Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers

Last Friday I watched a movie titled Freedom Writers which is actually recommended as one of good American movie for our final project in American Studies class. This is a very good movie. This is a story about the struggle of a high school teacher named Erin Gruwell. Erin just accepted as a new teacher in one of senior high school in Arizona where racism is obviously exists. The students in that school are separated between the white and the non-white. The non-white students are come from various races, Latino, African-American, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Negro, Caucasian and etc. They have been being discriminated for long time by the school management. Actually, they won’t go to school if there were possibility for it. However they have to go to school because of the government regulation. The non-white students are gathered in a special class with lower standard compared to another classes for the white students. There will be a specialization for the brilliant non-white students to join the white students’ class, but this exception is rarely happened. Moreover, even tough non-white students join the non-white students’ class, they will still get different way of treating.
The students in the special class are hostile each other based on their races. The class is much uncontrolled. Erin gets shock at the first day she comes to the class, as she sees a fight almost break out in her classroom and gang battle at the school. Her students in the special class do not obey her, but Erin doesn’t give up. Gradually she begins to get their trust. She gives a book to each of them to write a diary about their experiences of life. Erin wants to know their real life. How they’re being abused and evicted, and how hard their life actually is.
Erin wants to decrease discrimination that they have got from the school. She tries to ask some new books from the students, but her requests are always rejected. Therefore she decided to use her own money to finance all the things that she needs to teach her students. She takes three part time jobs to pay for more books for the students. She also spends more times at school which is brought her to a big compensation as her disappointed husband finally divorced her. Nevertheless, Erin’s big efforts to raise her students are works. Her students start to respect her and behave nicely. The gap of racism between them is slowly dissolving. As the final project, Erin asks her students to write their diary into form of a book. Erin arranges these final projects into a book and publishes it as The Freedom Writers Diary. At the end of the movie, Erin successfully brought many of her students to graduation and college.
I think it’s really inspiring movie. Erin is a kind of unusual teacher. She is very brave in breaking the discrimination. The unity that she has been successfully created among her student is not easy. If I were in her position at that time, I’m not sure that I won’t give up easily. Erin’s struggle is awesome. Moreover, this movie is based on the reality. Anyone who wants to become a teacher should watch this movie first. It’s really worth to watch.
For your information, the Freedom Writers then become a foundation, leads by Erin Gruwell, which is providing teachers with innovative teaching methods through workshops that held at the Freedom Writers Institute. The main purpose of this foundation is to improve the academic performance of their students. This foundation is still exists now.