included in the First Amendment.

Verbal content
- The language is formal at work and school, and informal whit family and friends. So, the film is
pleasantly exposed, and the lead actress makes up for the lack of cinematric ambition, with admiration
for its subject.

Ideological content:
- It was a man's world and Ruth Bader Ginsburg changed it, she is an incredible women, who
changed freedom, respect, and the future.
Conclusions
As real-life American heroes go, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is certainly a name that will
go down in the history books. In the film "ON THE BASIS OF SEX", I came across
elements: very strong romantic; politically correct; feminist worldview favors radical
social change based on a utopian ideal of gender equality; plus a sympathetic
comment about socialists.

This film is better structured and more compelling than other recent liberal.
However, the movie does change some facts for dramatic purposes. It also relies too
heavily on emotional appeals to make its case for radical, immoral feminist change its
heroine promotes.

Of course, "ON THE BASIS OF SEX" has a strong, based feminist position on
sexual discrimination. It also supports the change Ruth Bader Ginsburg championed,
to call such discrimination “gender discrimination” instead of sex discrimination.
This term obfuscates the very real scientific, biological differences between males
and females in favor of all the Anti-Christian, immoral, radical, unbiblical social
changes that Ginsburg’s activities in the 1970s fomented over the years.
Internet resources
On the Basis of Sex @ IMDB
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4669788/?ref_=ttexst_ql

On the Basis of Sex @Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Basis_of_Sex#cite_note-WideOpen-25

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Films About Her Life

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/movies/rbg-movies.html?searchResultPosition
=2

On the Basis of Sex @MovieGuide

https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/on-the-basis-of-sex.html

On the Basis of Sex @CriticsConsensus

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/on_the_basis_of_sex

On the Basis of Sex @MovieDetails&Credits

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/on-the-basis-of-sex