January 21

Blog #117 – On the Basis of Sex

So we got to see the movie about Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s first case in her long battle against sex discrimination in federal court, Moritz v. Commissioners of the IRS.  I hope you liked it.  I enjoyed it, and thought that it did a good job of accurately portraying the justice’s determination, hopes, and fears as she moved from the academic legal world into the real legal world (interestingly enough, the screenplay was written by Ginsburg’s nephew).   According to the New York Times movie review, the only thing the movie got wrong, according to RBG herself, was when she was at a loss for words in front of the judges at the end of the movie.

But with regards to other historical accuracy questions, the movie actually gets a lot right.  RBG had actually read three different early drafts of the film written by her nephew, and it was also run by the real Jane Ginsburg, a Columbia law professor.  RBG’s only requirements of the film were to “get the law right, and get Marty right.”  The film’s portrayal of her helpful, supportive husband, Marty Ginsburg, is accurate as well.  He really did get cancer while at Harvard and recovered, and Ruth helped him by attending classes and typing up his reports.  Marty Ginsburg was also one of the top tax lawyers in the country, and it was him that brought the Moritz case to Ruth’s attention.  One added scene, the moot court at the Ginsburg’s apartment with Mel Wulf, Pauli Murray, and Ruth’s old professor, was not real, nor was the suggestion by Murray that Ruth split up her time with Marty.  The last minute edits by Ruth’s secretary, substituting the word “gender” for “sex”, was also accurate.  One additional scene, the part where she freezes up and cedes her time to the rebuttal, was also invented.  There was no rebuttal, nor a freeze-up, like stated earlier.  The portrayal of Mel Wulf, her colleague at the ACLU, however was not accurate.  He didn’t treat her the way that it was portrayed in the film nor was he reluctant to tackle additional cases that addressed sexism in the law.  Also, Wulf didn’t ask her to write the Reed v. Reed brief nor refuse to let her present it to the Supreme Court, RBG volunteered to do both: write the brief and defend it in court.   Also, the scene below where Ruth and Jane meet pioneering lawyer Dorothy Kenyon didn’t happen, but that scene, in addition to the one with Civil Rights activist Pauli Murray, according to the filmmakers was a way of showing that the feminist legal revolution did not begin with RBG but that she was continuing their work.  However, RBG didn’t feel that the fictional elements of the film detracted from the overall story: “This film is part fact, part imaginative—but what’s wonderful about it is that the imaginative parts fit in with the story so well,” Ginsburg told NPR’s Nina Totenberg following the New York screening.

Questions to answer (PICK 4 OF 6 TO ANSWER):

  1. How is Marty Ginsburg the “perfect” or ideal husband to RBG?  Give specific examples of their relationship.
  2. Provide at least three sexist slights or dismissals from the many men in the movie, from Ginsburg’s time at Harvard to searching for a legal job to tackling and arguing the case before the Denver Circuit Court.   How would you have handled these slights or dismissals over something that you couldn’t control (in this case, RBG being a woman)?  Explain why.
  3. Does it matter that this movie was directed by a woman?  Why or why not?
  4. How does Jane, Ginsburg’s teenage daughter (and for that matter, Ginsburg’s female law students), capture the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s (and in essence, shows a different kind of feminism than her mother represents)?
  5. What are the potential dangers or pitfalls of heroically portraying a living, breathing person such as Ginsburg in a movie like this?  Explain.
  6. Explain how this movie epitomizes this quote from the movie (as its theme): “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.”

400 words total.  Due by Monday, February 4 by class.  

Websites consulted: 

https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/on-the-basis-of-sex-accuracy-rbg-biopic-fact-fiction.html

http://time.com/5478411/on-the-basis-of-sex-true-story/

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May 30

Blog #98 – Media Images for Women and Toxic Masculinity

So, we watched Tough Guise 2, a searing film on our toxic masculinity culture, and Killing Us Softly 4, a strong indictment about advertising’s impact on women and girls’ bodies and self-esteem.

Tough Guise 2 doesn’t say that every man is violent, acts as gender police, or strikes a cool pose modeled after black urban images.  But it does talk about the epidemic of violence that is conducted by men (77% – 99% of aggravated assault, armed robbery, murder, domestic violence, and rape), and discusses how men are the victims of this violence.  Fathers and older males can perpetuate the tough persona by trying to make us tougher or not show emotions in public in order to avoid feeling shame.  Men of color are stuck in media stereotypes as well (whether it’s Bruce Lee, Latinos, or Native Americans).  One of the things that the film stated was that this latest emphasis on masculinity was that it’s a sign of a culture in retreat, that white males are experiencing more and more economic insecurity and becoming the victims of a p.c. culture and expanding rights for women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks.  This kind of explains the spread of “bum fights” and attacks on gay people, but not completely.  What is needed, according to the film maker, Jackson Katz, is a less narrow definition of masculinity, one that includes women (see Jack Myers’ article), and also shows a multi-varied and accurate representations of men in media.

 

Killing Us Softly 4 examines the way media and advertising influence women and girls and normalize what is desirable and accepted (thin, white, blond) even in other countries.   What these images do is promote the idea that women and girls must live up to a flawless image, one that can be assembled by computers or trimmed to fit the ideal if the real woman doesn’t measure up.  Some of these messages that media and advertising send is that women must be submissive, passive, and silent, and effortlessly perfect.  There’s also a huge emphasis on young people having sex, some ads bordering on pornographic.  Also, there’s the increasing sexualization of younger girls (see articles below).  With an increased exposure to these messages, girls are prone to eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem.  This has become a public health problem that needs to be solved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your questions:

  1. How do the two films crossover with their subject matter? Explain.
  2. How do both films focus on their issues as public health problems?
  3. Provide an explanation for at least one takeaway from each film.

Your blog comment should be at least 350 words total by Wednesday, May 31 by class. 

 

Sources: 

Author Jack Myers on Masculinity crisis in TIME, 2016 – http://time.com/4339209/masculinity-crisis/

National Review‘s look at men dropping out of the workforce – http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440849/male-labor-force-participation-rate-drop-about-masculine-identity

The American Psychological Association’s report on the Sexualization of Girls – http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx

The Oversexualization of Young Girls – https://girlsgonewise.com/the-over-sexualization-of-little-girls/

What’s Wrong with the Media’s Portrayal of Women Today, and How to Reverse It – https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2014/11/21/whats-wrong-with-the-medias-portrayal-of-women-today-and-how-to-reverse-it/#1ad6585f44c2

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June 4

X-Men:First Class E.C. blog

All of your HW needs to be turned in to receive credit for this blog. 

I saw the movie this afternoon and was happy to see that the historical content wasn’t too battered and bruised.  In fact, I was glad to see that the X-Men played such a pivotal role in preventing World War 3.  However, there were a few things that I noticed that struck me as odd:

1. There was no civilian control of the military in either the Soviet Union or the United States.  Sure, if you believe in conspiracy theories, this might be plausible.  And yes, the military, especially under General Curtis LeMay was pretty much a war monger.  But, I highly doubt that the American military decided to go to war by a show of hands.  There was no sign of Kennedy or Khrushchev except in newsreel or TV footage. 

2. Where was Castro’s role in any of the missile crisis stuff?  Even when the sub and the Mockingbird crashed on the Cuban shore, even when both the Soviets and U.S. warships fired at the X-Men on the Cuban coast, the Cubans were invisible. 

3. This was something I noticed right away (so sue me!): the mini skirt hadn’t been invented yet by 1962.  According to several sources I checked, it didn’t become popular until 1966.  One of the main reasons I remember this was b/c I had associated the mini-skirt with the TV show, The Brady Bunch, which I had watched over and over as a kid growing up in the late 70s (and I knew the show had debuted in 1969, the year after I was born). 

4. I was disappointed that the character named Darwin was killed off so quickly.  It seemed that he was offed before he even got to develop – leaving a noticeably paler group of X-Men behind after Shaw’s attack.  I wondered if this was some kind of attempt at irony – Shaw’s master race, Homo Superior, triumphant over a fellow mutant, and killing a number of other Homo Sapiens, in the attack on the CIA’s “secret HQ.”  It was a pretty lame attempt at irony, and it just left the X-Men w/o a strong minority character. 

Questions (choose 4 of 5):

1. How did Erik’s Holocaust figure into his quest to stop both the Soviet and American governments from destroying mutants?  Explain.

2. Where did the movie deviate from history?  At what point did you see fiction begin and non-fiction end (besides at the theatre door – suspend your disbelief in this case)?  How many instances did you find?  Explain. 

3. What role did sexism play in the movie, both intentional and unintentional (maybe unintended by the filmmakers)? Use examples with Emma Frost, Moira MacTaggart, Angel and Raven.  File:X-MenFirstClassMoviePoster.jpg

4. The mutant persecution has been a recurring theme throughout the X-Men series, both the films and comics.  What could this discrimination be a metaphor in our society? 

5. How do Erik and Charles’ different paths at tackling mutant discrimination resemble the two paths of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s?   “I’m mutant, and I’m proud.” Explain.

Due Monday, June 13 before class. 

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