1. Given the fact that Silkwood was a flirty, trashy, not give a sh** employee in the beginning of the movie; in your opinion, what caused her to step up and accept union responsibilities?
2. Winston was caught altering the x-ray negatives by Silkwood. Do you think that he was acting alone to keep production moving, or that Kerr-McGee knew about his actions, or directed him to do so?
3. Who would benefit by putting plutonium in Silkwood's urine collection cups?
4. Silkwood wants to see her kids over the upcoming weekend, but forgets to ask for time off. What kind of mother do you think Silkwood was?
I think Winston was action on his own.
ReplyDeleteAll would benifit from tanting Silkwood urine cup because they would still have their job if she would back down.
I would guess that she was a busy woman and her ex had already gotten together with some one else and moved away. She also had a dyc as a friend and was preceived as not having a good place for kids.
1. I think Silkwood is an inherently good person and that is what ultimately made her stand up for the greater good and sacrifice herself to whistle-blow on this company. She was in a demoralizing, minimum wage job where morale is often low so I think that's why she was portrayed that way in the beginning.
ReplyDelete2. I think Winston was told to alter the x-rays. And that is what lead to 3. Kerr-McGee contaminating her cups. Because they just seem like the type to me.
4. I think with all that she had going on, especially with her best friend coming out and her boyfriend taking off, the kdis unfortunately got put on the backburner, which I think does not necessarily make her a bad mom - especially when she does not have full custody of them.
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ReplyDeleteThe way the 4th question is worded sounds like the author is suggesting negligence on Karen's part. I would probably have to agree there. Though she does do everything possible to get the weekend off to see her children, she does not plan ahead (a necessity in ensuring that she see her #1 priority in life), and she doesn't put up a fight when her ex-husband (who was never really her husband) refuses to allow her to take her own children for the weekend. It didn't seem like Karen put up a fight for much in her life, which is probably why her position in the union felt so fulfilling for her. She was able to take responsibility for something larger than herself.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure I meant “negligence,” and I agree with you that she does do everything possible to get the weekend off to see her children. It’s the ‘not planning ahead’ part that had me in a quandary. Perhaps, “out of sight, out of mind” applies here. If the children were the ‘#1 priority in life,’ I don’t think that she would have forgotten to make plans to take time off. Also, she would have made plans with the father the last time she saw the children. Silkwood wouldn’t have made a phone call to the ‘new’ wife to make the plans (only to have the plans quashed by the father).
DeleteI really appreciate your position about Karen; the way she handled struggles in her life. Since she didn’t seem to fight for much, taking a role in protecting the workers at the plant was probably very fulfilling. I wonder when that fulfillment, through taking responsibility for something larger than herself, became a burden. Maybe when she realized she was so full of radiation she had collected a death sentence? Or when she saw those headlights in the rearview mirror?
I think the responsibility of trying to protect the workers became a burden for her when she became so caught up in making phone calls and sneaking around at work. Drew eventually leaves her and you can tell she is extremely stressed, but she continues to fight for what she believes is right. She literally kept fighting till her death.
Delete1.)I believe she stepped up and accepted union responsibilities due to seeing her friend go through the cancer scares and have a daughter with cancer.After seeing her children I believe she realized she has potential to help make this a better place for all children.
ReplyDelete2.)I believe Winston was in cahoots with Kerr-McGee as they were millions of dollars behind with their contract. If they had to remake all those rods they would be even further behind. The 80's was also a time before a great deal of OSHA regulations and documentation was required for safety of employees and accountability of products.
3.)The company and the employees. The employees wanted to keep their jobs no matter the circumstances. It was a pay check. The company did not need the publicity as they were hoping to get their contract renewed and keep the plant opened.
4.)I believe Silkwood was was a mother who didn't know any better, was scared and fearful of being able to take care of them.. she just didn't know what to do with them as stated in the film. She was too young when she had them.
The company and employees would definitely benefit from the plutonium in her urine because she was going to expose the company for things that would cost people their jobs. The workers of the company also knew the dangers, etc. and maybe even feared that being in close proximity to this substance would hurt their chances at future jobs because there was so much uncertainty surrounding it at that time. Knowing all of this made it clear to someone that they needed to do whatever they could do to get rid of her permanently so they could keep providing for their families, etc.
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