Look, I understand that not everyone is as big of a soccer fan as I am (I, uh, even got married in a soccer stadium), but even the most casual of fans in the United States should be familiar with the exploits of our women’s national team. From Brandi Chastain’s thrilling penalty to win the 1999 World Cup and her infamous sports bra-baring celebration to Carli Lloyd scoring a hat trick to help win the tournament for the USWNT in 2015, the four-time world champions are the standard-bearers for the sport around the world.
And yet, even though the USWNT have won literally everything there is to win and the USMNT have won next to nothing, the women have historically been paid far less and treated far less honorably than the men. Some people will argue that the men’s team brings in more money (not necessarily) and that the women’s team agreed to their deal (something they did without realizing that they could demand better). Nonetheless, on International Women’s Day in 2019—just prior to that summer’s World Cup—the USWNT took the unprecedented step of filing a discrimination lawsuit against their employers at U.S. Soccer.
The HBO Max original documentary LFG, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmakers Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, tells the story of the team’s decision to file that lawsuit and everything that has come afterward (so far). Several of the team’s star players, including team captain Becky Sauerbrunn and the ever-outspoken Megan Rapinoe, are involved prominently in LFG; U.S. Soccer, needless to say, declined to participate, which should tell you all you need to know about them as well as the angle of the film. Those who have been following the case closely likely won’t find any new ground covered here, but LFG nonetheless provides a powerful case for why these women—and so many other women, in various fields around the world—deserve to be paid what they’re worth.
We are the Champions
When male athletes celebrate ostentatiously, they are applauded for their confidence and bravado; when women do, they are deemed bad role models for young girls. When Rapinoe said she wasn’t “going to the f***ing White House” if the women won the 2019 World Cup, the President of the United States told her to shut up and focus on winning first (and they did win, a record fourth title that is documented in this film). So, it’s no surprise that a lot of the narrative in the media surrounding the USWNT’s decision to file a lawsuit against their employers has smacked of “how dare they!” After all, U.S. Soccer invests far more in women’s soccer than any other federation around the world—hence the USWNT’s consistent success. But as Rapinoe points out in one of her interview segments, “Just because you’re better than someone who is bad doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re good.”
The players’ attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, is one of the more interesting figures in the documentary, providing an empathetic rebuttal for every single one of U.S. Soccer’s counterarguments to the suit. The filmmakers use graphics and animation to illustrate his points in a way that is visually appealing while also informative; even as someone who follows the team, I felt Kessler’s segments clarified some aspects of the case for me. The main counterargument—that some members of the USWNT have been paid more than members of the USMNT over the same five-year period—is easily torn apart just by looking at the wins for each team. As Sauerbrunn notes, “we had to be wildly successful to outearn our male counterparts. We had to win World Cups”—two, in fact, during a period in which the men failed to qualify for one.
Rapinoe and Sauerbrunn are joined onscreen by their teammates Jessica McDonald, Christen Press, Sam Mewis, and Kelley O’Hara. They discuss everything from what they love most about their teammates to how they felt when one of the court filings revealed that U.S. Soccer was literally trying to argue that they deserved less pay because of their biological differences from men. (Yes, really.) They allow the filmmakers to eavesdrop on their meetings with their PR rep, follow them to their depositions—Rapinoe’s lasts a whopping seven hours—and record their thoughts afterward. It’s easy to understand why the players would give the filmmakers such a high degree of access, seeing that LFG practically functions as a propaganda film for them. But that doesn’t make what we get to see any less impactful, or the issues discussed any less important not just to women soccer players, but women everywhere.
Rapinoe is her usual no-holds-barred self, discussing her working-class background, her brother’s opioid addiction, and her relationship with basketball star Sue Bird. When talking about Bird, Rapinoe notes that just by virtue of being gay women athletes, they are activists—they have to be. That notion of feeling required to speak out, due to a combination of empathy and obligation, is an undercurrent throughout LFG; these women make it clear they know that compared to most women—even compared to most other women soccer players—they are still in a privileged situation. As Rapinoe puts it, not every woman fighting for equal pay gets to go on Good Morning America and other morning television shows to essentially argue their case in the court of public opinion.
Living the Dream
While the participation of Rapinoe and Sauerbrunn, two of the team’s longest-standing players, provides a great deal of compelling footage, the most valuable parts of LFG are those spent telling Jessica McDonald’s story. McDonald has been a standout in the National Women’s Soccer League for quite some time but didn’t break out for the USWNT until the 2019 World Cup. As a Black woman on a predominantly white national team and a devoted mother to a young son, her path to soccer stardom was far different than many of her teammates. For this and so many other reasons, it’s important to see players like McDonald featured not just in documentaries like LFG, but in coverage of soccer in this country in general.
The scenes in which McDonald describes her early years in the NWSL are when one understands exactly how hard these women have worked to be where they are, despite never having the same resources or salary as men playing the same game. McDonald was only making about $15K per season when she first started playing pro soccer; she had friends who were waitresses who made three times as much money in a year. Because childcare cost more than her paychecks, McDonald brought her son to training in his stroller, occasionally having to take breaks to change his diaper. To make ends meet, she had a job in the offseason packing boxes for Amazon; despite now being a world champion, she still has a side gig coaching to earn extra money.
In spite of all these obstacles, McDonald refused to give up on her dreams: “It’s a badass thing when you can juggle being a parent with being paid well for what you’re doing.” Watching at-home footage of McDonald doing push-ups with her son on her back, explaining her tattoo in honor of him, and voicing her desire for more mothers to be able to make a living playing pro soccer…well, if you aren’t won over by the USWNT’s struggle at that point, I’m afraid there’s no hope for you. Her journey is an inspiration, as is her fight to ensure even better opportunities for those like her who will come after. Indeed, the next frontier for equal pay in the women’s game has to be the NWSL, a league in which Sauerbrunn notes “A large majority of my teammates do not make a livable wage.” Once they do, even more women like McDonald will be able to live their dreams, and that can only be a good thing.
Conclusion
Are there any startling revelations or shocking reveals to be found in LFG? No, not really. This isn’t a deep investigation into the particulars of the USWNT’s case, more a robust summary with a healthy dose of rah-rah feminism. But as a portrait of one of the higher-profile fights to close the gender pay gap, it gets the job done with gusto.
What do you think? Are you a fan of the USWNT? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
LFG premieres on HBO Max on June 24, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM0j03d9fdI
Watch LFG
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.