Anita: Speaking Truth to Power

Don’t remember the story of Anita Hill? Here’s a brief rundown: Hill testified against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas before a Senate judiciary committee in 1991. According to Hill, Thomas sexually harassed her several times while the two worked together at, oddly enough, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hill was grilled unmercifully by a committee of all-white senators (including pompous Southern caricature Howell Heflin and a bumbling Joe Biden), and in the end, Thomas got confirmed. But Hill didn’t exactly lose. This documentary takes a bigger look at the scope of the trial, and how it ultimately shined a bright light on sexual harassment in the workplace. And that’s about all it does. While the first half of the doc adequately analyzes Hill’s testimony, the last half sputters out with empty platitudes and too much self-celebrating. It was a watershed moment that deserves better treatment.