MovieChat Forums > Erin Brockovich (2000) Discussion > The only thing that irritated me about t...

The only thing that irritated me about this movie...


...was the part where Erin knows all the plaintiff's phone numbers by heart. (all 600 or whatever the number was) I guess the point of that was that she was showing she knew the plaintiffs well, it just seemed unrealistic to me that she would really know that many people's phone numbers by heart.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

Hard work trumps rudeness, hun.


Is it wrong to assure a young girl that she's ugly? I mean what's wrong with not being pretty?

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My thought was, if you don't want others to 'talk to you like you're stupid,' then please don't talk down to others like you're an a-hole!

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Was it or was it not rude for Ed to go behind her back and give all the work that she'd done for months to someone else? That, too, could be considered unflattering and contemptuous. In that situation, I wouldn't be very charming, either.

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In the special features section of the DVD, the director said that the real Erin Brockovich was dyslexic so she spent hours late at night poring over books and committing them to memory. I think it was just making a point about how thoroughly she knew her information and how emotionally invested she was in this case that she probably had to call each of those numbers enough times for them to commit to memory.

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I'll just copy the FAQ-text. Even thought it has been mentioned several times some people just seem unable to read.


"Did Erin Brockovich really memorize all 634 plaintiffs and their cases?


Yes. In a Q&A session, Erin said that because she suffers from dyslexia, she is unable to read and comprehend in a normal manner. In order to cope with her illness, she said that she has learned mostly everything in her life through memorization. This is how she remembered all of the Hinkley residents' cases. In addition to dyslexia, Erin also claims that she has struggled through anorexia and that she has panic disorder. -CommonWealthClub.org"

Once more:


"Did Erin Brockovich really memorize all 634 plaintiffs and their cases?


Yes. In a Q&A session, Erin said that because she suffers from dyslexia, she is unable to read and comprehend in a normal manner. In order to cope with her illness, she said that she has learned mostly everything in her life through memorization. This is how she remembered all of the Hinkley residents' cases. In addition to dyslexia, Erin also claims that she has struggled through anorexia and that she has panic disorder. -CommonWealthClub.org"

Got that

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Even if she did know all those #s by heart, she didn't know how to document information correctly so that other people could access it; or she overestimated her abilities, that she would be the only person who would ever need to contact these people, and that no one else would be working with the plaintiffs.

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Well, while the scene WAS a way to show Erin's closeness to the case, I don't think it was the sole purpose. They gave us a clue early on in the film that she possessed this capability when she first met George and she was shooting those numbers out at him and he was amazed she could remember (i think it was something to do with her account?)by memory. I'm aware that that's not as great as 600 odd numbers but you get the point.

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According to various sources on the movie, she had this ability to do that. But the bigger question, why not just put the info in the files? Yes, I understand her wanting "job security" by keeping the info to herself, but the documentation is more important than her job security. As cold as that sounds, that is the world of law and litigation.

Bottom line, she was selfish and wanted to make sure she stayed in the spotlight. Instead of working as a team member, she wanted to BE the team.

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Wow. There really is a major issue in the US with class snobbery, isn't there? I guess I never appreciated it was so bad. At least I'm assuming that's what is behind what really is a quite bizarre thread.

I mean, it's like having a four page Star Wars thread about how Han Solo is really a bit of a rogue and people raising theories that he was only initially in it for the money - no sh*t!!

EB was not a lawyer and was therefore not used to all of the accepted processes and procedures a lawyer should go through when preparing a case. I don't think the film tries to disguise or hide from this fact. She was also incredibly defensive and paranoid about people judging her and talking down to her, and was unnecessarily rude at times. I don't think the film tries to disguise or hide from this either.

She was not (and I'm sure still isn't) a person without faults - but who is? Of course she was possessive of the case - without her hard work and determination there wouldn't even have been a case! Was she too possessive - yes! But again, the film makes no effort to disguise this. By all accounts, this is as accurate a retelling as is cinematically appropriate of a very interesting story - the people featured in it are real people with real flaws. Deal with it, get off your pedestal and stop pointing out the blindingly obvious just because you don’t like the fact that this “white trash” woman has done something with her life.

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LOL... two thumbs up!

... the hardest thing in this world is to live in it...

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Kind of late to get in on this conversation but the real Erin Brockovich DID in fact memorize all the names and numbers.

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there are a lot of unrialistic things when it comes to movies, this one is NOT one of them, i actually know a friend of a friend that doesn´t use contact list on his phone as he has memorized all of his numbers, and when he needs to memorize more, it takes him 2 minuts to do so.

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it was true that she knew all the numbers by heart (or brain), she had dyslexia!

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Memorize or not, she should have kept a written record of all the facts surrounding each plaintiff, including their phone numbers. The case was huge. Sloppy paralegal work. Did she really think she was going to be the walking database for the whole case? How arrogant!

http://youtu.be/oHg5SJYRHA0

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