RBG: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserves your respect

WHEN you think of Gen Y icons, you think of Taylor Swift or LeBron James, not an octogenarian granny.

WHEN you think of Gen Y icons, you think of Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Kim Kardashian.

What you don’t think of is a tiny 85-year-old grandmother with wide-framed glasses. Perhaps in a lifetime of extraordinary achievements, the most baffling one is that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a social media icon.

The US Supreme Court justice has been called a “witch”, a “disgrace” and “one of the most vile people” by her detractors — namely those on the hard right.

But she’s also known as the Notorious RBG by her legions of fans. Her consistent, principled and empathetic stances on everything from women’s rights to discrimination to privacy have made her somewhat of a badarse progressive icon, especially in the Trump era of right-wing extremism.

But her recent fame as the face adorned on merch from T-shirts to mugs, to its permanent spot on someone’s arm (imagine asking the tattoo artist for that) is nothing compared to the decades that came before, an absorbing story told elegantly in RBG, a documentary made by two women, Julie Cohen and Betsy West.

This is legitimately a thing.

Through archival footage of her confirmation hearing (even impressing Republican Orrin Hatch), to family photos, or the revelation that she’s a terrible cook, RBG is an insightful look at the stoic figure underneath the robe and collar.

And for anyone who’s terrified the double cancer-surviving octogenarian will die during Donald Trump’s administration and replace the liberal lion with another conservative, further upsetting the balance of the court, the scenes of her working out at the gym, lifting weights next to her hulking trainer, should abate some of that fear, at least a little.

When you look at her diminutive frame, you can see she’s been underestimated her whole life — you don’t expect such a giant intellect from someone so small — and that has worked to her advantage.

The child of parents who didn’t go to college, Ginsburg excelled in academia, finishing at the top of her law school class despite juggling a baby and helping her cancer-struck husband. It was the 1950s and no law firm would hire her after graduation.

Two decades later she argued her first case in front of the then all-male Supreme Court, having to school them like a “kindergarten teacher”. Across six cases, five of which she won, she changed the course for American women with her dogged but strategic advocacy of women’s rights. Ginsburg is the real Wonder Woman and her young fans know it.

Boss lady.

A self-proclaimed serious person with no penchant for small talk, she still has a playful side — you can see it when she cackles over Kate McKinnon’s impressions of her on Saturday Night Live. Or when she’s dressing up for cameos in her favourite opera productions, alongside the late Antonin Scalia, her conservative opposite on the Supreme Court bench.

Her genuine friendship with Scalia, a man with whom she clashed with on almost every issue, is just one of the small details that make RBG such a fascinating documentary. The film balances the serious Ginsburg, with her incredible legal achievements, with the private one — the woman who was married for 56 years to her beloved Martin — to paint an inspiring portrait.

And that’s what a good documentary does — it effectively persuades, nuance be damned. It demands your respect for Ginsburg, and don’t be surprised if you well up, just a little, at how overwhelmingly evocative this story is. If you start to get choked up, it’s not because you’re sad, it’s like that moment in Moana when she decides to go for it - let’s call it inspired-cry.

RBG is an unabashed love letter to the woman who has come to represent so much during the Trump MAGA era, especially to progressive youths. To them, Ginsburg is the last levee holding back a torrent of hate-driven extremists.

What a boss.

Rating: ★★★½

RBG is in cinemas now.

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