ERIN BROCKOVICH

[wenhuizhu]

From my perspective, Erin is a feminist, a tough woman and a human-right campaigner.

At first, Erin had a really failing life. It seems that she was a loser literally. She had been married twice. She was a single mother with three kids. She only had 16 dollars left in her bank account. She didn’t get former college education and she even did not have a job. When she came back, holding the kids, only to find a cockroach in the sink. She got hit by a car, she lost in the court mostly because her uncontrolled temper. What a poor lady! She was fucked by the awful life.

But everything changed when she was in the most terrible moment in her life. We must admit that Erin is really a “bitch”, a cute “bitch”. She came back to the law firm and forced the lawyer to give her a job to compensate for her. Given her brutal behaviors, the lawyer offered her the job out of kindness. And everything began to get better.

Erin found the source of funds to raise her kids and herself. She found her beloved, George. And she even found a way to be independent, to be respective and to be contributing. In the fight with PG&E, she sacrificed most of her time with her kids and George. She almost put her everything to this case. She was too busy collecting evidence to ignore her sons. She was willing to get the frog body in the poisonous water. She was considerate and patient when interviewing each poor family. She even did not give up when receiving threat from PG&E.

From the beginning to the end, Erin is a fighter, fighting with her life, the lawyer, Theresa, PG&E. It is her persistence, courage and personalities that helped her overcome all the difficulties. I remembered that the quarrel between her and the lawyer. She replied “fuck you back” when the lawyer said “fuck you”. So when life fucks her, she always fucks back. So she “fucked” the lawyer, Theresa, PG&E and her previous terrible life. If she bent to the life, she would not have today’s life, job, respect and love. Most importantly, without her such personalities, Ed Masry might have given up at the beginning and might not have many clues and so much support from local people. The man is not so aggressive as Erin, so he needs Erin, needs a strong assistance to push him to move forward.

All in all, I really appreciate people like Erin in reality. She is a “vulgar bitch” who does not respect the common rules, not care others’ thoughts and not fear power and trouble.

By Wenhui

[Jessica]

Erin started as a broke single mom with 3 kids. Her life was just miserable. She did not have money, nor job. She had too much burden and at the edge of break down. However, as the plot moved forward, she became stronger and more resilient. She ended up to be a person that people would respect and listen to carefully. She struggled, and changed people's thought of her. In the end of the movie, she got almost everything that she dreamed to have, money, good life, and social status.

Erin is definitely a tough girl. She has bad temper and curses a lot at the things that she is not happy about right in front of the face. She is direct. At the same time, she is also the person that would dig things deep, that is also what make her keep search the truth for the pro bono case. She never fears, she fights and never gives up, I think that is the most important quality that she possesses to make her success.

A direct woman and a slick lawyer does not sounds like a bad combination. When he say "Fxxx you," she has the guts to say 'Fxxx you back' right in front of her boss' face. That already makes her stand out. Erin is a woman, therefore it is easier for her to get people's sentimental side. Ed is a lawyer, a man with logic and order, he touches down bases of all the legal process and executions of the litigation. If I could put it under a more tacky way, she got boobs and he got brain, that make them perfect partners.

"Erin Brockovich" is a woman's fighting story, a.woman started with nothing till she got everything. She was a very responsible person and treated her life seriously. Through her journey, she earned her confidence and self-esteem. She found what she loves to do as her career. Although she did not own a J.D. degree, she was even doing better than many other attorneys. Her story is very inspiring to me.

[lxr205]

Hi, Mike.

This is Xuanrui Li (Sherry). I really enjoy this movie, because I love happy endings, especially the ones based on true stories:)

How does Erin's life change during the course of the story?
At first, her life was really hard: a divorced mother with three children. She had so many bills to cover but not enough money. She even did not know what to do at first. However, she gradually knows what she wanted to do and finds her own position in the society. She also has money to cover all her living cost and has others taking care of her family. Even though before her final achievement, almost all the people suspect her possibility of getting success, she still tries her best on her career.

What character traits help her to become successful?
First, it is her willing to help others. Before she gets money, the only thing pushes her to process the case is her willing to help other families. The second trait is that she believes she can win the cases, no matter what problem she will encounter. Finally, it is her hard-working that help her finish the huge workload.

Why are Erin and Ed Masrey well-suited for each other?
Erin is super enthusiastic to her work, so sometime she will be irrational. However, at this time, Ed can always calm her down to help her make rational reasonable choices.

Sherry

[Gus]

How does Erin's life change during the course of the story?
First Erin was suffering in getting a job because especially of lack of experience, trying to survive without money and taking care of three children and after asking her lawyer, she highlighted herself with a lot of effort to solve a case of problems of water in the PG&E company. And in the final part of the movie she is in a stable life in a good career and gaining a lot of money.
What character traits help her to become successful?
The trait that helps Erin is definitely determination, she tries as hard as she can to solve the problems of water in the PG&E company even if she didn't understand about the subject and lack of experience like a lawyer have. Other aspect that appears is the honesty of Erin that in a lot of situations believe in something that she thinks is right and she doesn't let anything else influenced her even if it is a dangerous situation to her, for example when she receives a call of the company warning her about the situation and advise her, but she didn't give up.
Why are Erin and Ed Masrey well-suited for each other?
I think both complete each other really well, Ed represents the knowledge, he is the brain of the situation. In other side, Erin is really emotional in the situations, she defends emotionally what she thinks it's right but she sometimes couldn't think rationally as Ed. However, Ed couldn't approach the families as Erin could because she defends them, represents them so well that the families could believe that she will solve all their problems.

Erin Brockovich is an exceptional movie with a great story, great characters, great personalities, some interesting conflicts situations during the movie. For me it's a phenomenal movie.

[Amber]

I really enjoyed the movie. Erin’s story is like a legendary. There are certain character traits that helped her to become a successful lawyer. First of all, she cares about people. Compared to normal lawyers, Erin may not as professional as them, but she can do her work very well because she cares about her clients a lot. She can recite all their names, numbers, symptoms, and family conditions. She does everything just to help those people suffering from illness due to water provided by PG&E. In addition, she never gives up. So many difficulties she has faced, she never stopped to get enough evidence to help Hinkley people get compensation from PG&E, and urge PG&E to admit what they have done. She even sacrifices her time with her children to help Hinekly resident. She does not stop when her boss refused to help her, and do everything on her own. She has her own way to do things and it works. She proved that beauties can also be respected for their intelligence as long as they take things seriously, care about people, and be persistent.

[reneeliu]

Erin’s life had an earthshaking change after her winning of this lawsuit. By successfully arguing the large amount of compensation, she won the respect from people in Hinkley. Also, she got huge bonuses, which relieved her from poverty and provided a better living situation for her kids. Besides attaining a good job, she built a solid and loving relationship with a guy, who supported her work and take care of her children. In the past, she used to rely on her ex-husbands, but now she gained her independence back.
Erin’s perseverance was the key factor which carried her to where she stands now. When facing the questioning from those clients and professional lawyers, she never gave up proving herself. She insisted interviewing every citizen in Hinkley and surveyed the bad living environment around them by herself, though she had to bear the misunderstanding from her family. Also, she was extremely responsible. Even though she was a assistant, she still thoroughly go through every document and found this severe problem in Hinkley’s people’s daily life. She is kind and helpful. The strong will to help those poor people, rooting deeply in her mind, was the original sources to support her overcome those obstacles. She was filled with enthusiasm towards her work and that’s way she is easy to influence other people by her earnest words and behaviors.
Both Erin and Ed are kind people. They know how to take care other peoples and they are willing to change themselves for those people they love. As long as they are together, they are totally well-suited for each other.
Erin is the model for all girls.

[haoqiulyu]

Hi it’s Jessica again, and I’d like to talk about the movie Erin Brockovich here. Actually it is my favorite one among the 5 movies we’ve seen till now, partly because I have always dreamed to be a lawyer just as Erin.

Erin is a very special woman. She is sexy and broke, while she never intended to use her beauty to make a living, for example looking for a sugar daddy. Instead, she made full use of her eloquence and eventually got herself a job. She was a small potato but she never regarded it as shameful; probably being a mother makes a woman stronger. Once Erin got the job, she did her best. Although nobody respected her at first because how she looked was very unprofessional, she still insisted on her job. Her life got changed because of her perseverance. She wouldn’t get the money to support her children or get the feeling of career achievement if she gave up her investigation halfway. She made her life even better than she expected through hard work.

What touched me the most in the movie is the friendship between Erin and Ed. It is very rare for a boss like Ed to trust a person like Erin. However, Ed was smart and experienced; he probably had the instinct that Erin is special and she is a friend worth to make. Erin had a bad temper, but Ed forgave her every time. For Ed, Erin was like his rebellious daughter. They were unexpectedly compatible. Erin is smart but impetuous, while Ed is conservative but experienced. Most importantly, they made a perfect team.

I love the movie so much although many of my classmates thought it a little bit boring. Erin worked so hard to be a respectable law practitioner and her soul of independence and bravery inspired me so much as to how to be a strong woman with all the difficulties.

[yuzhang]

To be honest, I don’t really like this film. Not because it’s a bad story, or the actors don’t perform well. Julia Roberts once again shows us one how adaptive she can change herself from one role to another. Yet, the whole film is just an ordinary inspirational story, which contains elements from every successful Oscars, but seldom surprises me as the story goes on. The worst part is the ending, which is unnecessarily long and cloying.

But except that, the movie is undoubtedly excellent. The story is about how people could devote themselves to the greater good, disregarding their own benefits, even if she could have a better choice. And the story also tells us about how many risks and difficulties we might face with before we reach our final goal. Erin Brockovich never retreat even if she seems to be discarded by her lover, her colleagues and her life. I really admire her positive attitude and energetic characteristic.


It’s a story to tell us that ordinary people could be a hero, as long as you grab every chance and work hard to fulfill your dream. I was touched by this film because I’m one of the ordinary people (maybe I’m having a better life than hers). Whenever I dreams of something, I have every excuse to stop myself from chasing it but little motivation to make it come true. While the movie apeals every ordinary people to stand out and fight for what they believe in.

[Taro]

The movie of ERIN BROCKOVICH is interesting and it inspires me a lot.

At first, after suffering a disastrous job interview, she is involved in a car accident. Although she accessorizes her short skirts and tight tops with a fetching neck brace, her lawsuit against the other driver, a wealthy doctor, fails. One baby-sitter quits and Erin's bank balance remains $74, and her baby is running a fever. What a pity of her life. But then, everything changes. Erin's luck takes a happier turn: after trying her best, she got a low-paying, no-benefits job working for Ed Masry, the ambulance chaser who represented her in her own failed lawsuit; her neighbor turns out to be a man who is happy to provide free baby-sitting and fell in love with Erin; and soon enough the plucky Erin has embarked on a long legal battle to help the residents of a Southern California town whose health has been ruined by toxic chemicals from a power plant.

It is hard-working that helps her to succeed. She insisted on working, kept kindness and did whatever she wanted. When she was working, what kept in her mind was helping others. As a result, everyone respected her. In conclusion, ERIN BROCKOVICH succeeds in sticking to its "little train that could" story from start to finish also succeeds in its performances.

Erin and Ed Masrey well-suited for each other because he effectively counters Erin's prejudices with rational explanations how and why the legal system works the way it does, and why lawyers behave the way they do. With her passion and his reason, they make a great team.

And one of the plots impressed and moved me a lot. Erin’s son asked her if she wants egg for breakfast. I couldn’t help crying because he was really nice and I miss my parents.

[ttangra]

As a single mother with three children, no higher education degree, no job and barely any money left in bank account. Erin’s life was basically a DISASTER. The situation got even worse when she got involved into a car accident, broke her neck but lost the case. However, Erin didn’t quit or beg, on the contrary, she created her own opportunity by waking into Ed’s office directly to ask for a job. Although she might do this partly out of desperation, she really had the nerve!

That is just also one of the traits that bring her success. Only by braveness that she can challenge the giant PG&E, dig out the evidence again and again by herself. Meanwhile, easy-going and sympathetic are also traits that are crucial to her success. During the case, she won trust from the victims not only by comprehending their pain and situation, showing sympathy and kindness, but also by truly helping them; The victims entrusted their hope, their future and their offspring’s future to her. What’s more, Erin is also a real fighter. She has already face much trouble from the very beginning; but she overcame all of the trouble one by one with a strong will and persistence.

On the other hand, Ed is the counterpart of Erin. Being experienced and mellow, well trained and rational, he well made up the weakness of Erin. However, Ed is not that social and affable, just think about the scenario that Ed was intended to refuse Donna’s invitation of having some cookies but Erin talked him to stay. If it were not Erin, Ed would not win the case; de facto he might not even able to find the case or build connection with those victims.

As for me, ERIN BROCKOVICH is an encouraging movie. In the movie, there is one line that is especially impressive to me, “For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up”. For her entire first half of life, she relied on men and barely did anything that got people truly respect her. But then she got the chance to make a change and did something meaningful; and she grabbed the chance and didn’t give up for once. Life is cruel; you must rely on yourself, be independent and never build your life on anyone else.