Over the last several decades, many important events from throughout our history have been transformed into motion pictures. Some of these events have been depicted in a documentary style while others have been dramatized to please a general audience. One such film piqued my interest, the story behind the movie A Civil Action, directed by Steven Zaillian. As an Environmental Studies major I felt this subject, and the research needed to uncover the true story, would prove beneficial to my future course work. The decontamination of the area surrounding wells G and H in Woburn, Massachusetts, was one of the largest environmental cleanup sites in history at the time. Through my research, I began to realize what an undertaking it must have been …show more content…
Grace, both Fortune 500 companies. Although both the movie and book are based on the same idea, the book is considered to be a much more accurate portrayal of the real life events. Ken Shulman states in a Newsweek article, where the attorneys and real life parents revisit the event, that Anne Andersen “considered the book an accurate account of the excruciating Woburn case.” In the movie, the families of the prosecution were portrayed as a helpless group of grieving parents that had pleaded for Jan Schlictmann to take their case. This portrayal is contradictory to the book, in which author Jonathan Harr goes to great length to describe the process that both Anne and her community went through in their discoveries. The cluster of leukemia cases in the neighborhood that the Andersen’s lived was 7 times higher than the national average, reported public affairs professor Allan Mazur. The details leading up to this discovery were completely absent from the …show more content…
The first part of the trial consisted of 77 days of testimony from experts. Jurors were expected to comprehend all of the information being presented and commit the details to memory. Hydrology professors Scott Bair and Maura Metheny note, “Jurors are handicapped learners who must rely solely on their collective memories of what was said by witnesses. In this case, society asked the jury to comprehend the equivalent of a coursework master’s degree in hydrology” (Lessons). Contributing to the confusion, the information presented to the jury by the hydrology experts was not collaborative and the jurors were left to sort out the “facts” for themselves. Mazur adds, “It would be a useful exercise to compare the Woburn trial with trials that have used science to better effect.” Jerome Facher affirms that the Woburn case should be an example used to illustrate the legal system’s imperfections and adds that the case “is required reading in over 50 law schools” (Grossman
The film and writing industry go hand in hand, as they often inspire one another. As a result, the translation of many novels into movie format and vice versa vary in success. For instance, many people prefer the film format over the novel since it is usually less time consuming and requires less active participation. However, films tend to overlook significant details which assist the viewer's understanding of the story. Therefore, the two separate forms of media have too many differences to portray the same work of fiction accurately, as they both have their pros and cons that appeal to different types of stories and plots. Numerous changes in the movie adaptation of the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, affected the viewer’s interpretation
In this day in age, it is very common to find films adapted from books. Many of those films do a very well in their adaptations, but some fall short. Since it was finished, and even before its release date, the V for Vendetta film has gained some controversy from its own author. But, although the film did not end up how Alan Moore, the author, would have wanted it, he did not contribute to the project, even so, the filmography very clearly kept with the original work and showed itself as a product of the time.
Utopic and anti utopic movies and novels have always interested writers and directors from all over the world. In some sense, it is interesting to create new worlds, with new social and political systems. On the other hand, it is interesting, as well, to look for disadvantages of modern society and try to improve them. People were always striving to create a better world, even with words and images. In the past several years, there have been many movies devoted to the issue of future alternative reality.
The film, Gone with the Wind became a cultural phenomenon after its release in 1939. The Civil War based film follows the storyline of Scarlett O’Hara. The lead heroine is dealt with the hardships of love as well as the destruction of her town. Set in the South, the movie stresses
The movie, A Civil Action, relates to a true story of two corporation’s improper disposal of trichloroethylene and its consequences on a small town in Massachusetts. High incidences of leukemia arise and the affected families seek support to address the responsible parties by employing small firm, personal injury attorney, Jan Schlichtmann. Upon taking the case, he is greeted with unanswered questions and claims of improper hazardous waste disposal by local tanneries and corporations. The clients make clear that they are simply seeking ownership of those who caused the incidents and apologies for the committed actions that resulted in the deaths of their loved ones.
A Civil Action portrays a fictional account of the real legal case pertaining to the hazardous waste site in Woburn, Mass. The waste site affected its surroundings, and in particular, Woburn, Mass. The waste site contaminated the river in which the community of Woburn used to drink from. Due to the water contamination, the children in Woburn have been dying of Leukemia. Although we are still ignorant of the exact cause of Leukemia, the contaminated water did affect people.
The largest environmental disaster in U.S. history occurred on December 22nd, 2008 when a 84-acre pit containing toxic coal combustion residue at the Tennessee Valley Authority Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tennessee gave way. According to a report by AECOM, the firm hired to perform the root cause report, a “combination of the high water content of the wet ash, the increasing height of ash, the construction of the sloping dikes over the wet ash, and the existence of an unusual bottom layer of ash and silt were among the long-evolving conditions that caused the ash spill at Kingston Fossil Plant” (TVA, 2010). The resulting slide sent a wave of over a billion gallons of sludge out on the 300 acres of land surrounding the Fossil plant, instantly covering it with a 4 foot layering of sludge. The toxic coal combustion residue wave destroyed 15 homes, damaged 43 more homes, took down power lines, ruptured a major gas line, potentially poisoned drinking water supplies, and devastated the local fish population. The resulting spill was over 100 times larger then the Exxon-Valdez oil spill (CNN, 2008). The sludge contaminated both the Emory River and the Clinch River, both tributaries of the Tennessee River. While no lives were lost during the actual event, the environmental and public health implications will continue to haunt Tennessee for a very long time to come. The true extent of the damage won’t become known for many generations.
Novel vs. Film: Kill a Mockingbird! "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird," explains Atticus Finch to his children (To Kill Dir. Robert Mulligan. Neither the novel nor film version of To Kill A Mockingbird is better than the other, just different.
What did you enjoy better? The movie or the book? They were both different in many ways, but they were also the same in many ways. First, in the movie, some of the characters were missing such as Gitl, Tzipporah, Rueven, Yitzchak, Fayge, Rachel, Yente, and Rosemary(Hannah's friend). Also Cousin wolf and grandpa Will. The reason for this is because the movie isn’t trying to match up with the book, but to illustrate how harsh the Holocaust was and ,in addition to how inhumane the Jews were treated in the concentration camps. Also, without all of these characters, it makes it easier to get the point across. Another thing was that Hannah was old enough to drive and get a tattoo and was an only child in the movie. However, in the book, Hannah was 13 and had a younger brother named Aaron. Finally, in the book, there is no seder in the women's barracks. But in the movie, in order to make Rivka feel better after her mother's death Hannah does a seder
The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillman Jr. was released in 2018. This emotional movie shows us the events in the life of Starr Carter, played by Amandla Stenberg, as she uses her voice to battle through adversity and systemic racism in America. The movie is based off of the 2017 novel written by Angie Thomas under the same title. I enjoyed both the novel and the film adaptation because of the captivating story it takes you through. Despite some of the differences in the movie, the core, the theme, and main message of the story remains the same.
Criminal Scene Investigation is proclaimed to be the world’s most popular show with over 30 million viewers weekly. Some of these viewers include the jurors whom attend court the following day. Jurors are very important decision makers in the court room as their verdicts depend on whether an individual is convicted or not. This very popular show is believed to be influencing these jurors currently, and we refer to this influence as the “CSI effect”. The CSI effect is “the phenomenon in which jurors hold unrealistic expectations of forensic evidence and investigation techniques, and have an increased interest in the discipline of forensic science.”(Monica Robbers) This effect is a huge issue in the legal system today because it affects the juror’s judgement which carries forward and affects the outcome of many trials. Due to this common misconception by the jurors the legal system as a whole is impacted in a negative way.
Courtroom 302 illustrates this subjective character of justice, as evidenced by the jurors' varied points of view during Bett's trial. It is important to emphasize the complex dynamics at work during jury deliberations because the case's outcome may depend on how each juror interprets the evidence and moral considerations. Moreover, by demonstrating the discretion juries have in navigating moral dilemmas and interpreting the law in actual cases, the documentary "In the Jury Room" provides intriguing insights into these challenges. These examples show how human psychology has a significant impact on juries' decision-making processes and highlight the necessity for a greater comprehension of the variables influencing jurors' perceptions and decisions. As evidenced by the diverse perspectives of the jurors during Bett's trial and the subjective character of justice depicted in Courtroom 302, the pursuit of justice investigates the intersection of human psychology and legal concepts during jury deliberations.
The movie Denial deals with the tragedy of the Holocaust as well as the Fascist beliefs held by Adolf Hitler during World War II. The movie features Deborah E. Lipstadt and David Irving, who debate whether the Holocaust actually happened. The movie starts off with the publishing of Lipstadt’s book Denying the Holocaust. During Lipstadt’s promoting of her book she is interrupted by two men protesting on Irving’s behalf who offer money to the crowd if anyone can actually prove if Hitler knew or planned the Holocaust. David Irving is one of the Holocaust deniers that was brought up negatively in Lipstadt’s book. Later on in the movie, it goes into how Irving sued Lipstadt because of her accusations of him being a Holocaust denier in her book.
After an eight month trial, a not guilty verdict, and a mountain of criminating evidence it is realistic to accept that mistakes were made somewhere in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. When it comes to conviction, American justice is supposed to hold to the following principle, “a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. In other words, the prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, each essential element of the crime charged” (A. 2010). The defense team displayed circumstances of reasonable doubt throughout the trial. Two of the most influential factors contributing to trial were the evidence collection techniques and the credibility of defense witnesses. However, a main factor was the perhaps the jury members themselves and the mountain
This was after protests escalated in Warren County, North Carolina, US, condemning the construction of a landfill to hold 31,000 gallons of PCB in the impoverished town of Shocco in Warren County, with a 75% minority community population, wherein ground water was feared to be contaminated. The reverberation of this report was felt across the country and put the spotlight on the hitherto unattended type of racism, institutionalized environmental racism. Thereupon, environmental racism came under the ambit of the civil rights rather than that of