Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich

When the criminal justice system was established, the main objective was to create neutrality and fairness between the sexes. Even though people might believe that there is no such thing as ‘stereotyping’ in the criminal justice system, it is quite obvious that women are constantly being look down upon because of their sex. In general, women tend to be treated like fragile objects that could break at any moment; the truth is that women can be strong and courageous just like men. Society stereotypes women and the criminal justice system is no different.

Oppression has been a tactic used for thousands of years in order to conquer, enslave, and control those who are different from the social norm. But one group that has been and continues to be oppressed is women. Women make up half of the population and yet men were able to manipulate their lives and create a society that prevented them from being treated fairly and equally, a problem many still face today. The male dominated society that has been present for centuries can be seen entirely throughout the nineteenth century. The unhealthy dynamic between men and women can be seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Margaret Fullers Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Not only did the oppression of women present itself in literature of the time period, but it also emerged through clothing, seen in both stories and in real life. The mistreatment and misconceptions men had and continue to have about women can be shown within the literature, clothing styles, and dynamic between men and women of the nineteenth century.

While both the “Invisible Man” and “The House of Mirth” were written near the same time frame, they were written in differing perspectives, reflecting not only social classes but also gender roles of the time period. At the time these books were written, men and women had very different roles in society. Women were in the midst of a long arduous battle of the women suffrage movement and as they gained ground in this fight the gender roles started to change along with the country: “Westward expansion also demanded that many women step outside prescribed gender roles and perform “men’s” work on the frontier” (Jolliffe 1). Men, on the other hand, had a battle of their own trying to defend their masculinity during the movement of women into new social ranks, “masculinity in the United States is certain only in its uncertainty; its stability and sense of well-being depend on a frantic drive to control its environment.” (Stryffeler 4) The struggles of this dynamic time period are expressed through the eyes of these two authors giving readers an idea of how women were viewed differently from men surrounding the gender and social issues that dominated history.

In the movie “The Civil Action” Jan is a lawyer at a law firm which uses Ethical Relativism in most of the movie because they think that the more money they get for their clients, the happier they will become or just because they get a large settlement, it’s going to solve their clients problems. After seeing the a contaminated water and the damage done to the families he was representing, Jan thought he was going to strike gold and win a massive amount of money from the company he was going against. The families didn’t care about the money because they all lost something to the polluted water the factory was giving off, and all they wanted was an apology and and for the company to clean up the place so no more children would die. Progressing

Pezzullo investigates in this article the strategies of environmental justice advocates in Warren County, North Carolina. The rhetorical efforts shown by these advocates vigorously urged the state of North Carolina to clean up a local toxic landfill caused by a truck illegally dumping oil contaminated with PCBs in the middle of the night.

This could apply to Enbridge through their choice to engage with Native American advocates but weakening the arguments by maintaining control over the medium and format of that engagement. While this isn’t an equitable strategy, nor one that would solve the controversy, it elucidates the problem for Enbridge on both sides. By refusing to engage with dissent, Enbridge weakens their own argument for the pipeline while strengthening the unity and potency of the opposition’s arguments. Finally, Phaedra Pezzulo examines how Native American advocates and environmental justice advocates alike subvert existing power structures to assert their arguments. In reference to the emergence of the Environmental Justice Movement within Warren County, NC, Pezzulo cites the theory of critical interruptions. Essentially, through the case study of corporations discarding toxic waste in a low-income mostly black community, this article observes the importance of narratives within environmental discourse. Pezzulo identifies the importance of narratives constructed by either the Environmental Justice movement as a whole or of the state

(Smith) Women were not seen as threats to men because if they were to show any sign of un-obedience towards their significant other, they would be charged or brought to justice by death. Female shaping was an issue in which females were formed and based upon their “bad deeds.” (Smith) There was a great emphasis that was forced upon women.

We have all heard of strange and gory stories that are supposedly true, experienced by a friend of a friend. Whether true or not these so called "urban legends" tend to circulate throughout society thriving on each individual's fears and curiosity. What most people don't realize is, within these tales lies the attitudes and values of a community. These tales do not survive throughout the years solely on the basis of their entertainment level, but due to the fact that they reflect society's fears and anxieties. In dissecting these tales one can indefinitely find the social fallacy against females that has existed for decades, as well as the fears women have against men. However, more importantly, the values that society hold are

Chinatown Chinatown, the 1974 film that takes place in 1937 Los Angeles, takes an interesting look at how people in power view law. So far in class we have analyzed films in which the “bad guy” is a criminal, with the exceptions coming from Chinatown and Michael Clayton. The major difference between these movies comes from the protagonists in each, a private detective and lawyer/ fixer respectively (even both the actors are great, Jack Nicholson and George Clooney, wow). The film shows two major themes within this area. The first is corruption within normally trusted entities and the second is ignorance in the pursuit of justice.

As Judith Butler once said, “Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.” Throughout history and even today, being too masculine and being too feminine affects society's views on people. Individuals can’t be too much of one thing or they will ultimately be judged. Throughout, City of Thieves, characters are illustrated as withholding subversions and conformations to the established gender roles. Consequently, David Benioff uses City of Thieves to illustrate subverting and conforming gender roles through the main characters, Kolya, Lev, and Vika.

Wealth was not the only source of power used in this movie. There was corporate power, intimidation, desperation, persuasion, compassion and finally the power to do what is morally right. Desperation is the first source of power that comes onto the scene of Erin Brockovich. We see Erin, interviewing for jobs, getting into a beater car and then a terrible car accident thanks to a speeding emergency room doctor in a jaguar. After her lawyer falls thru in court and she walks away from the accident penniless, the desperation to put food on the table for her three kids and pay the rent gets her a job at her lawyers office. By no means did he want to hire her, but she was desperate and stubborn and refused to leave until he agreed to hire her. Once hired, she starts compiling the casework for the Jensen's and thus tumbles onto the mysterious findings of the medical

A Civil Action is based upon a true story that Jonathan Harr, a former staff writer of New England Monthly describes a case that in the legal system that is fascinating and compelling. The story of a impracticable quest by an idealistic young personal-Injury lawyer, whose aim was to prove that two conglomerates, Beatrice Foods and W.R Grace, allegedly polluted the water in Woburn ,Mass. a Boston suburb, with carcinogens. Jan had hoped that a victory would send a message to the boardrooms to America and felt that the culture of Leukemia in Woburn guaranteed his success. He never realized that he would be comforted with problems in the justice system.

A Civil action is movie based on a true story of court case about environmental pollution that took place in Wilburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980's. The court case revolves around the issue of trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent and its contamination of a local source. Jan Schlichtmann An American Attorney specializing in personal injury Law filed a lawsuit over industrial operation that "cased several children to die from leukemia and cancer, as well as a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the Town."1 Jan originally rejects a seemingly unprofitable case, Jan finds an environmental issue involving groundwater contamination that could be a good case against "some defendants with deep pockets."2 The local tanneries

The typical conventions of the western genre included a male lead that fought crime while simultaneously saving the hopeless damsel in distress. Novels comparable to “True Grit” was revolutionary for female protagonists in accordance to the role females play in society. This novel shows that women are no longer expected to take care of the household, raise the kids or expect men to save the day. Even if the novel is a fictitious account of what the wild west was today’s readers are able to identify with a protagonist who questions the norm of society. The protagonist, Mattie, revealed she had “true” grit by vanquishing gender stereotypes to avenge her father’s death.

Westerns connote images of dirt, dust, guns, horses, cowboys and heroes: physically strong, iron-willed, independent, resourceful, quick-witted men. Although the modern Western (the writings of Louise L’Amour, Zane Grey and the numerous films starring John Wayne, Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry) seems to focus on this ideal hero, the genre actually also provides women with strong, self-reliant, active roles. In fact, many texts that precede the typical modern Western had females as the main characters. However, the role of the heroine still differs from that of the hero; the role does not defeminize women but gives them depth as characters. These women still retain their femininity and domesticity, but they also rescue those around them, take care