Erin Brockovich (2)

Andi Zeisler describes pop culture as a being of its own kind.  It is everywhere one may turn, popping up on any type of medium like television, computers, books, and radios.  It is constantly engulfing people into the ways of the modern media and culture.  It is seen by the masses and is addicting to some.  Feminism plays a broad role in modern pop culture and women are always playing huge roles in modern times and in the media.

One film in particular, "Erin Brockovich", very well describes the struggles of women in pop culture and how difficult it is for strong females to strive.  The movie released in 2000 shows the struggles that women constantly face in that they are very underestimated and are seen by many men to not have the capabilities to be as powerful or intelligent as men in the business world.  Erin Brockovich was single mother of 3 who was unemployed and had just lost a serious personal injury case.  She then got a job from her lawyer during the case as a file clerk in his office.  This woman had little to nothing going for her except for a low-paying job and the fact that she was quite attractive as she used to compete regularly in beauty pageants and at one point was a former Miss Wichita.  Even in her tough postition Brockovich did not falter as she began snooping through documents on a gas and electric company case while working as a fileclerk.  She was able to find out that the company had actually been lying about there pollution outputs and the company had actually been poisoning a small town in California.  She eventually was able to uncover enough evidence and in the ensuing case, the gas and electric company was forced to pay $333 million dollars to over 160 plaintiffs who had been affected by the pollution and water poisoning.

This film goes against the old ways of thinking about women.  For example, Brockovich goes against the old-fashioned cliche of a mother.  A mother should be home at all times, tending to her home and children and raising the kids at home so that they will be well behaved for when their father returns home.  She should be dressed well and already have a meal ready for her children and her husband when he comes back to work.  Brockovich defies this dated stereotype of a mother as she is a single mother with three children.  She struggles to maintain a steady balance between her kids and her job early in the film, but eventually she finds her happy medium as she is eventually able to find a happy medium between both. 20 or 30 years prior a single mother or a divorcee would be seen as a tramp or a worthless female, but Brockovich shows that this mindset is completely untrue and that woman can raise children and maintain a steady job regardless of how many children or how difficult a job may turn out to be.

Brockovich is also able show strong feminist values as she doesn't require a male presence in order to succeed in the business world.  A single mother at a very low ranking job and   The strong modern woman should be able to rely on one person if need be and that person is herself as she is able to save the lives of thousands without a true male influence.

Erin Brockovich was a strong, feminist woman who proved that women are strong and underestimated and that all the objectification that goes on through modern media portraying women as nothing but sheer dolls or eye candy for men is completely incorrect and does nothing disregard the advancements of modern culture.