Paper Due Date
Abstract
The life is challenging – it makes people show their inner strength or weakness. In the first case – life gives an ward, I the second case – another challenge. Erin Brockovich is the one, who can be related to the first case. It is a strong woman, a mother of three children. The movie “Erin Brockovich” is showing her life and personality, through the narrative element, the costumes and, what is more important, the Julia Roberts’s play. These elements are going to be discussed in this movie, in terms of the way they impersonalize Erin Brockovich on the screen.
Key words: Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts, the movie, the narrative.
Woman is a strong human being. During her entire life she has to deal with a number of personal, social and other kinds of issues. Unlike with men, women are spending much more of their personal energy to the process of dealing with problems, as they are more emotional. Women tend to reflect issues of other people on themselves, walking in their shoes. Such approach makes them stronger afterwards; it gives them faith in their own inner power.
The World history knows a number of such strong women, who have changed the world. Some of them have sacrificed their personal lives, their health and work placements. Such women all together are creating one of the most popular themes in the cinematography – a number of movies are telling us stories of life that inspire to do more. One of those movies is “Erin Brockovich”, created by Steven Andrew Soderbergh in the 2000.
As it was said on the beginning of the movie – it is based on the real life story. Indeed, Erin Brockovich is a real person. She is an environmental activist and legal clerk from USA. Her successful lawsuit against such great company, as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the 1993 later has become the subject to this movie.
So, how does this particular film show us Brockovich as a strong woman? First of all, we see that she is young with three children. She did not give up on her life and she did not give up on her children. Still, she is a loving mother, who tries to find a job in order to make for a living. We all remember a scene, when she calls George to talk to him. He says that her daughter said her first word – ball. Julia Roberts has perfectly shown real emotions that seem to come from the bottom of her heart. This scene has shown her biggest sacrifice – her children. One of the sacrifices all strong women have to make in order to create a better life
for her children and herself. Of course, being a single mother is hard; however, she dealt with it and has found her love. (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
Second of all, we see her not giving up after the car accident. When she lost the case – she went to the law company and convinced her future boss to hire her. This episode shows us a woman with strong desire to make her life better, a woman with inner fire. Through the narrative part of the scene, we see that she is not afraid to call a spade a spade:
“Bullshit. If you had a full staff, this office would return a client's damn phone calls.” (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
Through the play of Julia Roberts we see a fragile woman behind the shield of the bravery. All those emotions, performed by Julia, are passing to the viewer the idea of fearless personality, who has something to loose and to fight for. Julia has embodied a woman, who knows life.
Third of all, we see a woman, who is not afraid to take a stand for her positions. When she was away, while working on the case and talking to all the people, her boss thought that she was “having fun, as her appearance leads to this mind” and so, she was fired. However, she came back and gave her boss one important life lesson – the way somebody dresses does not show what is the person capable of. We see how Julia Roberts was dressed during the whole movie: her costumes were far from the ones that lawyers should have. Finally, she proved her importance. (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
Fourth of all, we see that even an experienced lawyers had to admit that Erin – is amazing lawyer and environmental and human’s rights activist. Her sharp mind and creative way of thinking showed that even without any special higher education a person can become
successful because of his or hers skills. For example the scene with the meeting with the PG & E lawyers, when one of them wanted to take a sip of water and Erin said: “By the way, we had that water brought in specially for you folks. Came from a well in Hinkley.” The narrative part of this scene showed how Erin brought them to bay. (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
Fifth of all, we see that even being a woman with the strong will and her inner power, still Erin is a person, full of compassion to others, which is usually not common for the lawyers. Through the Julia Robert’s play, we see how close Erin was emotionally to the people, she was helping to. It is especially seen during the scene on the open air with a lot of people there. Again, she sacrificed her time with children and George to other people. (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
Generally speaking, the narrative part of the movie tells us about the risk, she was taking each and every day, while working on this case. First of all, it is noticeable from the scene, when she found out that Ed was meeting with Kurt – another lawyer: Julia Roberts has performed no signs of fear, only desire to continue working on the deal:
“NOT PERSONAL! That is my WORK, my SWEAT, and MY TIME AWAY FROM MY KIDS! IF THAT IS NOT PERSONAL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!” (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
Second of all, it is noticeable from the scene with an anonymous call, when somebody was threatening her. Nevertheless, she did not give up, she was not scared. This part has shown her strong will and eagerness to fight for all that she loves.
Third of all, it is a scene, when Erin is having unpleasant conversation with George, risking her personal life:
“For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.” (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
She understands all the consequences; however, still, she needs a support and compassion. On the other hand, giving herself to others, she has almost lost the trust of her children and her loved one – George. She has put too much on the line and this is what we see from the Julia Robert’s play – the emotions of suffering, when he leaves and the emotions of regret, when he says shows her the earrings. (Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich)
As a conclusion, it is important to mention that this movie has shown Erin Brockovich as a great person, a strong woman, who had a lot in her life to fight for. Also, the viewer may talk about Erin’s personality – behind the shield of the fearless human being is a fragile and loving mother of three children. Generally speaking, it was the right choice to give Julia Roberts the leading part. Talking about the narrative element of the movie, it is important to mention that Erin is a person, who is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Usually, people are afraid of the truth they can hear from others, that is why in the movie Erin almost did not have any friends. Consequently, we may state that the movie has managed to show Erin Brockovich’s inner world, her personal life and her way to the better life, she deserves.
Works cited:
Erin Brockovich. Dir. Steven Andrew Soderbergh. Perf. Julia Roberts. Universal, 2000. DVD.
