Erin Brockovich free essay sample

She was married and divorced twice and at the start of the show she was without a job though feverishly seeking one. To her a glimmer of hope came when a wealthy doctor who ran a red light slams into her car. She felt she had won the litigation jackpot. Her lawyer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney) tries to tame her loose tongue in court, but she blew it on the stand and ended up getting nothing. Her nightmare continued until she played on her lawyer’s guilt about losing the case to influence him to hire her as a gofer in his office. Erin, though, could not contain her badgering of scorching insults to staffs and her boss, Ed. She was never appropriately dressed for work in that she wore garish outfits. Though in her jibes there may have been truths, her hostile demeanor made her more a liability than an asset. We will write a custom essay sample on Erin Brockovich or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page On the job Erin was given a routine task from which there was expected to be no income. It was the purchase of a property by a large utility company Pacific Gas Electric (PGE). It was a family owned and occupied property adjacent to one of PGE’s desert plants. Erin became curious and started to investigate. Erin tapped into her strengths to bring PGE to their knees. Among her strengths was a tremendous underutilized talent for gaining empathy, especially from the genuinely downtrodden or â€Å"unvoiced† member of society. She also has a superb memory for detail and a powerful instinct for visceral confrontation with those in the legal profession who try to bury her and the case. Erin’s other source of power comes from her ability to adapt her aphroditic allure, which previously led to her failed dependence on men, into a weapon to cajole and seduce to get information. Her boobs, often consciously flaunted by buttoning down her tops to show a lot of cleavage and tan line, lead the way to important concessions and revelations. With these Erin found out and successfully proved that PGE had dumped a deadly form of Chromium of toxic levels into the small town’s water. What made it worse is that PGE knew about the contamination for years and purposely did nothing about it. Horrific diseases afflict most families living around the plant, but the people did not realize PGE has been culpable. What was also interesting is that she used her neighbour, a man called Prince who was a motorcycle riding construction worker, to babysit her kids while she focuses on her job; a huge transformation of Erin. What is so important and moving about the stories like Erin Brockovich is their magical ability to provide an image of how we might overcome the external, and more importantly the internal, shackles that bind us. And so, Erin ultimately hits her jackpot when she does the work she is best suited to do by ustilising her innate strengths and abilities with gusto, determination, and sacrifice. What a magnificent cinematic metaphor to give us the vision to be more than we seem, to be all that we can be. The Social Work Perspective â€Å"Social work is a professional and academic discipline committed to the pursuit of social welfare, social change and social justice,† Wipedia Answers. Com defines social work as â€Å"Organized work intended to advance the social conditions of a community, and especially of the disadvantaged, by providing psychological counseling, guidance, and assistance, especially in the form of social services. † This film is replete with social work interventions. Erwin was unemployed and had children without the support of a father as she was divorced. It was due to social intervention that her lawyer, Ed Masry, tried to tame her loose tongue which caused her to lose her court proceedings against a wealthy lawyer. Though his effort failed, he felt the need to assist her. Erwin was disadvantaged and needed help. She needed money but she could not find a job she could manage. Though he, her lawyer, employed her as his assistant he expected very little as he knew she had glaring handicaps: no education to support her tasks, caustically insolent, and skimpily sex appealing manner of dressing. That was his way of helping her to advance her social conditions even after being insulted by her. With that exposure Erin became more responsible and used what could be considered as her liability as her main asset. She used her venereal temptingness to get information rather than her previous pastime â€Å"prostituting† for her survival. She also discovered some inner beauties: gaining empathy especially from â€Å"unvoiced† member of society, an excellent memory and attendant to detail and a powerful instinct. She not just realized her social needs but that of others as well. It was for that reason she probed the toxic waste issue of PGE. Too many citizens of Hickley were affected yet were neither compensated nor being represented. Doctors, social workers, politicians and other professionals who were aware of the medical condition of the citizens refused to research the primal cause. Even after lawyers tried to block her probe, she was determined to correct the injustice to the marginalized, poor and disadvantaged residents. With this social service the affected residents were recognized and changes were effected for disposal of toxic wastes by all who produce it including PGE who also paid out thirty three million dollars for their culpability. But that was not the only example of social intervention. While Erin was busy with her probe, her neighbour, Prince, a bike rider and construction worker, assisted her children with love, care and fatherhood. He became the babysitter to her children and gave it as his contribution to improving the lives of the residents of Hickley as well as to the advancement of change in the way toxic material are disposed. Prince also wanted Erwin to be his soul mate. He desired her to be the feminine soul for his intimacy, rescuing her, taking care of her and her children, soothing her hurt and loneliness, salving her desperation. But though that was not Erwin’s ambition, she used it in the form of reversed psychology to be more steadfast to commitments and resilient to the tasks she undertakes. The story showed an improvement in the social fabric of Erin’s son. He was transformed from being resentful of his mom’s absence to supportive. This happened after he found a statement about a badly afflicted child his age. This became his social intervention to become a boy maturing with understanding and acceptance of his mother and appreciation of her hard work. With these social interventions Erwin became a woman less dependent on men for support and flirting, a woman who was more responsible for the caring and love of her children and family life, a woman who understand the needs of others and able to bring out the best of others, and a woman more socially committed to work and those who work with her. She became a tower of strengths moving up from a valley of weaknesses. Erin Brockovich free essay sample C. Wright Mills was known for coining the term and writing the book The Sociological Imagination, term and book know by every sociologist to date. This referred to the intersection of history and biography, meaning that every individual is influenced by the past and that in turn reflects their decisions and their lives. Hence writing his or her own biography throughout life based on what an individual has experienced in the past. These influences are based on society and what is happening around an individual to make him or her live the way they do. Erin Brockovich is an excellent movie that provides numerous sound examples of the sociological imagination. Choosing this film was based on the pure fact that it is based on a true story and the sociological problems that occur in this film are true. Society plays a huge role in this movie in all elements as far as families, corporate companies and the deception a powerhouse company like PGE (pacific gas and electric) can elude to the public. We will write a custom essay sample on Erin Brockovich or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the movie Erin Brockovich is a twice-divorced single mother of three looking for work, as any single mother should. After many failed attempts at finding work she stumbled upon Edward Masry’s law firm, and landed a job as a clerk. During her work she found blood samples and toxicology reports in occurrence with real estate paper work, which sparked her curiosity. Erin started to dig deeper and eventually unveiled a bigger issue, PGE was pumping out water filled with toxic chemicals into the surrounding area. These families had many medical problems ranging from cancer and spinal deterioration to nose bleeds and chronic headaches. PGE bought homes from these people in attempts to clear them from the area as well as paid for their medical screenings, and paid doctors to lie to these people about the true cause of their conditions. All along they were completely oblivious as to why they were all sick. Erin convinced Marsy to commit to the case despite his nerves about losing the case, going broke and failing all of the people who were depending on them to bring justice to them and their families. Erin and Marsy eventually opened a case against PGE corporate and won 333 million dollars to be disbursed amongst 634 plaintiffs. This is a movie about dedication, hard work, deception, hope, and trust. The filmmakers took a very big story, turned it into a wonderful movie and were able to show people who Erin Brockovich was and what she accomplished. Erin believed that she could bring these people justice and knew what was happening was wrong. Erin took a stand and refused to let this corporation ruin any more lives, she took a stand against society and brought hope and justice back into their lives. Erin Brockovich is now a huge activist throughout the world and is carrying hope and justice to every person who wants it. The connection between the film and The Promise is undeniably there and it is present in every single aspect of the film. But, there were three main aspects that caught my attention during the film, the individuals and families affected, Erin herself, and George—Erin’s lover. PGE had a huge impact on every one of the before mentioned, maybe not as direct as the plaintiffs, but if it wasn’t for this case this amazing change would have never taken place and the change in business ethics wouldn’t have taken place so abruptly. The most lucid connection in this film to The Promise is the plaintiffs and the families of the plaintiffs affected by the deception of this case. Throughout the film Erin encounters numerous plaintiffs that are completely unaware of why PGE decided or was offering to purchase their homes and pay for medical screenings. Every individual was getting more and more sick as the months progressed, and after many visits to hospital they were fed lies about the causes of their conditions. This corporation manipulated every single person and their whole lives were turned upside down. The corporation took control of outside sources that were meant to give people honest help, answers and feedback when presented a problem. When asked what they thought about the series events that had been occurring they replied with exactly what they were molded to think. At first some were completely in denial that something so serious as this could happen, and others were relieved to finally get answers as well as justice. Every experience these people endured was caused from a larger more powerful force beyond their control. They all had a common ground to stand on, and this common ground was sickness, manipulation, and deception. Some people lost loved ones because of this corporation, some were thousands of dollars in debt because of this corporation, others were undergoing multiple surgical procedures to remove cancerous tumors, and others were completely blind because that was what the corporation wanted them to think. PGE shaped these people’s lives and all of their experiences and not for the better. The second most prominent connection to The Promise and the film was Erin Brockovich her self. Like the plaintiffs this corporation, good and bad ways, affected her as well. The most obvious way she was affected was by her work, which like the domino effect and affected many other aspects in her life. Because of this case she was able to keep her job, put food on the table for her children, and eventually expose the public to the truth and help hundreds of desperate people. As I mentioned above her experiences were good and bad. With her new job and long hours of research and going door to door to speak with people, she was not home with her children as much as she was before. Her son seemed to be the most affected by his mother’s new hours along with her lover, George. Because of the case her relationship with her family was suffering, on the other hand if she had never gotten the job she would have never been able to help hundreds of people and have such a huge impact on their lives. The decisions that PGE made shaped Erin who she is today. She was able to make her mark in society, change lives, and change how that business is ran as we see it today and is now a huge activist throughout the United States. Although Edward Marsy was affected by this case, I think George’s life was more intricately affected. Before Erin, George seemed to be a free spirit. His friends were a major part of his life along with his motorcycle group. He met Erin right after she began working for Marsy and before she discovered how huge of case it was. As her work hours started to increase George was stuck at home with her children babysitting more frequently as the months passed. In the scene when Erin invites a whole community out for a barbeque and is handing out informational flyers about PGE a man who used to work for the company approached her and she is forced to leave the children with George. In this scene a group of motorcycles passes by on the highway and he stops, looks and the look on his face is a look of, â€Å"What am I doing? † Shortly after that he and Erin ended their relationship because he felt Erin wasn’t being appreciative of his duties as well as constantly being consumed with work. This is an excellent example of how a society affects the life and experiences of a person. Before George met Erin he was enjoying his life the way it was. After they started a relationship he seemed to lose himself and the interests he once had because of Erin working all time and being completely consumed with the case. The case greatly affected George and his experiences within the film. If it weren’t for Erin working at that particular office, discovering those files and pursuing the case George would have never had to give up his lifestyle. Based on the few readings and additional research about this particular film, I feel that the filmmakers did an outstanding job focusing on the win of 333 million dollars as opposed to what really happened with the money. I have read a few articles about Erin Brockovich herself and according to Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts plays her exactly how she is in real life, the same goes for Edward Marsy. For the most part the film was completely focused on the money and getting the plaintiffs compensation for all of their financial losses. After doing some light research and reading of my own, some of the plaintiffs were displeased about how the film was portrayed to the public. The side America was able to view was only half of the story and apparently the other half wasn’t so glamorous as us as viewers would like to think. In my opinion the movie was only about one-third accurate according to the articles I have read. I am fully aware that it is Hollywood and filmmakers want to make money when they produce a film. Undeniably the film paints a more pretty picture about the case, but that is Hollywood and that is how the business functions. Coming from a sociological perspective and for the purpose of writing this paper the film was perfect. I feel I was able to understand more about the The Promise as well as the sociological perspective and what it really entales. But after researching this case a little further I would have liked to see more emphasis on what really happened to the money, a more accurate portrayal of the plaintiffs as well as a more accurate portrayal of the pursuit of the case. As mentioned above the film does focus on the money but as far as what really happened during the case—this film is really lacking in that aspect. The film made it seem like every plaintiff was going to get a fair share of the money, but after further reading that was simply not the case. Some plaintiffs were granted far less than what their medical expenses accumulated to be, some waited years to see the money, some had to pay their layers thousands of dollars, and some actually tried to sue their lawyers because they felt they were cheated. I don’t feel this film needs anything taken out, but it unquestionably needs some important elements added to paint viewers a more accurate picture of this amazing case.