Talk:Erin Brockovich (film)

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[edit] Fumento Criticism

The fact that this line "The movie was criticized by Michael Fumento of the National Review as a one-sided representation of the Hinkley litigation.[1]" appears in the first paragraph of the article implies that Fumento's criticism is highly relevant to a discussion of the film. I would argue that it's not. Had there the been wide spread criticism of the facts presented in the film at the time of it's release (or subsequently), then it certianly would be relevent to any discussion of the film, and would justify inclusion in the opening paragraph of the article. But as I recall, and a quick google search confirms, there was not widespread criticism of the factual basis of the film.

Addtionally, if you actually read the Fumento article, he doesn't criticize the film per se or it's portrayal events, rather his gripe is over whether chromium (VI) was actually responsible for the health effects. As such, his criticism is more relevant to the articles about the real life Brockovich and the actual case, and not relevant to a discussion about the movie.

I suggest either removing the Fumento criticism entirely, or moving it to lower in the page. Or if there was in fact more widespread, notable criticism of the film, then this should be developed more in the article. At anyrate, I certainly don't think that one critical commentary by a well known chemical industry apologist deserves to be highlighted in the introductory paragraph of the article. That it was added by user with a history of POV problems only strengthens my opinion that the sentence in question should go.Yilloslime 20:41, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I've added info on Michael Fumento, but I hadn't seen this talk page at the time. However, I think the size and position of the criticism is fine where it is. Jamyskis Whisper, Contribs 16:56, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

I think my original objection still stands, even with the Fumento criticism moved from the lead to the body of the article. It's not notable, and it's not even really a criticism of the movie itself, but rather of the real life court case and attendant toxicology. As such, if it's relevant anywhere, it's relevant to the article about the actual case. Fumento, who is niether a movie critic nor a scientist, is the only person making these criticisms, and as such they are simply not notable enough to be mentioned here. Yilloslime (t) 01:45, 2 February 2008 (UTC)