
Web posted March 12, 2001
Brockovich Has Identity Crisis
The Associated Press
Erin Brockovich, whose fight against pollution in a California town inspired a movie bearing her name, says she's having an identity crisis.
``Everyone, and I do mean everyone, now comes up to me and says, `So, you're the real Erin Brockovich?''' she said at the Anti-Defamation League Women of Achievement dinner Thursday, where she was the keynote speaker.
``I guess my name now is `The Real' Erin Brockovich,'' she said.
Brockovich, who was portrayed by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-nominated movie, was a legal researcher when she discovered a massive cover-up of water pollution by the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in Hinkley, Calif. The utility was eventually forced to pay more than $330 million in damages.
She said the movie has turned her life upside down.
``It's hard to accept this attention for being honest and doing the right thing,'' she said. ``That makes me uncomfortable.''
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