Female Film Critics 24/375
More than 100 years after it was initially introduced, the fierce fight for the Equal Rights Amendment wages on…and on…and on. The persistence and determination of the dedicated people — mostly women, naturally — who are committed to making the ERA part of the U.S. Constitution is thoroughly captured in Sabaah Folayan and Deborah Riley Draper’s documentary Ratified, which is ultimately as frustrating as it is compelling and informative.
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Kudos to directors Deborah Riley Draper and Sabaah Folayan for bringing, with vitality and a razor sharp perspective, 100 years of history up to the present and making it fascinating, relevant and, yes, infuriating. Ratified succinctly traces the the birth of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the year 1924 through gains and losses, always with a focus on the pivotal but, unsurprisingly, neglected role unfailingly played by women of color.
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I’ve been trying to get my thoughts on the Phyllis Schlafly–centered FX/BBC miniseries Mrs America to coalesce into something coherent for weeks now. The Amy Coney Barrett fiasco has finally solidified them, and seeing her rushed swearing-in to the US Supreme Court — at night, almost sneakily, the judicial equivalent of a shotgun wedding — has filled me with a clarifying rage.
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It’s fascinating how many young people have never heard of Phyllis Schlafly and how many older folk have forgotten her grassroots opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment back in the 1970s. It’s dauntingly relevant to realize that – a century after female suffrage became the law of the land – there’s still no constitutional ban on discrimination against women.
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Primetime Emmy-winning writer and producer Dahvi Waller, whose premier previous credits include Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire was looking for an intriguing angle to delve into 1970s feminism, and she found it in Mrs. America.
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