The world is mourning the tragic loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female ever appointed as a Supreme Court Justice, who passed away Friday at the age of 87. A fighter up until the very end, Ginsburg was known as a feminist icon who fought for equality for all people and a liberal bastion on the Supreme Court.
If you know the name but aren’t familiar with her accomplishments or understand how important she was to the world, it’s time to educate yourself. Thankfully, it’s easy enough thanks to a pair of recent films about her life: the well-received documentary RBG, and the legal drama On the Basis of Sex. Here’s where to watch them.
Looking for more recommendations of what to watch next? We have a ton of them!
RBG
Where to watch: Hulu, Amazon (rent or purchase)
RBG
The definitive film about Ruth Bader Ginsburg is this documentary from filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen. It premiered at Sundance before moving to wide release in May 2018, and it tracks the Supreme Court Justice’s life from childhood to becoming a women’s and pop culture icon. It features a rare face-to-face interview with the normally stoic Ginsburg, as well as comments from her granddaughter, a Harvard Law School graduate who notes the role her grandmother played in inspiring young women to pursue law, and Gloria Steinam, who discusses Ginsburg’s status as a feminist icon. While it’s content is geared toward Ginsburg fans, its light touch and balance of seriousness and playfulness is bound to make fans out of those who weren’t too familiar with her, as well.
On the Basis of Sex
Where to watch: Showtime, Amazon (purchase)
Felicity Jones, On the Basis of Sex
If you’ve already seen the documentary above, your next watch is this 2018 fictional drama about Ginsburg’s early career as a law professor and lawyer. Felicity Jones plays the role of Ginsburg, with Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates, and Sam Waterston in supporting roles. Beginning with Ginsburg as a law student at the male-dominated Harvard Law School in the mid-1950s, On the Basis of Sex covers her life all the way up to the early 1970s when she tried the case of Charles E. Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in which Ginsburg successfully argued that discrimination on the basis of sex is unconstitutional. It’s a feel-good movie showing the obstacles Ginsburg overcame in the early stages of her professional career.