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Philadelphia Movie Essay

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Philadelphia Philadelphia, a movie made in 1993, written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme tells the story of an exceptional lawyer, Andrew Beckett, as he is promoted at Wyant Wheeler, the law firm he works at, then fired after his boss discovers he has AIDS. Philadelphia stars Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett, Denzel Washington as Joe Miller, in addition to Antonio Banderas as Miguel Alvarez. Philadelphia was inspired by the true story of Geoffrey Bowers, an attorney who sued the law firm Baker and McKenzie in 1987. The plot of Philadelphia starts with Andrew Beckett, a bright, intelligent lawyer who works for a prominent law firm, Wyant Wheeler, in Philadelphia who is given a high profile case. While celebrating, one of the partners in the firm notices a lesion on Andrew’s head. Although …show more content…

If I were to be a member of the jury I would have reached the same decision as they did. Perhaps though I would not have awarded as much money in punitive damages. Wyant and Wheeler were in the wrong for the way they handled Andrew and his condition. Even though he was sick he was still able to get his job done. I do agree with the decision to grant him back pay and pain and suffering. Joe Miller states that added stress could make Andrews condition worse. Had Wyant and Wheeler not treated Andrew so bad, perhaps he would have been able to work and enjoy his life for a while longer. Joe Miller was a very important character in the film. He was important because he was able to be relatable to the audience at that time. He really captured what those who were not educated about AIDS felt and thought. During the course of the movie his character developed and became educated about AIDS and how it is spread, he became more tolerant. His acceptance of Andrew was the most important part of the movie because it showed that Andrew and Joe were just human. It also showed how valuable education

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