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Erin Brokivich

Academy Awards 2000

+Academy Awards 2000

Erin Brokovich Released March 14, 2000 Biographical Film Director Steven Soderbergh

WINNER: (JULIA ROBERTS!) Academy Award: Best Actress Golden Globe: Best Actress Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a

Female Actor in a Leading Role

+Plot Summary Erin Brockovich is an unemployed single mother, desperate

to find a job, but is having no luck. This losing streak even extends to a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident she was in. With no alternative, she successfully browbeats her lawyer to give her a job in compensation for the loss. While no one takes her seriously, with her trashy clothes and earthy manners, that soon changes when she begins to investigate a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. What she discovers is that the company is trying quietly to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that the company is improperly and illegally dumping and, in turn, poisoning the residents in the area. As she digs deeper, Erin finds herself leading point in a series of events that would involve her lawfirm in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.

+The Real Erinhttp://www.makers.com/erin-brockovich

Born: June 22, 1960

1993, instrumental in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)

After the Movie: Host of two television shows

( Challenge America with Erin Brokovich and Final Justice)

President: Brokovich Research and Consulting

Now: Consultant for different law firms (personal injury focus)

+Themes

Justice

Determination

Motivation

Struggle

Family

+Justice

“Justice means minding one’s own business and not meddling with other men’s concerns.” Plato

Agree? Disagree? Explain.

Does this quote imply that you should not fight for justice? Explain.

Does this quote imply that there is no need for justice if you just stick to yourself? Explain.

+Justice

“Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.” Pope John Paul II

Agree/Disagree? Explain.

How can you obtain justice without violence?

+Determination

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” Vince Lombardi

When is the last time you showed determination to do something? Explain it. Did you succeed?

+Motivation

“Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.” Donald Trump

What motivates you to try and do well? EXPLAIN Person? Objects? Places? End result?

+Struggle

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Frederick Douglass

Do you agree with this quote? Explain.

Can you only progress in life with struggle? Explain. What are some positives in your life that have come with struggle?

+Assessment

A little bit different…

Same skills, but you will base your work on and article AND the movie

Characterization, Quote Connection, Quote Analysis, Reflection…