True Story of Erin Brockovich

¶ … true story of Erin Brockovich is now blurred by Julia Roberts' performance in Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film but the triumph of the single mom over huge corporate interests reveals an astounding example of human moral courage. Similarly, the story of The Bride in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 action film Kill Bill is entirely fictitious but demonstrates in exaggerated cinematographic form the value of physical courage. The word "courage" gets thrown around so much it has lost much of its impact and meaning. Therefore, film examples offer modern audiences a means through which they can perceive the perennial importance of courage on both moral and physical planes. Courage means the same thing in the moral and physical realms, too: in both cases, an individual becomes fearless. When a person is morally courageous, he or she vehemently stands up for an unpopular belief, risking ridicule and persecution. Erin Brockovich exemplifies moral courage because of her willingness to take on corporate interests many times more powerful than she. When a person is physically courageous, he or she places life and limb in direct danger. The Bride exemplifies physical courage because of her willingness to endure pain, bleeding, and other visceral forms of suffering. Courage is important to see on the big screen because courage matters in real life. In the insulated world of modern life, courage can seem relegated only to fairy tales and movies but in fact, no one would succeed without courage. Courage is what makes people change careers, apply for a job, ask an attractive person out on a date, or go on a vacation to an exotic locale. Courage is key because it is that which fuels a meaningful existence; courage distinguishes those who go through the motions from those who stand out from the crowd.

In Erin Brockovich the movie, the title character discovers that a small town is being slowly poisoned by their water supply due to the negligent practices of a local power company. Although Brockovich has hardly a penny to her name, she champions the cause of the townspeople because it is a matter of moral imperative. Erin's courage is evident in her willingness to set aside mundane, trivial matters like what she will eat for dinner and focus more firmly on universally relevant and politically-charged issues. Moreover, Erin Brockovich is courageous because she altered her ego-self in taking on the California power company. Her former self was focused solely on her own personal needs, her failed relationships and her children. In short, Brockovich's life was insular and because it was insular she was safe and secure. It took an enormous amount of courage to transcend the familiar. Erin became bigger than herself when she acted as if she were a lawyer when the only legal training she had was through working as an assistant in a law firm. Brockovich risked personal ridicule and social stigma through her direct action suit and it was because of her courage that she triumphed. Without people as morally courageous as Brockovich, the weak would continually be pummeled by the rich and powerful. It takes courage to take on corporate giants in the modern world, which is why Brockovich emerges as an exemplar of human moral courage. She shows why courage is important and how courage can impact a large number of people.

In the action/thriller/dark comedy Kill Bill, the protagonist called simply The Bride exhibits courage of a different sort. Although The Bride does demonstrate moral as well as physical courage due to her sense of righteousness regarding her ex-boyfriend, The Bride emerges as a purely physical hero. The Bride undertakes physical challenges that Tarantino portrays with his characteristic hyperbole. Because of Tarantino's rendering of pure, exaggerated physical courage, viewers can appreciate the impact of physical courage on their worlds. For example, The Bride takes on a whole fleet of enemies in one scene and still triumphs. Though she might have flinched inside, The Bride never wavered on the outside. Her courage was purely physical, and the blood split throughout Kill Bill proves it. The Bride also endured a tremendous amount of pain during her Taoist-style training; those who are courageous inevitably must feel pain. In fact, the hallmark of any type of courage, physical or moral, is the willingness to endure pain. In Brockovich's case, the pain was mental and emotional; in The Bride's case is was physical but psychic as well. Were it not for her rigorous traditional training sessions, The Bride would not have had the courage to take on a whole army of enemies as she did throughout the film. Her physical endurance during the training sessions enabled her to endure the remarkable amounts of pain she encountered through her battles. Kill Bill illustrates how physical and mental courage converge to strengthen character. The Bride's rewards were not fully realized until the sequel to Tarantino's movie, when the protagonist confronts Bill and reunites with her child.