Film Critique: Erin Brockovich

Introduction

Survey Research Discussion

The paper discusses the movie about a famous American activist, Erin Brockovich, who demonstrated an extreme devotion to her community and managed to protect her native city from a major public health offense. Thus, the film is based on a real story and connects the U.S. society to the crisis of healthcare support.

The research area embraces the public health concerns that regard the issue of illegal environment pollution. The main character of the motion picture, a single mother Erin Brockovich, who has recently been hired by a small lawyer company, takes up the case of a new compressor station that was opened by a famous Californian corporation. The primary aim of the company was to deliver natural gas from California to Texas. However, Brockovich found out that the citizens of the station area were falling ill in the aftermath of the new implementation. The newly employed Erin holds an elaborate investigation, in the course of which she identifies that the reason of the problem is the fact that the cooling water that was used by the industry contained chromium that was damaging the communitys health (Erin Brockovich 2000). The primary areas of research that were targeted by Erin Brockovich are expertise receiving, interviews, and a study of documentation.

Methods of Data Gathering

Searching for Truth

In her work, Erin Brockovich relied on her natural charm and ingenuity. Thus, every task that was accomplished by the activist throughout her research was marked with her sparkling temperament peculiarities. Brockovich gathered the data that was necessary for the investigation in several ways. First, she interviewed a big number of Hinkley area residents, who reported about the grave consequences of water contamination, which was inflicted on their health. Second, the woman inspects the effects of chromium usage so that to find out whether the element could evoke the illnesses through questioning a professional chemistry specialist. Third, Erin extracts the data about the activities of the Pacific Gas & Electric firm from the documentation accounts of the local water transitioning agency. Finally, Brockovich secretly takes a frog from the district water and exposes it to laboratory analysis, which assists her in elucidating the effects of chromes on animals. As a result, the woman finds enough proof of the company mistreating the community so that to launch the case.

Needs Assessment Illustration

Discovering the Citizens Demands

The needs assessment was prepared by Erin and the director of Jonsons before the trial. The principal factors that were taken into account by Brockovich, when she was compiling the demand offering, were the total expenditures of the families that suffered from water contamination. Therefore, the activist created a cost-directed needs assessment, which complied with the requirements of the victims. The aim was reached in the result of court prosecution since the corporation was required to recompense the communitys expenditures through paying $330 million in total to them.

Distribution of Costs on the Basis of Needs Assessment

The expenses of families that were targeted by chrome effects were satisfied in different ways. Thus, according to the needs assessment that was compiled by Erin Brockovich through interviewing the community members, the woman managed to determine the approximate amounts of recompenses. The general factors that influenced the decisions accounted for the sickness type, the deaths of animals that lived on the private territories as well as the general values of the property that was owned by separate families.

Ethical Implications

The case study provides a wide range of moral concerns that regard both the acting of the global corporation, which committed a crime against community and the investigation methods that were employed by Erin Brockovich in the course of study.

First, one can reflect on the behavior of a young employee, which may seem unprofessional or even indecent to some critics. Specifically, Erin extracted much data that concerned the case through fraud. Thus, she managed to reach the office with the water delivery service documentation by seducing the worker of this organization. Moreover, she gained an animal that was later used for the laboratory examination by sneaking into the secret area. Nevertheless, the implication has a two-sided effect. Due to Erin, the data that was saved in the service burro concerned the health of the community. Therefore, the citizens had a moral right for accessing the information.

Second, the ultimate ethical concern regards the conduct of the companys management. The deception that was embraced by the corporation impacted public health throughout the whole district, which inflicts a load of responsibility on the administration of the service. However, the major movie dilemma regards not the actual process of crime commitment but rather its unresolved character. Thus, the critics point out that the management of the corporation did not claim its guilt until the end of the story. Therefore, the movie lacks an accent of fraud admitting as well as some information about the complex removing of chrome from the manufacturing processes or the services that affect the community.

Finally, one of the principal movie dilemmas is the issue of bribery. The film reveals that this practice marked the business operations of the story times since the Jensens was openly offered a financial reward for keeping the chrome scandal in secret.