'The Fight' - A Film Beyond Inspirational
The Fight, directed by Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres, follows the cases of six ACLU lawyers fighting against restrictions that the Trump administration had tried to instate. The ACLU, or the American Civil Liberties Union, is a non-profit organization that has been fighting for the constitutional rights of each individual. Lawyer Brigitte Amiri had the case of an underage girl who was in a refugee center being blocked from having an abortion. Lawyer Lee Gelernt was working on the cases of immigrant families being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as prohibiting the Muslim Ban. Lawyer Joshua Block and Chase Strangio are lawyers working on the case against having the transgender military ban. Lastly, lawyer Dale Ho was fighting to prevent the 2020 census from asking a question regarding citizenship status.
This movie was so emotionally intense that it was sometimes hard to take in. There were various moments when I would look around and see multiple people wiping their tears away, including me. The directors created a wonderful sense of comedic relief by showing how human and naturally flawed these lawyers were, which created a big relation between the viewer and those in the film. The film showed how each lawyer was naturally; the small nerves before they presented, the way they bonded with their families, how they had inside jokes adding on to the small humorous parts of the film this overall just made them feel so relatable.
Anger was something I felt throughout the movie, and the multiple images of injustice, as well as the president enforcing those acts of hatred, truly made it feel like I was invisible living here in America. As a Latinx girl who has immigrant parents, there was so much in this film that made me angry and frustrated. The overload of Trump's words of hatred made it hard for me to contain my tears of frustration. As I looked over and around the theater trying to discreetly wipe away my tears, I would see so many other people doing the same. It was hard to not be angry with the inequalities that had been occurring especially when so many of the injustices occurring were directly against our given rights.
As the film ended with some wins and losses, I felt a huge lift of inspiration. At the end of the film, the directors came out to do a Q&A. One of the audience members expressed their huge inspiration that the movie made them feel and wanted to know what they could do to help fight these injustices. Director Eli Despres responded by saying “Have your representative on speed dial.” With small chuckles from the crowd, they further explained that, if you ever see an injustice occurring, to call your representative and tell them why change is necessary. Now, personally, this film made me feel many things. I liked that there was no conclusive end to the film because the fight still continues.
