Analysis of Key Concepts in the Movie Erin Brockovich for CMNS130A

This assignment analyzes the film "Erin Brockovich" by exploring six key concepts: mode of address, mise en scene, embodiment, canon, flow, and cultural imperialism. The analysis examines how the film portrays societal issues, feminism, and the impact of capitalism. The student discusses Erin Brockovich's character, the film's setting, and the narrative flow to demonstrate how the film conveys its themes. The assignment also touches on the cultural context, particularly the challenges faced by women in the workplace and the actions of corporations. The student uses these concepts to provide a detailed understanding of the film's narrative, characters, and the underlying social commentary. The assignment also references the film's references to support its arguments.

Running Head: ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
Analysis of Key Concepts on the Movie Erin Brockovich
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

1ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
Table of Contents
Analysis......................................................................................................................................2
References..................................................................................................................................6

2ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
Analysis
Mode of Address: The movie Erin Brokovich shows the side of society where growing
capitalism has upsized the value of human life. Biographical documentation of the lawsuit
lead by a former beauty queen who had no formal education in the field against the giant
capitalist's PG & E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company). The movie went onto being critically
acclaimed and contrary to the director’s fear was loved for the informal language used by
Erin Brockovich and the expletives used by her while addressing the lawyer Veanne Cox and
Kurt potter who represented the energy corporation and is shown to refer to Brockovich as an
outsider and someone who uses her body as leverage to get a job in a law firm without having
a degree (Supardi). The informal mode of address bridges the gap between the audience and
the various scenes in which we find her alone, and making it alone in the society as a
divorced mother of three made the audience sympathetic towards her. Masry’s tone and
language used with Erin do not change, which portrays to the audience the way his perception
about her nature has evolved, and he understands the erratic Erin who had three children to
bear the expense.
Mise en scene: The setting of the narrative, along with the starkly different method of
dressing which is observed in the plot of the movie, shows the characters set against each
other’s nature. Of all the characters, the protagonist characters portray the use of the concept
more than anyone who represented poor women with children to feed. However, her
portrayal of a hardworking woman who is sympathetic and can understand how to
communicate with people makes her amiable to the audience. Even her sense of dressing and
the costume used in the movie, which is shown to be the point which makes her volatile in
the real world, is the use of mise en scene where her poverty is reflected through it. Her tone
and approach towards people’s perspective towards her showed her unorthodox and
unconventional ideology, which was directed at the audience to display the story of a woman

3ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
who fought against all the odds to win at life (Brockovich). Another important expression
conveyed through mise en scene is her motherhood, which is reflected again and again where
she takes her children for lunch outside and stays hungry herself only to return home to eat
take-outs of jar showing her priority in life. It wins the female audiences directly who could
relate to her struggle.
Embodiment: The titular protagonist, Erin Brockovich, embodies the ideological description
of the growing notion of feminism in the American society of the period. She is shown to an
outspoken, and in the words of Ed Masry, the owner of the law firm was a ‘loudmouth.’ She
stands for the woman of substance with the help of whom the narrative of the plot laid the
foundation of the acceptance of women for who they are and not for what the society wants
them to be. She is confronted several times in the movie on her dressing sense which I kept
the same till the end, even after procuring a job she maintains the same sense of dressing
conveying and expressing her choice of freedom (Supardi). She is shown as the embodiment
of the modern women who lives her life on her tern and has the aspiration to grow and an
individual in her which is conveyed in the scene where she breaks down in front of George
where she tells him about her being a Beauty Queen and how she thought she would be able
to do something worthwhile in her life, something that will give people to remember her as
someone.
Canon: Canon is referred to as the literal ideology, which is talked about in one forum. One
can say that the movie was made to fit the canon of expressing women evolving out of the
conventional image of a woman who is made to stay silent in their workplace. Erin was made
to suffer for her bold approach right at the beginning of the movie when she lost the case in
the court for being loud (Krzych). The canon of feminism and the will power of a strong
woman who stands in the face of evil and shows compassion and practicality, which makes
her approachable and trustable for most of society. However, one can see across the existence

4ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
of another ideology which was prevalent in the society. Though there was a fervent rise in
feminism, there was equal resistance in the work field which women had to experience from
female perpetrators. However, the way she stands up for herself even when she lost the man
in her life, she could have had a better future displaying that strong independent women and
her choice depend on her.
Flow: The narrative, plot, setting as well as the costumes of the movie shows a representation
of the same subject and adds to the weightage symbolism. The movie starts with the life of
Erin Brockovich falling apart, living a life where she can hardly make the end meet. We see
Masry fighting for her cause but losing because she spoke in a language that was considered
unfit for women, and it ended up with the court ruling against her. The flow of the storyline
stays connected with their character growth in the movie (Gabbard). When Masry first gives
Erin the Job, he does out of being intimidated by her, but later in the movie, we observe their
relationship growing. Masry begins to trust her and even proceeds the case on her advice. The
flow of the narrative also shows the hold of the capitalist industry and its influence on
society. The flow of the story needed the nature of the protagonist in the form of a savior who
could understand the problems of the people living in the city. People trusted her because she
was not a lawyer also shows the general perception of society towards them.
Cultural Imperialism: We see the working of the cultural convention of the women made to
suffer by the judge who deems her responsible for the break of their marriage because she
was a woman who did away with superficiality. The costume and the scene in which the story
unfolds shows the variance where of cultural reflection where people expected her to be of
unlawful and immoral conduct and the judgmental view of other lawyers (Brockovich). The
cultural understanding that women were not supposed to lead in an industry that was
dominated by a male is not just shown but challenged when Erin is allowed time and again by
Masry to talk before him or present the case to the lawyers. However, she is shown to

5ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
understand George’s point of view and takes him to the houses of the victims to convey her
mental state to him. In the end, she is allowed by Masry again to hand over the compensation
money to people showing the acknowledgment of her work by letting her be the one
subjected to appreciation. The way PG & E hid their role in the destruction of these people
gives us an understanding of the work in which these organizations work and the work
culture of keeping the industries even at the cost of people’s death.

6ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS ON THE MOVIE ERIN BROCKOVICH
References
Brockovich, Erin. "ERIN. (Erupting) That asshole smashed in my fucking neck! INT.
COURTHOUSE HALLWAY-LATER THAT DAY." (2019).
Gabbard, Molly C. Cultural Perceptions of Women's Breasts. Diss. San Diego State
University, 2018.
Krzych, Scott. "Circumstantial sublimation and Steven Soderbergh’s ordinary
objects." Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society 23.2 (2018): 123-140.
Supardi, Muhammad. "A main character analysis on the film Erin Brockovich by using
liberal feminims approach."