As her 90th birthday approaches, Dr. Ruth Westheimer reflects on her painful past. A survivor of the Holocaust, her career path leads her to the forefront of the sexual revolution, making her America's most famous sex therapist.
Having lived in New Zealand for (pretty much) my whole life, I've never heard of Dr Ruth Westheimer. That being said, I would be lying if I said that a documentary about America's most famous sex therapist didn't sound intriguing.
The documentary starts with a little summary of Ruth's career--the celebrity guests, the television appearances, the radio spots, and convention panels--before it jumps back in time to cover the life of this woman's eventful life. Like a video compilation that you would see at someone's work retirement function, Ask Dr. Ruth covers all aspects from her childhood and upbringing, through her experiences as an orphan of the Holocaust, to her eventual move to America and career as a sex therapist. Of course, the real surprise is that Ruth, now 91, is still going strong, despite her age, with a level of fitness and vitality that is enviable.
While the title of the documentary would lead you to believe that the focus will be on her media career as an American sex therapist, media personality, author, radio, television talk show host which began in 1980. The narrative does actually take a more rounded approach, covering her entire life--using animated sequences to reenact parts of her past that could not be captured by video camera--and as she was born in 1928, it almost makes sense that we don't get to the 1980s until the third act.
What is unique about the narrative structure is how much control Ruth herself appears to have. This isn't a sterile and clinical documentary with monotonous interviews, cut together to form some kind of story. This is Dr. Ruth telling her story. She chooses what stories she wants to talk about, what parts of her life she wants to reveal, and has no issues with letting someone know if they ask a "stupid question". Given the ability to reconnect with people from her past and learn about her parents, the audience get to experience this exploration of Ruth's 90-year history (at the point of the documentary being made) alongside her.
It is the final act that really has the most to offer. To see how the candid nature of this tiny 4ft 7in tall woman, managed to encourage a nation to speak openly and publicly about subjects of a sexual nature. While she was more than happy to tell the cameramen and interviewers asking about her life when they asked a "stupid question", there are no stupid questions when it came to sex, masturbation, and relationships. It is awe-inspiring to watch this little spitfire of a woman breaking down barriers and having the level of charm and professionalism to give the confidence to speak out, rather than live in ignorance.
Ask Dr. Ruth is insightful, but also delightful. She is comforting, and yet still maintains a sharpness to her mind as the years go by. Fighting for women's sexual rights, there seems to be a theme of battlers in the US called Ruth, fighting the good fight (just look at Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg). I would have loved to see and hear more of the conversations and discussion that she has had over the years, but as it stands, Ask Dr. Ruth still manages to put forward an enjoyable viewing--even if it simply comes from the hilarity of watching her force celebrity guests to awkwardly say penis and vagina repeatedly, live on television).