Class Themes In The Movie Erin Brockovich
The movie I have selected to for this assignment is Erin Brockovich. This movie is not only one of my favorites, it also parallels one of our class themes, "American Dream to American Nightmare". Although less obvious, it also demonstrates our class theme of "reification". Because it correlates with two of our fours class themes, I have decided to write on Erin Brockovich. One of the appeals of Erin Brockovich is that the movie is based on a true story. In a nutshell, Erin rises from being an uneducated impoverished member of society to becoming a productive "rebel for a cause." When a small town's water supply is contaminated by a multi-billion dollar corporation, Erin takes a stand on the town's behalf. She stands up and successfully
…show more content…
She has found a paying job with a law firm and personally takes on the challenge of investigating the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and it's pollution of Hinkley, a cause which becomes very fulfilling to her own self worth. She begins to feel her place in the community. Once seemingly hopeless, she is now working toward fulfillment by bringing the immoral corporation to its knees. She uncovers the fact that PG&E is knowingly contaminating Hinkley's water supply. In a sense, PG&E is dehumanizing the people of Hinkley. This directly relates to another of our class themes, reification. The power company is more concerned with making billions than it is with the health and lives of those it affects. People are poisoned by the company yet it tries to cover up its wrong doings instead of helping the victims. When confronted by Erin and her firm, the company denies the accusations and tries to get out of paying for its damages. Another example of reification is the contaminated water. This water begins to become more than just a resource of nature; once contaminated it becomes the central point of the entire case against PG&E. In one specific scene, when Erin and Ed Masry (Erin's lawyer boss) sit down to meet with PG&E and its attorneys, Erin offers them each a glass of water, "imported specially from Hinkley", she adds with a sarcastic smirk. No one drinks the water and in fact they look at it as though they are afraid of it, thus giving it a life-like quality. This too is a form of reification. The polluted water becomes more than just an object; it becomes an ominous source of fear and
She has found a paying job with a law firm and personally takes on the challenge of investigating the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and it's pollution of Hinkley, a cause which becomes very fulfilling to her own self worth. She begins to feel her place in the community. Once seemingly hopeless, she is now working toward fulfillment by bringing the immoral corporation to its knees. She uncovers the fact that PG&E is knowingly contaminating Hinkley's water supply. In a sense, PG&E is dehumanizing the people of Hinkley. This directly relates to another of our class themes, reification. The power company is more concerned with making billions than it is with the health and lives of those it affects. People are poisoned by the company yet it tries to cover up its wrong doings instead of helping the victims. When confronted by Erin and her firm, the company denies the accusations and tries to get out of paying for its damages. Another example of reification is the contaminated water. This water begins to become more than just a resource of nature; once contaminated it becomes the central point of the entire case against PG&E. In one specific scene, when Erin and Ed Masry (Erin's lawyer boss) sit down to meet with PG&E and its attorneys, Erin offers them each a glass of water, "imported specially from Hinkley", she adds with a sarcastic smirk. No one drinks the water and in fact they look at it as though they are afraid of it, thus giving it a life-like quality. This too is a form of reification. The polluted water becomes more than just an object; it becomes an ominous source of fear and