At this time, when remarkable women are being fired from government jobs, and their accomplishments erased from reports and deleted from websites, the new National Geographic documentary about the life of Dr. Sally Ride is vitally important on several fronts.
Since childhood, writer/director Cristina Costantini has been a fan. In 2012, when Sally Ride died, Costantini found out, with the rest of the world, that Ride had had a 27-year loving relationship with a woman named Tam O’Shaughnessy.
This documentary is not only about Ride being a pioneer in space but also a woman in the male dominated world of NASA having to hide her personal life in a country that was highly homophobic.
Ride’s decision to hide her sexuality most likely added to the incredible stress of her job but was probably the right decision at the time. She had witnessed the impact coming out had on her friend Billie Jean King. Ride had experienced ridiculous backlash for simply refusing to accept a floral bouquet upon her return from space.
Ride’s story is told using vintage photos and film footage, interviews with Sally, her family, friends, teammates, fellow astronauts, journalists and her life-partner. Ride’s voice narrates much of the story.
Fellow astronaut Mike Mullane admits to behaving like a “male chauvinist pig” toward Sally in the beginning, but ultimately acknowledges Sally proved him wrong. His transition in thinking is one of the many powerful takeaways from the doc.
Ride made history and for a time was the most famous woman on the planet. At the same time, she felt the need to keep her private life private. She was and is a true American hero and role model for generations of women.
We, the people, need to make sure her accomplishments, along with the achievements of other women, people of color and members of our LGTBQ community, are not erased from history.
“Sally” runs 1 hour and 43 powerful minutes. It premiered on National Geographic on June 16th and was available for streaming the following day on Disney+ and Hulu.
