美国国家公共电台 NPR 'On The Basis Of Sex' Follows A Fiery Young Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Supreme¹ Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is having a pop culture moment - more than a moment, really. For the past couple of years, she has transcended² her role on the court to become a liberal icon³. There's a CNN documentary, a podcast, various biographies. She wrote her own memoir⁴ in 2016. There's even a Ruth Bader Ginsburg coloring book.

Ginsburg's story is told yet again, this time in a new film starring Felicity Jones. In it, we see a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband, Marty, plowing⁵ through Harvard Law School. But Ruth is one of only nine other women in her class. Despite a stellar academic career, after graduating, she can't find a job. So instead of starting her career in the courtroom, she goes to the classroom, teaching at Rutgers University and focusing on sex discrimination in the law.

The film is directed by Mimi Leder. I talked with her and Felicity Jones about bringing Ginsburg's story to the screen. Here's Felicity Jones.

FELICITY JONES: Well, initially⁶, I was very, very intimidated⁷. And it's nerve-wracking paying such a beloved woman. And I, myself, am a huge, huge fan of her. But I had to put the fandom away. And I had to play the truth of this woman's experience and really get into the mind of who this woman was when she was younger, when she was, you know, much more, in many respects, open to the world and show, how does someone get to that position?

MARTIN: I'm going to ask you to do the hard work for me and explain the tax law case that is at the center of this particular story, Charles Moritz v. Commissioner⁸ of Internal Revenue. This is the case that Marty actually brings to Ruth. He sees something in there. He sees potential in this case. Mimi, can I put you on the spot to try to explain that?

MIMI LEDER: I'll try. You know, he brings her this case. And first of all, you know, she didn't teach tax cases. She never even read them.

MARTIN: He's the tax lawyer, yeah.

LEDER: He was the tax lawyer and became one of the pre-eminent tax attorneys in our country. So it's a case about a man who is a caregiver who files for a tax deduction⁹ for $196 and is denied the tax deduction because he is a never-married man. And in those days, the law read that only a woman is in the home, and only a widower¹⁰ can receive this tax deduction.

So they used this man, Charles Moritz, to argue gender¹¹ discrimination. And they won this tax case. And what it did was it overturned 178 different laws that discriminated¹² on the basis of sex and were found unconstitutional.

MARTIN: But it was interesting. You talk about how it brought down all of these different laws that had gender discrimination baked into them. But, Felicity, even her allies are not so keen on making it so big, right? I'm thinking in particular about Mel Wulf, the head of the ACLU at the time, who, you know, is her champion, and the ACLU has signed onto this suit. But he's always kind of trying to circumscribe¹³ the suit and trying to lower Ruth's expectations, isn't he?

JONES: Yeah, absolutely. I think he's very much a creature of his time. He's very representative of the sexism of those constant - and as Ruth said, you know, they can be small - those sort of patronizing comments, those dismissive remarks, the put-downs, the low expectations. But they build up.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ON THE BASIS OF SEX")

JONES: (As Ruth Bader Ginsburg) First, you took half the argument away from me.

JUSTIN THEROUX: (As Mel Wulf) Nobody took anything away from you, Ruth. You weren't robbed in the middle of the night, all right? I was giving you this opportunity for the good of the cause.

JONES: (As Ruth Bader Ginsburg) You think you gave this to me?

THEROUX: (As Mel Wulf) In fact, I did. And get your emotions in check.

JONES: (As Ruth Bader Ginsburg) You first.

Mel Wulf is not immune to that, and it just shows that Ruth was fighting on so many fronts.

MARTIN: And can I ask you about the relationship with her daughter? This is, in part, about this intergenerational definition of what it means to be a feminist¹⁴. And Ruth Bader Ginsburg has one idea, and she's fighting these really big fights. And, Felicity, can you talk about how her daughter Jane sees the fights, just, like, on the street level on a day-to-day?

JONES: Yeah. I mean, absolutely. Ruth was very much at the mercy of the time in many ways, and you see that sort of 1950s patriarchy at play. And she's having to conform to that on so many levels, and she's having to be so sophisticated in how she pushes against it because, to her, the most important thing is that she wins.

And then what you see with Jane is Jane doesn't have to do that - is that the times have shifted enough that Jane can get angry, and she can be more outspoken¹⁵. And you see that moment in the street when they're in New York, and she shouts at those guys in a way that Ruth would never have thought of doing that.

MARTIN: The guys were, like, catcalling at her, yeah.

JONES: Yeah. Catcalling.

MARTIN: Her mom brushes it off, and Jane's, like, no.

JONES: Yeah.

MARTIN: You can't do that.

JONES: Yeah. She says, no, you got to confront it. You got to fight back, you know, instantly. And you can see that the legacy¹⁶ of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's work - that actually what she's doing is she's providing this freedom where you can be more vocal¹⁷ and you can be more outspoken. And it's wonderful in those scenes Jane provokes her mother. She says, don't sit back. You got to keep fighting. She's a catalyst¹⁸ as much as Marty is.

MARTIN: Right. Marty was exceptional for the time, wasn't he?

LEDER: He was. He was a Renaissance¹⁹ man. He was very progressive. He did the cooking, and Mommy did the thinking.

(LAUGHTER)

LEDER: A quote from Jane Ginsburg.

MARTIN: (Laughter) Oh, really? Did she say that?

LEDER: Yeah.

MARTIN: I do want to catch myself on language, though. Calling Marty Ginsburg exceptional - I mean, he was exceptional for the time. But it is amazing how we give men a lot of kudos²⁰ just for doing half the work.

JONES: Yeah, I know. And it's also interesting this sort of amazement²¹ as well. I think even now...

MARTIN: Right.

JONES: ...It's sort of like, isn't this the norm?

MARTIN: Right.

JONES: Is this how it is? You know, it's 50-50, isn't it?

LEDER: But then we've heard comments, you know, wasn't Marty emasculated, you know, doing this?

MARTIN: Really? Have you heard that?

LEDER: Yeah. We have heard that - those questions.

JONES: Well, I think there's a lot of taboo²² around those roles, you know, and that's what Ruth was arguing against - these gender stereotypes²³. You know, that for men to be looking after the children, to be in a domestic sphere - I think even now, there's a lot of fear of men acting²⁴ in that way.

MARTIN: And that was really what that case was about. What is the natural order of things? And her critics said it is the natural order of things for women to be the nurturers, for women to be the caretakers always. And as demonstrated, it wasn't that.

JONES: And it shows - yeah - how important it is to argue against that because when you dismantle²⁵ those stereotypes, it's a much healthier society for everyone.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: That was actress Felicity Jones and director Mimi Leder talking about their new film. It is called "On The Basis Of Sex." The film releases widely tomorrow.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 transcended   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• He wanted assurance that he had transcended what was inherently ambiguous. 他要证明，他已经超越了本来就是混淆不清的事情。
• It transcended site to speak to universal human concerns. 它超越了场所的局限，表达了人类共同的心声。

3 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

4 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

5 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

9 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

10 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

12 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

13 circumscribe   

v.在...周围划线，限制，约束

参考例句：

• Please circumscribe the words which are wrongly spelled.请将拼错的词圈出来。
• The principal has requested all teachers to circumscribe failures in red on the report cards.这项规定要求，所有老师均要在报告卡用红笔上标出错误所在。

14 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

15 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

16 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

17 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

18 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

19 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

20 kudos   

n.荣誉，名声

参考例句：

• He received kudos from everyone on his performance.他的表演受到大家的称赞。
• It will acquire no kudos for translating its inner doubts into hesitation.如果由于内心疑虑不安而在行动上举棋不定，是得不到荣誉的。

21 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

22 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

23 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

25 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。