Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton is a powerful movie that digs to the core of major corporations and unveils the ethics used in establishing their billion dollar empires. One corporation that the movie focuses on is an environmental "friendly" business called UNorth. UNorth has done everything in their power to cover up a monumental mistake with there product. Simply put, their product is environmentally unfriendly and has the capability to make living organism (including humans) deathly ill. This unsettling issue has the potential to crush the corporation and bankrupt everyone involved. Ultimately this scenario leads to the reality of the movie. That reality being the unethical views that these corporations practice to insure their product. One such practice in Michael Clayton is to murder anyone who has information detrimental to the company and who is willing to present that information to the public. This is a very intimidating and real situation as UNorth could care less about the person they are murdering, especially considering he (Arthur Edens) has worked with them for many years. It is just until recently that Arthur has grown disgusted with UNorth and plans to bring down the corporation through the courts. One of my favorites scenes in the movie is when Arthur is explaining to Michael about the corruption he has surrounded himself with. Arthur describes himself as being covered in an embryonic fluid, being drenched in afterbirth and says, "I realized Michael, that I had emerged not from the doors of Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen, not through the portals of our vast and powerful law firm, but from the asshole of an organism whose sole function is to excrete the... the-the-the poison, the ammo, the defoliant necessary for other, larger, more powerful organisms to destroy the miracle of humanity."This is a moment in the movie of pure honesty. Arthur has spent a majority of his life working as a lawyer to protect the investments of these toxic corporations but now he sees himself only as a pawn and a byproduct of their unethical practices. Just like the shit they sell, he has done and become exactly what they wanted him to. This is why Arthur realizes he can no longer be Shiva The God of Death. Arthur has a conscience and wants to help preserve the innocence of the world. This opportunity to fix some of the problems he has created is his chance to rectify some of these tragedies throughout the years.

This brings me to my next point. Arthur's last name, Edens, is a very unique name for this movie. It brings up ideas of the Garden of Eden and the purity of human existence before corruption and temptation. Arthur's name gives him a legitimate reason to be seen as a savior in the movie because he represents a time when there was purity and innocence. His intellect also makes him an out-of-this-world character. He is made to be this all knowing lawyer who never losses. This gives him credibility in using his knowledge to bring down UNorth. Thus establishing a purer environment and preventing the spread of environmental corruption. Perhaps Arthur thinks if he can halt these environmental unfriendly corporations, he can protect what is left of the innocence of the world, such as people like Anna. Ultimately restoring some of that natural wilderness which Cronon refers to; not the wilderness constructed by mankind.

All in all I enjoyed Michael Clayton for the attention it calls to these unethical corporations and their impact on community and environment. The first time I saw this movie I did not have the same type of reaction as I do now. Through studying topics such as environmental injustice and toxic discourse, I can truly appreciate the red flags Michael Clayton raises on both environmental and ethical issues.