Some documentaries, especially political ones, preach at you. Some are just boring because there's no storyline - just someone pushing their viewpoint and you either agree or you're a monster. Mighty Ira is different because of it's presentation. We learn the story of the Nazi march in Skokie and why the ACLU supported it. But the kicker is that all parties, in the end, respect the other side and demonstrate that we really can agree to disagree. And more than that, genuine friendships can develop between the most unlikely people. No one is cancelled, no one is disrespected (well, maybe the ACTUAL Nazis). This is a political movie that REDUCES stress. How rare is that!?
Plot summary
Ira Glasser is one of America's unsung champions of civil rights and liberties. As the leader of the American Civil Liberties Union for 23 years, he transformed the organization from a small, "mom-and-pop" operation on the verge of bankruptcy into a civil liberties juggernaut with offices in every state and a $30 million endowment. As his generation retires from the barricades, Ira reminisces on his life at the forefront of defending the rights of all Americans, from civil rights leaders to neo-Nazis. His story takes us to his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, where in 1947 Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers broke the color barrier in baseball and inspired a generation of civil rights activists; to the offices of Robert Kennedy, where the U.S. Senator spoke with a young Ira and convinced him to take his first job with the ACLU; and to California, where a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor explains to Ira why he thinks the ACLU was wrong to defend the right of neo-Nazis to demonstrate near his home in Skokie, Illinois, over 40 years ago - and how recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, evoke painful memories. Amid high-profile controversies surrounding free speech, racial equality, and antisemitism - and on the occasion of the ACLU's centennial - Ira Glasser's story is as timely and provocative as ever.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 908.22 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
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Engaging, important and surprising!
Reviewed by
A beautiful human story
Mighty Ira shows how a principled man can make all the difference.
Ira Glasser looked a Holocaust survivor in the eyes as he told him he will fight for the right of a Neo-Nazi group to exercise their First Amendment rights. Glasser is a man to admire because he chooses to do what he believes is right in an honest, compassionate, and uncompromising manner.
The story, pacing, and cinematography are all well-done. The film does not try to be anything other that it is-a story about a man who believes in the ideals of liberty and navigates his way through a messy world in order to live up to them.
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What does it mean to fight for civil liberties in America?
"Might Ira" answers this question definitively-it means fighting for the rights of those you do not agree with. Drawing a line from Nazis in Skokie to white supremacists in Charlottesville, this movie shows its viewers what free speech looks like, and why it is so important that it is vigilantly defended. The arrangement of historical events, sprinkled in between a menagerie of interviews from those across the political spectrum, illustrates how the defenders of civil liberties do their work. It's an inspiring movie for anyone seeking to fight for First Amendment principles, or interested in understanding why this fight must continue to be fought.