# On The Basis Of Sex **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195 "2019-02-25T18:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/1 "2019-02-25T18:43:35Z")
I’m somewhat surprised to see no thread on this film, given the admiration for the protagonist. As a man who quit his job to care for an elderly relative, I had a personal interest in watching this film, but I really didn’t care for the film. It’s serviceable but formulaic. It didn’t really hold me. There were the cliched setbacks. Manipulations were obvious. It’s not a bad film, but it’s not a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/2 "2019-02-25T19:44:02Z")
The RBG doc covered the same ground and was (in the opinion of my wife and me) more informative AND entertaining. In the movie, the actor portraying her husband was SO handsome and SO perfect, it seemed to take something away from RBG. And her essentially attending both of their classes was so insanely impossible (yet she did it!), that as portrayed I felt it came across as even more unbelievable (I doubt that makes sense.) Of course, we are both lawyers, so maybe we preferred a no-nonsense, heavily law-based treatment. Both big fans of RBG, and were expecting to really enjoy OTBOS. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/3 "2019-02-26T10:24:36Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > In the movie, the actor portraying her husband was SO handsome and SO perfect, it seemed to take something away from RBG. Would you have noticed it if the sexes were reversed? And contrast it with Aquaman where the female lead was indeed perfect but she also led the protagonist around by the nose. Here her husband was the perfect encourager and supporter. > [@](#): > > And her essentially attending both of their classes was so insanely impossible (yet she did it!), that as portrayed I felt it came across as even more unbelievable (I doubt that makes sense.) Yes, it was almost a blink and you’ll miss it scene. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/4 "2019-02-26T14:27:03Z")
Both Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer are taller than, respectively, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg. Both are better-looking than, respectively, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg. This is pretty standard for Hollywood. Filmmakers claim to want to accurately depict the lives of the people whose lives they are showing, but they nearly always make them more attractive and taller than the real people. If you were to ask the filmmakers about this, they would say, “Hey, we’ve got to use movie stars in these parts. We can’t have short, ugly people play the roles. Who wants to see them?” According to some things I’ve read, when her husband had cancer, she did not go to his classes to take notes, but instead she arranged for his classmates to take notes. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/5 "2019-03-02T16:17:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > The RBG doc covered the same ground and was (in the opinion of my wife and me) more informative AND entertaining. I have not seen this documentary. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/6 "2019-03-03T02:55:44Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Both Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer are taller than, respectively, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg. Jones is 5’3". She’s pretty close to Ginsburg’s height (5’1"). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/7 "2019-03-03T03:05:50Z")
How tall was Martin Ginsburg? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/8 "2019-03-03T03:45:38Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I have not seen this documentary. [RBG](https://www.rbgmovie.com). I was very impressed by it, though of course like any documentary it can give only a partial narrative. But it was solidly factual as well as being interesting and charming, and I enjoyed it very much. When I saw trailers for _On the Basis of Sex_, on the other hand, I thought pretty much what you said: formulaic, manipulative, cliched. Haven’t seen it and sounds like I’m not missing much. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/9 "2019-03-03T23:58:16Z")
One thing that bothered me was that Felicity Jones’ accent kept slipping. I think the documentary was better. J. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-basis-of-sex/830195/10 "2019-03-04T00:20:42Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > How tall was Martin Ginsburg? I looked online but I couldn’t find it. For what it’s worth, Armie Hammer is 6’5".