Sociological Perspectives of the Film 'Erin Brockovich"
In the film Erin Brockovich, several different social theories can be related to the storyline of the film. Although different, theories from Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber can all adequately describe what happens in the film. The film is about a small law firm that takes on an extremely powerful organization, PG & E (Pacific Gas & Electric), on the account that they were knowingly polluting Hinkley, California’s water supply and harming the citizens. From Karl Marx, the film can be explained through his base-superstructure model of society, with PG & E serving as the powerful base, and the rest of society in Hinkley, CA serving as the superstructure. From Emile Durkheim, this movie can be portrayed through his evolutionary theory, through the way that Erin and the rest of Hinkley, CA progresses from a mechanical to organic society, and as a result their idea on law progresses from repressive to restitutive law. Thirdly, the film can be represented through Max Weber’s theory on rationality, in the way that PG & E expresses its domination over the rest of society.
The film relates to several different theories of Karl Marx in more ways than not. With Marx’s ideas on class conflict, PG & E can serve as the all powerful upper class who control the modes of production, while the rest of the town of Hinkley, CA that resides near PG & E’s plant serve as the lower class. Through all of Marx’s ideas of class conflict, his base-superstructure model most sufficiently portrays what happened in the film. In his theory, Marx describes the base as the foundation of the model, where it comprehends the forces and relations of production employer-employee work conditions, the technical division of labor and property relations into which people enter this base to produce the necessities and amenities of their lives. The base determines the conditions of its counterpart, the superstructure; the cultural, political, and social forms of life. Marx
The film relates to several different theories of Karl Marx in more ways than not. With Marx’s ideas on class conflict, PG & E can serve as the all powerful upper class who control the modes of production, while the rest of the town of Hinkley, CA that resides near PG & E’s plant serve as the lower class. Through all of Marx’s ideas of class conflict, his base-superstructure model most sufficiently portrays what happened in the film. In his theory, Marx describes the base as the foundation of the model, where it comprehends the forces and relations of production employer-employee work conditions, the technical division of labor and property relations into which people enter this base to produce the necessities and amenities of their lives. The base determines the conditions of its counterpart, the superstructure; the cultural, political, and social forms of life. Marx
Cited: Sutton, J. (2001). Law/Society . Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press .