Movie Assignment--Erin Brokovich

In Erin Brokovich the conflicts begin early in the movie. The opening scene is of Erin getting hit by a car, by a doctor no less. With this brings a trial where the defense lawyer of doctor turns the blame on Erin and she ends up getting nothing for her pain and suffering. This is a conflict that could be realistic in the fact that the client with most money could hire a better lawyer initially winning the case no matter who was actually in the wrong. Putting myself in Erin's situation with little money I do not see what she could have done differently about hiring an affordable lawyer. However in the courtroom I would not have tried to play the innocent victim part overboard and just tell the story how it happened. I defiantly would not have used profane language inside the courtroom either. In the courtroom scene Erin and her lawyer did not seem to use any of the skills needed in a good negotiation. Erin let her emotion get control of her and blew all signs of a good negotiation.

Moving on after the trial, Erin needs work. She feels as if she was cheated by her lawyer and demands a job from him. She sells herself in her negotiation technique in order to get her the job. He finally complies and her conflict of not working is resolved for the moment. Erin is the type of person who does not take no lightly. I am not sure if I would have been brave enough to argue or negotiate my way into a job. On the other hand I am sure you would do anything in order to provide for your family.

Once in her new job position, Erin finds out about people getting sick in the town of Hinkley from the water they are using and drinking. She becomes intrigued and engrossed in learning about what is going on with these people. Erin loses her job after weeks of research in building her case. Erin presents her boss with the information she has obtained and after Ed listens to Erin, she is able to get her job back. If I was going out of town to investigate something big I would thoroughly discuss the details with my boss and make sure to check in every so often. The situation of Erin getting fired for not checking in is very realistic. If your boss or company believes you to be U.A. then you are putting your job on the line.

Between Erin investigating the water and her job, she also has a love interest. George is her new neighbor and really likes Erin. As they fall for each other George gets tired of of Erin working and him being stuck with the kids. He brakes up with Erin and rides off on his motorcycle. Erin has now lost her boyfriend and babysitter. For all of Erin's hard work Ed gives her a brand new car and enough money to hire a babysitter. I feel that this situation could be true. When people are down on their luck sometimes they get a lift unexpectedly.

With her investigation going well she is uncovering a lot of evidence against the company PG&E. PG&E has been using an illegal amount of chemicals at their plant which has effected the water supply in the town of Hinkley. The conflict Erin faces now is getting her plaintiffs to agree to an arbitration where everyone could get help now instead of waiting through the long process of a trial. Using both effective negotiation and communication Erin succeeded in getting everyone money for their needs. Although it would be difficult to get everyone to agree to one thing, through great communication and negotiation skills I feel you could have persuaded the plaintiffs to all agree together.

During the gathering of evidence to use against PG&E Erin uses her self to persuade the man to let her into the file room. I think there could have been another way to get into the file room. Such as using her communication skills and talking her way into the file room.

This movie is full of conflicts and resolutions for each one of them. The amazing thing about this movie is that it is based on a true story. I enjoyed the show and hopefully nailed all of the major conflicts that Erin had to go through in order to prevail for her clients.