Preview

Film Analysis on Freedom Writers

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2284 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Film Analysis on Freedom Writers
Film Analysis Essay on Freedom Writers
Main Credits
Title: Freedom Writers
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Scriptwriter: Richard LaGravenese
Adapted from: The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell
Actors/Main characters: Hilary Swank-Erin Gruwell, Patrick Dempsey-Scott Casey, Scott Glenn-Steve Gruwell, Imelda Staunton-Margaret Campbell, April L. Hernandez-Eva Benitez, Jaclyn Ngan-Sindy, Jason Finn-Marcus, John Benjamin Hickey- Brian Gelsord,
Plot Summary The movie “Freedom Writers” is based on a true story. Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell plays an inspirational teacher at Wilson High School. Her class consists of different races and groups--African Americans, Latinos, Asians, gang members, and underprivileged students from poor neighborhoods. On the first day of teaching she is very scared and unsure, but she knows she has to stop the racism in the class as well as their attitude towards life. Despite the struggle to communicate with her students and refusal to participate during class, Erin finds interesting ways to communicate with them. A racially motivated gang shooting witnessed by a Latina gang member in Erin’s class, and a racial cartoon that Erin sees during class, help her in her teachings. They spark a transformation in the classroom, force them to listen and force her to take in the kid’s survival stories of their tuff lives on the streets. Erin begins to connect with them. She brings in music which those kids listen to and literature like The Diary of Anne Frank, and with these simple tools she opens her student’s eyes to the experiences of people who suffer throughout the world and the struggles of those outside their own communities. Moreover, Erin encourages them to keep a daily journal of their thoughts and experiences as she knows that a lot is going on in their everyday lives. After sharing their stories with each other the students see their shared experience and open up to the idea that there are so many possibilities in life.
However, Erin came
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Synopsis Of 'American Violet As Depicted In The Film'
    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Synopsis Of 'American Violet As Depicted In The Film'

    The major characters of this movie are Dee Roberts, Alma Roberts, David Cohen, Sam Conroy , Sherice Roberts, Sharonda Roberts, LaQuisha Roberts, and Tanya Roberts. Alma roberts is…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Backpack
    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Backpack

    In summation to this reflection upon this movie/ documentary and article we should all as teachers try to strive to help our students look at each other equally and treat them with the same respect, and by providing this lesson of no discrimination to our students. This will hopefully inspire a future were anyone regardless of what their skin color or their ethnicity can feel powerful and just as important as the people that surround…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Freedom Writers vs the Outsiders
    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Freedom Writers vs the Outsiders

    Taking place in Long Beach California, Richard Lagravense directed an amazing movie titled “Freedom Writers.” Freedom Writers came out in 2007 and has inspired many teenagers all over the world. Not only do I consider this to be one of my favorite movies, but many others do too.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Assassination Of Jane Elliot
    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Assassination Of Jane Elliot

    Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. a teacher in Riceville Iowa, Jane Elliot wanted to show her students what it means to discriminate against someone. They had just named Martin Luther King Jr. as their “Hero of the month” and no one could understand what would compel someone to assassinate someone so good. She wanted to let her students understand what it’s like to be discriminated against and what it was like to discriminate against people, letting the students experience both sides of these situations. Truly showing the evils that exist in everyone.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Who Is Hillary Swank's Room 203: Here It Matter?
    • 1346 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Who Is Hillary Swank's Room 203: Here It Matter?

    In Long Beach, California, a war is raging. You can’t always see it, but its soldiers know it’s there. You need to go and watch “Freedom Writers” right this instant. In this heartwarming movie, Hillary Swank plays quirky school teacher Erin Gruwell who, alongside her unsupportive husband (played by Patrick Dempsey) attempts to make history with her class of integration students, played by April Lee Hernández, Jaclyn Ngan, Armand Jones and many more. The movie plays for 122 minutes of pure joy and raw emotion, where we get to see wonderful changes in the most unlikely people. The film was directed by Richard LaGravanese and released by Paramount Pictures on January 5th, 2007. “The Freedom Writers” is an emotional…

    • 1346 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Escalante's Four Objectives
    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Escalante's Four Objectives

    These stories do not exist to depress the audience but rather as a call to action: stand for your beliefs, rectify injustice you see in the world, and become champions of love. I intend to inspire agents of social change who are unafraid to stand with the downtrodden. I directed a devised production based around the question, what injustice do you see in your world? Many students wrote about micro-aggressions, cultural appropriation, or comically unfunny stereotypes of people of color but one student was struggling. Every time I asked her that question, she said she did not see injustice in the world because people who loved her surrounded her.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes In Moonlight And Freedom Writers
    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Stereotypes In Moonlight And Freedom Writers

    The filmmaker offers a new and realistic insight on the Black community, with an emphasis on the queer community. In contrast, the film Freedom Writers also attempts to show the struggles of growing up in a community where there is violence and in which the director does include stereotypical views of Black men and women. These two films focus on the coming of age, but approach this topic differently. Unlike Freedom Writers, a Black filmmaker created Moonlight who showed the world a different perspective on the life of a gay Black boy that is usually not intended by other Hollywood filmmakers. One film depicts the hardships through the eyes of a Black filmmaker and another through the eyes of white filmmaker. Moonlight and Freedom Writers bring about issues of identity, sexuality, family, and masculinity, while also taking different approaches to these issues possibly due to the filmmakers’ experience with the actual Black…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Grief and Loss
    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Grief and Loss

    Freedom Writers is a movie that tells the story of how a teacher, Erin Gruwell influences the education and lives of a group of students at a very diverse high school. As a novice to the classroom Mrs. Gruwell struggles to discover how to help impact her class deemed as misfits, and students who are incapable of learning. In beginning to understand the life stories and environments of the students she is able to connect with them as an educator, and meet the students where they are. Furthermore she gears their learning towards the person in the environment and sees their potential beyond the classroom. Intertwining the characters of the movie are the concepts of grief and loss. In order to gain a clinical perspective on how the students in Mrs. Gruwell’s class move towards success, one must understand their journey towards a level of restitution. Grief and loss as a concept of this non fictional story is best understood through: a definitive knowledge of grief and loss, the losses experienced by the characters, and the interventions that are applicable to persons experiencing loss.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Claiing An Education
    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Analysis Of Claiing An Education

    The main character was a English teacher went by the name of Mrs. Gruwell or Mrs. G received the at risk sophomore students for her first teaching job. Students who were consider incapable of learning, a waste in the educational system before the arrival of Mrs. G, no one in the school had any hope for that specific group of students to be successful in any aspect. while classes were co-ed with racial diversity. the entire school was divided by street and racial gangs which hindered the opportunity for teachers to develop a positive and healthy student teacher relationship. as Mrs. G was named the new teacher on campus she had barriers to overcome with the group abused by society because the entire class was affected by gang violence in some way either it be personally or to a friend or family member which caused the at risk sophomore to develop trust issues to temporary figures in their life. because in the movie freedom writers on the very first day of school after Mrs.G attempts to politely address the class and introduce herself she soon after entered an altercation with her students who explained to Mrs.G that she doesn't know anything about how they are living, the pain they have to deal with and how it is all about the color of your skin that dictates everything in their life, not what they learn in grammar class. After taking the first few days to breaking the ice between the teacher and the students they became more comfortable with Mrs.G expressing their feelings and life experiences through their diaries given to them by Mrs.G, opening a healthy link of communication between both roles. one day in class one of the students complained about how uninteresting the stories were which made it difficult to retain the appropriate information to succeed because the educational system hasn't been updated for centuries. As the…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Freedom Writers Belonging
    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Freedom Writers Belonging

    The film Freedom Writers tells a tale of a high school class that broke a cycle of violence and failure in their inner city school. This film is based around the race riots during the early 1990s in Los Angeles. In this film, the school is divided by race and clearly shows the influence of culture on a person’s sense of belonging. This indicates how their cultural identity acts as a barrier between them and other cultures, resulting in a sense of displacement and dislocation. This film shows the struggles and hardships faced by people of ethic culture to integrate into the society of a dominant culture.…

    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Freedom Writers
    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Freedom Writers

    For the most part yes youth are respectful to each other’s differences. No there are not similar problems to those in Wilson High. But if there was then the steps I would take to initiate change would be to tell the teacher to maybe to a project were we learn about another person we don’t get along with so that by the end of the project the two could maybe see eye to eye and get along.…

    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What It's Like To Be A Black Girl
    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What It's Like To Be A Black Girl

    This shows the kind of life lived by the black people due to racism and cultural discrimination. In both, the characters handled the issues they were facing with courage and high self-esteem. Women, who seemed to seek acceptance drew more attention to them and thought of their backgrounds more…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    I Am Not Your Negro Analysis
    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I Am Not Your Negro Analysis

    In the past, there were direct discrimination toward African Americans such as police brutality and racial stereotype about African Americans. Policemen stopped the marching violently when they knew that those African Americans are protesting the rights they always deserve. People produced songs with lyrics like “if you are white, you are fine; if you are black, go back, go back”, and they published cartoons that had African Americans been drew in an ugly and terrifying way. Those are the dues African Americans have to pay, and they suffered all these terrible acts of the white people in order to survive in the United States. This film uses the unavoidable facts about the discriminations African Americans suffered to emphasize the big ideas that African Americans have done a lot of effort to gain their freedom should always be memorable by the people of the world. Nobody should ever deny African Americans’ suffering because those are part of the U.S…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Importance Of A Sorority
    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Importance Of A Sorority

    Change is a difficult process for several people in Freedom Writers because their decision to change could mean death. As they go on certain decisions are life threatening, but they decided to take the high road. Gangs aren’t in favor of high roads, but in the end the writers find that it doesn't matter what they think. The Freedom Writers are starting to become a group against violence and this is stirring problems up between gangs. In the end they only know what's right for them, so they make this time a time for a…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Freedom Writers Sociology
    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Freedom Writers Sociology

    Its stresses how privileged groups hold more power and have more advantages. It expressed that the social conditions of each group causes a struggle for power. The students in room 203 all hate each other because their gangs are rivals. The gangs are constantly fighting for the most power, that is why many of them kill one another. In the class, constant fights would break out between the students and when Erin changed up the seating plan, the whole class was disgruntled about being integrated with one another. The racism displayed towards The Freedom Writers can also be explained with the conflict theory. The students of class 203 are subjected to discrimination as the white teachers and students are strongly against the integration program. Ava and the other students hate white people because they are privileged in the aspects of money, power, and opportunities. The class disliked Erin and Ben in the beginning because of their skin color. The students feel as if the white students and teachers have more power because white students get a better education, and the white teachers do not want to give the multiracial students books or resources, and are not allowed field trips. There is a constant struggle for power between the white teachers and the students of class 203, which is why they constantly act out. They want to be treated fairly. In addition, the conflict theory explains income inequality. The movie shows that people with more money are of a higher class and they have more power and opportunities. All of the students comes from poor backgrounds and are treated unfairly. They do not have the opportunity to attend university or start new, different lives. The students financial situations lead them to bad behavior and crime, such as selling drugs. They perform illegal activities to obtain money to be able to live and gain more power. Furthermore, domestic abuse is displayed in the…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics