LFG (Let’s F*cking Go) follows the U.S. Women’s National Team in their efforts to achieve equal pay from the U.S. Soccer Federation.
In a perfect world, this film would not have to be made. But of course, our world isn’t perfect and women are still getting underpaid and undervalued when it comes to paychecks. What LFG shows us is equally heartbreaking in as much as it is infuriating. LFG runs from three months before the 2019 World Cup all the way through March 2021. In a perfect world, we would be celebrating these athletes for their achievements on the field and not for their battles in the court room. Because, again, there should be equality in pay.
The U.S. Soccer Federation released a press statement in March 2021 but only AFTER referring to the USWNT as being “biologically inferior.” The president of U.S. Soccer was either lying or knew all about their legal arguments. Honestly, the fact that the federation is paying the women’s team so poorly compared to men is just bullshit. In any event, the reaction to the language in their legal filings led to his resignation.
The legal arguments went well into March 2021. As such, it impacted this documentary. Of course, we don’t know this until after the film catches up into March. Once we reach this point, one can tell the difference in the picture. This doesn’t take away from the larger purpose in the fight for equal pay.
What gets worse–blood-boiling, really–is that the USWNT’s demands for equal pay ended up getting dismissed by the judge. Making the ruling was Judge R. Gary Klausner of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The federation had made a motion for summary judgement. According to the news clip displayed in the film, the women argued “they were systemically underpaid by U.S. Soccer in comparison with the men’s team.” According to Klausner’s ruling per the news clipping:
U.S. Soccer had substantiated its argument that the women’s team actually earned more “on both a cumulative and an average-per-game basis” than the men’s team during the years at issue in the lawsuit.
So frustrating. We all know the truth here and I feel the court is in the wrong. The women have to win more games than men just to be paid equally. Where is the justice in that? To no surprise, the USWNT players were working on filing an appeal. Also, former player Cindy Parlow Cone replaced Carlos Cordeiro following his resignation.
What LFG (Let’s F*cking Go) shows is that women are just as deserving as men when it comes to equal pay regardless of activity.
DIRECTORS: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
SCREENWRITER: Andrea Nix Fine
FEATURING: Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara, Christen Press, Sam Mewis, and Julie Foudy
