Seeing Allred (4 Stars)

This is a documentary about the American lawyer Gloria Allred that's currently only available on Netflix. It briefly speaks about many of her court cases over the last 45 years, but concentrates on her defence of 33 women who were allegedly raped by Bill Cosby. Most of the charges against Cosby couldn't be brought to court because of the statute of limitations, so a large part of Allred's legal battle was to have the statute of limitations removed for cases of sexual assault.

Ever since the early years of her career Gloria Allred has been fighting for women's rights. This has involved the right to abortion and the right of single mothers to demand child support. Even though she's a highly successful lawyer she has taken on many cases on behalf of women too poor to pay. Her detractors claim that she's an attention seeker, using high profile cases to give herself celebrity status.

The makers of the documentary are obviously fans of Gloria Allred, so we can't expect impartiality. At the beginning of the documentary it's mentioned that many people oppose her, but I don't feel that this subject is adequately explored. This would have strengthened the documentary rather than weaken it. I see the problem that she scares the men who enjoy their life in a patriarchal society. She's very blunt in stating what she wants for women. It's not a matter of negotiation. She wants it all and she wants it now.

So she's a feminist? So what? There's a gender war going on right now. Winning the right to vote wasn't the end of the battle, it was the beginning. As Gloria Allred states at the end of the film, the ballot box is the only place in America where women are equal. In every other place they still suffer disadvantages. In America women were given the right to vote in 1920. It could be argued that they've been complacent since then. Gloria Allred is anything but complacent. She's a fighter.