“Do you know who has been dumping the waste in the lake?”1,Civil Action
“Do
In the movie, A Civil Action, the plaintiff’s case commenced when a group of various parents and families suspected that the health related issues and deaths in their city of Woburn was the result of contaminated water. Although the attorney, Jan Schlichtmann, was reluctant to take the case at first because they didn’t have plausible cause “who is going to apologize to you when you don’t know who did it and pay me” [1], he perceived that 2 corporations sat on the border of the river. Mr. Schlichtmann and his firm thus took the case and filed a major lawsuit, which stated that that the two corporations, W.R Grace and Beatrice Foods, caused wrongful deaths due to the dumping of hazardous waste.”Lawsuits are a declaration of war. They begin the same way: with a complaint” [1]. The…
The movie “Walkout” is a movie that tells the story of students who struggle in the high school rights that are given to them. The students boycotted the high schools to improve their way of education. This money was an interesting movie that showed the history of “Chicanos” who are also known as people of Mexican descent. The movie did a great job in showing the struggle that the Chicanos had to go through so they could improve the quality of education that was given to them. One part that I especially love about the movie is when the main protagonist of the movie “Paula Crisostomo” was told by her father to never join a boycotting group as it could change her way opportunities. Paula continuously tries to talk with a group of people who want…
The popcorn is buttered, the soda is filled to the brim, and an elderly former drag queen settles in to watch a riot play out onscreen. Much to her dismay, none of what she remembers of that heated day in 1969 is reflected there. Director Roland Emmerich has manipulated history with his latest movie, Stonewall, released September 25th, 2015.…
Selma and Lincoln are two historical movies about important events that happened in history. Did the directors include all the important details in their movie? Selma is about the Selma marches, lead by Martin Luther King. Throughout the movie, there is a debate between Martin Luther King and President Lyndon B. Johnson. Specifically, King tries countless times to try to persuade Johnson to help King achieve voting rights for black people, but every time Johnson refuses he becomes more annoyed by Kings motivation. Did Johnson refuse King’s idea or is that just how Ava DuVernay, the director wanted to portray him? Lincoln is about the passing of the 13th Amendment. Throughout most of the movie the representatives from each country meet in a courtroom to argue about whether or not to pass the 13th Amendment should. Steven Spielberg, the director forgot to include Fredrick Douglass in the movie. Nevertheless, Douglass was an important part of Lincoln’s presidency. Why…
A Civil Action is a gloomy film featuring a lawsuit versus two companies, W. R. Grace and Company and Beatrice Foods, for dumping various chemicals into Woburn's water system. A number of youthful lives were ended due to this incident, leaving their families to grieve. This case eventually begins to bankrupt the attorneys involved, including Jan Schlichtmann, who directly represents the plaintiffs. [1] Soon after declaring war against these companies, Schlichtmann discovers, through a witness, that barrels of chemicals have been dumped into the city's water by employees of the accused companies. [1] However, this proves to be exponentially expensive for Schlichtmann and his team to prove, causing them to fall into bankruptcy. This outcome is…
All those fucking VCs, they should all get killed. Nam should be entirely destroyed! TNT should be placed all over Vietnam so this bitch would disappear from the map. That’s all it deserves after taking away my freaking best friend. I did see plenty of people die in Vietnam, but this was fucking unbelievable, partly because he was my fucking best friend and partly because of the way it happened. Just like we used to, Curt and I went to play catch with a smoke grenade, which was certainly the greatest game ever thought, under some huge trees; the biggest I’ve ever seen of my life. We were having a great time. In fact, everyone always had a great time with Curt; he was such a nice guy, a respectable guy. However, this bitch…
In “LFBJ” MLK uses logos and allusion to enhance his argument favor of civil disobedience. “One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly (not hatefully as the white mothers did in New Orleans when they were seen on television screaming “nigger, nigger, nigger”)(pg.8) and with willingness to accept the penalty. This example of logos that MLK uses shows a real example of how much whites hated the African Americans explaining how white people harassed the African American no madder if they were punished or not. “we can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was”legal” and everything Hungarian freedom fighters did Hungary was”illegal” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany”)(Pg.8) This example of Allusion…
Both the movie “Separate but Equal”, and the article “ How the Supreme Court Arrives at Decisions” by William J. Brennan, Jr., shows how the Supreme Court deals with issues, and what it takes for them to come up with a decision. It is a very complicated process because they have to be able to interpret the text of thee Constitution and come up with a ruling which so often can change a current law and affect every citizen in the United States. If they do not take the time need then it can be catastrophic for the country. In “Separate but Equal” all the justices had different views on the issue concerning racial segregation in public schools. Some of these views had to do with what state the Justices came from and what those particular states believed in and represented, and some felt that way on a personal level. Decisions like that should not be made based on personal preference or because of where you were born and raised. Because of these multiple opposing opinions, it was very difficult for the Supreme Court to come to a ruling on this case. In the article, Brennan says that Justices represent the citizens who elected them their representative, and they make their decisions based on the law.…
In “The New Civil Rights”, Kenji Yoshino proposed that change is needed in our current civil rights. In recent discussion of civil rights, one issue has been seen that minorities are “covering” or toning down a disfavored identity to fit into the mainstream (Yoshino 479). On the one hand, some argues that “covering” is a vital part for a fluid social interaction and peaceful coexistence. From this perspective, we can see that the Yoshino’s “new civil rights” that should be based to individual rights rather than groups can have a drastic change in how our society functions (Yoshino 481). On the other hand, Yoshino argues that a “new civil rights” is needed for harnessing individual authenticity rather than to assimilate in group identities.…
David Dellinger is mostly known for being part of the Chicago Seven, but his radicalism started far before the Vietnam War. By the time he graduated from Yale in 1938, he had already been arrested while “marching to support unionisation at Yale” (Carlson). Dellinger discovered pacifism was the best when, during an argument at a Yale football game, he punched his opponent. He learned his lesson like a child learns after touching a hot stove, not to do it again. (Carlson). During his visit to Europe, he got to witness Nazi Germany and civil war in Spain first hand. It was then when he realized that “whoever won the armed struggle, it would not be the people” (Carlson). When conscription was passed in 1940,…
Facher: knock a guy down, knock him in a way that he can’t get up again…
During class we saw the film “Walkout”, it was a film that made me cry not only once but twice. The film showed the stereotypes and the expectations of Chicanos. I found the film being quite interesting because I could relate to it in many ways. For instance, I was also not allowed to speak Spanish in school and I was also the first generation to apply to a University. I always thought the walkouts were peaceful, I had no idea how brutally students were attacked. It was quite sad seeing students being hit by “what we call protection”. It was much more disturbing knowing that these students were being punished for fighting the injustice they were experiencing. I have to admit I was quite surprised on the numbers of Chicanos attending college,…
Adapting a novel into a film is difficult, the director must analyze the book and pick what he/she wants to include in the film. In the film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, director John Ford attempts to turn 455 pages of the novel into a movie lasting no more than 2 hours. The first part of the film follows the book fairly closely and is very effective. However, the second half and the ending in particular are significantly different from the book and is not as effective.…
The movie A Civil Action is focused on describing and explaining what really goes on in a court of law. The case the movie deals with is a small firm going after a national corporation in order to get them to apologize for what they did to the city’s water. It is believed that the company would dump harmful waste such as trichloroethylene into the back of their site where the company was located into a small running river. However, the river was connected to the city’s water wells and caused harm to many children that drank the water. The way each lawsuit is handled can be related to a sociological perspective. The Marxist approach can best explain the process and outcome of the case in A Civil Action.…
In today’s technological age of personal electronic devices and the interconnectivity they create between individuals through social media, most, if not all, of these individuals in developed countries are exposed to a plethora of ideas and causes that pertain to nearly any topic in all corners of our planet and beyond. Some may take a cause or idea to heart and advocate for its funding, completion, awareness, etc. and others may acknowledge it but decide to object to the message or refrain from participating or sharing in a way similar to the bystander theory. The level of participation an individual may have in a cause or topic essentially falls along their level of connection to that topic or cause.…