jcarreto jcarreto

A cinematic picture that is truly ahead of its time, bringing attention to an environmental crime as well as misogynistic views of the 90’s. Throughout the film, there are many emotions to feel but these are the types of films that stick out the most. At the start of the film, you would not think the plot focuses on an environmental crime. We are introduced to Erin Brokovitch who is a single mother of three trying to get a job in order to pay her bills and support her family. You can’t help but feel the frustration and the stress that Erin is going through. She is alone and broke and is forced to leave her children with people she barely knew, starve herself in order to feed her children dinner, and to top it off, she was in a car accident that was not her fault. Despite the unfortunate events occurring to her, Erin’s self-assured personality stood out from the jump. She had a way with words and a confidence that most women during this time period were not yet comfortable to display. She used her beauty to her advantage that got her what she wanted most of the time. Erin finessed a position as a legal clerk for her lawyer, without having any legal experience or an educational background. I believe the goal of the film was to inform viewers of the real life violation that happened under the watch of a large powerful corporation that is PG&E. A corporation that powers our daily lives which we as the consumers trust completely and blindly. Despite the cinematic parts that may be false and input for the dramatic and entertaining effect, the film focused a lot on the secrecy and corruption within this company. That is, hiding information that impacts peoples healths and lives, destroying and lying about information, and using money to silence people. This is also another point that makes me view the film ahead of its time because environmental violence was not talked about much when this film was made because there may have not been enough knowledge on the topic. As I watched this film in the year 2021, it was nice to see Erin, a woman in the 90’s not let herself get taken advantage of and walked all over in a misogynistic workplace and era. Through Julia Roberts' role, I was able to get a sense of the courageous and assertive type of person the real Erin Brokovitch. It was also satisfying to see the character development Erin underwent throughout the film and to see her completely flip her life around.