LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "What Do Gloria Allred and Cardi B. Have In Common?" Edition
LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "What Do Gloria Allred and Cardi B. Have In Common?" Edition
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Dear Subscribers,
Sundance wrap-up:
Too crowded. Not enough sleep. Always feel like you're chasing the great film someone else saw. Or, missed the great film to catch the hot panel. Or, missed the great panel to see the great panel. So tired. No parking. No good food. Cold, but no snow. Big snowfall, but no time to ski. In other words, wouldn't miss it for the world!
Film-wise, this year I saw many very good movies. None (that I saw) were terrible. None (that I saw) were blow-away life-changers.
I loved two that I saw back to back. And they made for an interesting comparison.
Both were very well made documentaries. Both very timely. Both about "strong women." Both co-directed by two women--FYI one of the co-directors is a friend of mine. The subjects are both about 5 feet tall. They were born less than 10 years apart. They are both lawyers. And yes, I truly loved seeing both films.
One was unabashedly lauded. Everyone loved her life story. She, like the film, is easy to love and made even cooler by her late-in-life meme-status. Of course this is The Notorious RBG. A smart, shy, yet fierce lawyer and jurist. Her impact on legislation has directly affected all of our lives.
But the audience love seemed to reach beyond her professional power, greatly enhanced bythe sympathetic portrait drawn in the film of her personal life. Regarding the extraordinary marriage she had, as this review points out, "their love affair is the best part of the film." That might be true, as Marty Ginsburg seems to be the man for whom the word 'mensch' was invented.
Great characters, even more than great subjects, are what make documentaries jump off the screen. And he was the great character of the film and almost stole the proverbial show. The focus on him was truly beautiful and well-intended--the filmmakers and RBG addressed it in the Q&A--but left me feeling like somehow the power of her extraordinary work was a bit diminished. Maybe it was actually enhanced. I don't know. I knew RBG was real cool, but I didn't know other things such as:
she went to Cornell, graduating first in her class, in 1954
she got married her senior year
her mother died the day before her college graduation
she and her husband had a baby who was born shortly after he deployed for a total of two years
she was one of 9 women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law School, the first woman ever to make Law Review there, in her second year.
She did not graduate from Harvard, because Marty--who graduated from Harvard Law School one year earlier than she would have-- got a job in New York City; she finished at Columbia, graduating first in her class.
she could not get a job offer at any law firm, at any level, in New York City, after graduating.
in the '70's, as the Director Of Women's Rights Projects for the ACLU, she argued six landmark cases before the Supreme Court. She won five.
you know (most of) the rest
Like I say, it was a really good, entertaining film. And she is a veritable lioness who deserves the lionization she is receiving. But she is a calm, quiet lioness who is referred to as pretty, throughout the film, and who quotes her mother's most important lesson to her as being "never get angry."
The other film was well-regarded and the crowd in the theater was enthusiastic, too. But you cannot imagine this character's mother issuing the same instruction nor her listening to it, even if she did. The chatter before and even after, was decidedly mixed. The second film is Seeing Allred, all about Gloria Allred, the famed civil and women's rights attorney.
I had read all about her, but didn't quite grasp the magnitude of the vitriol, the marginalization of her extraordinary work. Politicians, late-night television, and regular people--as I found out from the many audience members sitting around me waiting for the film to start--really don't care for her. The bashes against her vary from "vain," to "ambulance chaser," to "p.r. whore." Many of these audience-goers, btw, had been at the women's march in Sundance on Saturday morning in support of women's rights. I guess the *concept* of women's rights, that is. But the fact is that the sheer ambition, the noise Ms. Allred is willing to make, the reality of being a fighter who is not so caring of what you actually think of her personally, is less palatable to many.
On a personal level, the film showed us that she does not have a marriage or other romantic relationship to win hearts over. She was a single Mom, after having her baby as a sophomore in college but divorcing the abusive father (who turned out to be bi-polar and later killed himself). She gives few details as to the second marriage which ended in divorce. She has not dated in 20 years. And she was never referred to as "pretty" in the film.
But you'd think her legal prowess and influence over millions of people whose civil wrongs were righted through her litigation and attention would be enough to make people like her. Or at least respect her so much that they wouldn't have to talk about whether they liked her or not. For about forty years, her cases have spanned things like:
successfully arguing against female prisoners being shackled during childbirth
suing the archdiocese of LA for sexual abuse15 years before the Boston Globe shed light on the same subject
successfully suing a group of Holocaust deniers and forcing an apology and acknowledgment of the truth
she has gotten rid of the statute of limitations that bars so many rape and sexual assault victories in the the state of California
she represents so many of the victims of Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski, and Donald Trump
she has represented almost every aspect of civil rights law as regards LGBTQ rights, including suing on behalf of a same-sex couple in 2004 in California, whose case ultimately led to the passing of Prop 8 and the Marriage Equality Act and who were the first gay couple to be legally married in the state.
It was interesting that after the screening, some of the same folks who were sitting around me who had been bashing Gloria allowed that they maybe understood her a little better. It was revealed in the film that she was raped at gunpoint and (literally) almost died from a back alley abortion resulting from the rape. Conversations that I directly overheard noted that perhaps she had a "right to be angry" and "fight back." As if, if she hadn't been raped at gunpoint and almost died, she wouldn't have that right?
Gloria might have more in common with Cardi B. than Ruth Ginsburg, if wanting to win is any measure. And these women getting bashed for it is certainly a uniting, unfortunate reality.
Enjoy the Grammy's and go, Cardi, Ruth, and Gloria!
Please keep sending me stuff you think is interesting here.
Check out my Insta @LZSundayPaper and @LZFloors
LZ
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THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:
A Dozen Camels Disqualified From Saudi Beauty Pageant Over Botox Injections via NPR
POLITICS:
If A Senator Can Give Birth, Congress Can Get Serious On Paid Leave via CNN
Under Fire For Harassment, Congressman Says Aide 'Invited' Behavior via The New York Times
CAMPUS CLIMATE
In Historic Reversal, Hasty Pudding Theatricals Allow Women To Join Cast via The Harvard Crimson
ARTS, SPORTS & POP CULTURE:
Bill Cosby's Slimy Comeback Attempt Laughs In The Face Of #MeToo via The Daily Beast
'I've Gone Full Witch:' The Fire And Fury Of TV Satirist Samantha Bee
A Woman Has Finally Been Nominated For Best Cinematography At The Oscars via Buzzfeed
Meryl Streep Joins The Cast Of 'Big Little Lies' via Page Six
People Are Applauding Dylan Farrow For Calling Out Justin Timberlake On Twitter via Buzzfeed News
The Female Price Of Male Pleasure via The Week
The Rising Pressure Of The #MeToo Backlash via The New Yorker
…AND WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
Record-Setting Polar Explorer, 16, Hits Back At Men Who Say She Belongs In The Kitchen via Women In The World
The LZ Sunday Paperâ„¢ launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes high and low, not much in between. Our audience is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect to deliver at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
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