“Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins” tells the story of media firebrand Molly Ivins, six feet of Texas trouble who took on the Good Old Boy corruption wherever she found it. Her razor-sharp wit left both sides of the aisle laughing, and craving ink in her columns. She knew the Bill of Rights was in peril and said: “Polarizing people is a good way to win an election and a good way to wreck a country.” Molly’s words have proved prescient. Now it’s up to us to raise hell!
Smart, witty and outspoken, Molly Ivins, a political columnist and author, used her wit and humor to challenge politicians. Describing herself as painfully shy growing up, Molly found love in current affairs and used writing as her voice. While attending a segregated school, she discovered that every racist thing she was taught about black people was a lie and was the first to rebelliously challenge her conservative father by bringing a black friend home. She would go on to graduate from Smith College, receive a Masters Degree from Columbia University and studied in France. Molly found her place in journalism at a time when it was predominantly run by men but she was not intimidated and proved she was just as good a writer.
Early in her career, she reported social change issues including complaints of racism from the black community, rebellious students on campus and other off the beat stories. She was the first female police reporter at the Minneapolis Tribune and would eventually become Co-Editor at the Texas Observer where she would write about politics in a funny manner, threatening the very politicians’ narratives they forced upon people.
There were many who didn’t care for her radical demeanor, even a few of her editors felt the need to tone down her content. She received an astonishing amount of hate mail at the publication from people threatening to stop their subscription if they didn’t get rid of her, one of the most humorous threats was from the KKK who promised to silence her for good. Molly finally returned home to Texas to write again but this time she was offered absolute freedom to express herself. Although she had become famous for her humorously sarcastic columns, her best selling books, and television appearances, she was terribly alone, in fact, she never married nor had any children which she admitted was one of her biggest regrets. She also harbored a serious drinking addiction of which she never completely confronted or healed from. Molly was diagnosed with breast cancer and eventually died at the age of 62 in 2007.
I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary, I thought it was clever, inspiring, hilarious and really shows how serious issues such as government corruption can be exposed using wit and humor through storytelling.
Opens in Texas theaters August 30th, in NY theaters September 6th, and LA theaters September 13th
