Instant Hotel & On the Basis of Sex
After seeing the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary last year, I wasn't sure if a Hollywood adaptation of her life could succeed in being nearly half as moving as watching the real-life woman lifting her exercise weights. I also thought the name was kind of a mouthful. Fortunately, On the Basis of Sex made many smart moves and can be dubbed a worthy follow-up look at her life, after you've watched the documentary (have I plugged this enough yet??). A few weeks ago, I shared some interviews where Daniel Stiepleman, the screenwriter of On the Basis and also RBG's nephew, shared some behind the scenes information about his time working on the script for this movie. Knowing that RBG herself had seen, given notes on and approved drafts of the script made me feel significantly more confident in the film, because you don't want a legend like that messed with and you don't want a male screenwriter to take too many liberties with her story. By keeping it in the family and close to home, On the Basis gained some extra credibility before audiences even stepped in the theater. The movie was also directed by a woman, Mimi Leder, not only helping me fulfill half of my January New Year's resolution goal, but also giving a movie about sexism in the workforce a female perspective behind the camera. It avoided common pitfalls of female empowerment movies that are directed by men: There were no lingering shots of Felicity Jones from behind, the male characters were not going through more significant arcs than the lead and the scenes all focused on women first, with men in the periphery, instead of vice versa. And finally, by deciding to focus on a specific moment in RBG's life, instead of trying to document every amazing thing she's done, the movie felt fresh, with a specific point of view and not like it was overreaching. Felicity Jones did an excellent capturing RBG's demeanor, a quite, yet powerful force. Armie Hammer impressed me, as I was most worried about his performance when entering the theater, for he was able to be a large and humorous presence, as Marty Ginsburg was in real life, without pulling focus from his wife. The movie also decides to focus a lot of the relationship between Ruth and her daughter, which continued to remind the audience how Ruth's legal battles would impact future generations of women. My mom is a lawyer and even though she went to law school decades after RBG did, she still experienced a lot of the sexist comments present throughout this movie. It's a reminder to me that even though women have more opportunities than ever before, it was not that long ago that women were critiqued for taking a man's spot in law school, only praised for their husband's accomplishments and told that they weren't likable enough (oh wait, that one might still be going strong...). The final shot of the movie brought me to tears (I won't spoil it) and is the perfect image to showcase the amazing woman that helped blaze a trail for women everywhere and create a better future for us all.
As Seen on Screen
Forget Bird Box, the show you must start watching on Netflix right this moment is Instant Hotel. Let me start by saying, I'm not much of a HGTV/TLC reality show person, but there's something about Instant Hotel that sucked me in. I binged almost the entire first season over the course of the three-day weekend, which turned out to be a huge mistake because since it's a Netflix original series, I now have to wait for more. The premise? Set in Australia, 10 pairs compete to be named the best "instant hotel" and a trip to stay in a luxury home share in California. An instant hotel is essentially an Airbnb home rental experience. The season is split in half, with five pairs competing in the first half, five in the second half and concludes with the ultimate showdown between the winners of each round. Similar to TLC's Four Weddings, four of the pairs stay in the fifth pair's instant hotel and give it a rating based on four criteria: the property itself, surrounding attractions, value for money and whether or not you got a good night's sleep. Each episode rotates to a different house, giving plenty of time (but never too much) devoted to each stay. The pairs are incredibly competitive in their in-person conversations, home stay reviews and on-screen confessionals. It's catty and tough, definitely to the point of awkward in certain instances, but the mix of personalities help balance out the tone of the show. For every manipulative mother-daughter duo (Babe and Bondi), there's a sweet couple that's been married for 37 years (my favorites -- Mark and Jannine). It's also fun to watch the groups travel throughout Australia and explore the different regions and vacation spots, making it feel like you're going on a journey with them without leaving your couch. It's interesting to learn more about what makes each Airbnb location work and even more fascinating to watch the pairs bond together in the tense environment. It's the perfect winter weekend show to binge!
Required Reading
Anyone who grew up reading fashion magazines dreamed about one day being featured in Vogue. For journalist Noor Tagouri the experience was a flawed one, after her picture was misidentified as Pakistani actress Noor Bukhari in the famous magazine's pages. Tagouri’s realization went viral in video form (her husband was filming what was supposed to be a triumphant moment), prompting a public apology from Vogue. In this Fashionista article, Tagouri shares her frustration with the situation, which happens time and time again: "Muslim women — especially in America — when it comes to representation in the media, they are not only overlooked, they are constantly put in harm's way and put in danger, and I have worked my entire career to combat that, not just for Muslim women, but for all marginalized communities. That's why I think it's ironic that despite this being the work that I do, it's what happens to me constantly."
