Beyond just the sex in Dr. Ruth’s story
Dr. Ruth Westheimer already seemed like your quirky grandmother when she rose to prominence in the 1980s as host of an insanely popular radio program and a regular guest on talk shows such as Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” and others. And that was part of her appeal; sex and sexual health are not only normal, her presence suggested, they are a lifetime investment.
So it’s comforting to know that at age 90 she’s still at it. How director Ryan White got her to sit still long enough to make his feature-length documentary, “Ask Dr. Ruth,” is a wonder: She still teaches two college courses, is a prolific author, writes a magazine column, relentlessly travels for speaking engagements and conferences, and chats with her personal manager up to 25 or 30 times a day.
The value in the documentary lies in Westheimer’s personal story, which is pretty amazing. Born into a Jewish family in Germany, she was saved by her mother and grandmother, who put her on a train to Switzerland as part of the Kindertransport at the outbreak of World War II. Her parents and grandmother did not survive the war.
Afterward, she immigrated to Israel, became a sniper for what would become the Israel Defense Forces and was severely wounded by shrapnel in the 1947-49 Palestine war. Later, she was educated in Paris and the United States and became interested in sex education after working for Planned Parenthood.
In “Ask Dr. Ruth,” we get to meet her first boyfriend, also a Kindertransport orphan. “You were so incredibly handsome,” she swoons in his kitchen, as his wife laughs nearby. “I can still remember the taste of his kisses!”
She talks openly about her three marriages, and we meet her children and grandchildren. One granddaughter is stunned that Westheimer doesn’t think of herself as a feminist, even though she is an icon to feminists. They debate that at the kitchen table.
White, who has made documentaries about Serena Williams and Beatles secretary Freda Kelly, and the Netflix series “The Keepers,” is an efficient storyteller who keeps things moving. He mines a wealth of archival material and clips from Westheimer’s 1980s television life. He neatly makes the case for her; openly talking about sex is now commonplace but was not when she started.
Part of her charm, of course, was her diminutive stature, together with her infectious laughter. She laughs a lot in “Ask Dr. Ruth.”
“I’m 4 foot 7, but I feel like I’m 6 feet tall,” she says, with a laugh.
Indeed, she remains a giant in her field.