RGB on TV

 

     Lengthy TV interviews about political "stars"  can be boring, yet  if the timing and topic are right, they can be valuable and even enjoyable. Take for example, recent TV "Conversations" featuring Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG ).

      It's obvious that RBG is ripe for TV viewing  because the timing is appropriate:  consider her recent health problems and the opening of  the Hollywood film,"On the Basis of Sex." ( No doubt, there's a screenplay being written now about Speaker Pelosi.) We shouldn't forget the presence of the "Me Too movement" either. RBG is a perfect example of someone who can inspire people to join the ranks through TV/film exposure, keeping the movement growing.

     The point is, we shouldn't ignore RBG's TV interview on PBS last week: viewers could  and did learn a lot about her, which was refreshing, humorous, and at times, heartfelt. But most surprising was that we didn't expect an older woman to have the qualities of someone who is younger: assertive, sharp, attentive to details, honest, grounded, comfortable with herself. We could go on.

      As much as we thought we knew about RBG, we realized there was so much more to ascertain.  If we perceive Justices as formal and protective of themselves, RBG doesn't fit the bill. At least in a personal setting that we experienced on TV. And speaking of personal, that was the program's prevailing tone. RBG shared with us her life in Brooklyn, her favorite teachers, her love of plays, art, music and books.  
     
     Moreover, National Public Radio interviewer,  Nina Totenberg , didn't ask  much about the law, her married life, her husband or advice she would give women who wanted to become lawyers. You know, the expected questions. RBG did, however, talk about her early days, simultaneously helping her sick husband and going to law school. Those memories struck home for RBG as they also struck home for many of us taking a look back. In fact, the most astonishing thing about the interview was how much we could relate to RBG's life, if we grew up in New York, that is. But maybe not. After all, most of us are not lawyers or Justices, no matter where we lived. Yet we could say with sincerity, " I know this woman."

 
Guest Blogger Ruby Baresch:

     The interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg on PBS last night, which had been taped on Dec. 15 at the Museum of the City of NY, was more enjoyable than I had expected. She was funny and serious and interesting. The outline of her life story is already known, especially with the recent attention that's been paid to her, but how she talked about it was often unexpected. E.g.: Q. What art especially interested you at the Metropolitan Museum when you were taken there as a child? A. The mummy case in the Egyptian section.

      Ginsburg and interviewer Nina Totenberg surely knew what to expect from each other, whether they discussed it beforehand or not. Ginsburg did not hesitate to correct Totenberg on even minor points; Totenberg had Ginsburg's life history at her fingertips. A couple of old pros. 

      (Do you remember when Nina Totenberg, Cokie Roberts, and Linda Wertheimer were the Big Three of public radio?)

      The camera work provided just enough movement to avoid being intrusive. (I hate it when the camera zooms in so close you think you're going to see Orson Wells saying Rosebud.) As it was taped in front of a live audience, I doubt that much editing went into the tv version unless they had to cut it for the time slot.

     
      I loved the last bit which referred to the fictionalized film of Ginsburg’s younger days, On the Basis of Sex. Q. There’s a sex scene in the movie. What were you thinking when you saw it? A. I was thinking that Marty (deceased husband) would have loved it!

Ruby Baresch has a masters degree in Cinema Studies from New York University. She was an Assistant Administer at NYU for 12 years. Her writing experience includes film criticism , covering  foreign film festivals, historical research, co-editor of poetry magazine Squeezebox, and short fiction and poetry.