*Struggle in* Teen Lives
After reviewing the film “Freedom Writers” directed by Richard LaGravenese and based on a true story written by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers, I experienced the impact of the story line behind the film and it was remarkably well put together. The director, Richard LaGravenese, did a breathtaking job presenting the movie as if it was the real Freedom Writers Story happening. He made sure that the actors/actresses felt as if they were in the exact position as their character. Richard chose the best actress Hilary Swank to star as Erin Gruwell. The inspiring California teacher, that motivated her students with the passion of demand.
As the movie begins you are informed that all this took place in Los Angeles, California in 1992 right after the Rodney King Riots. A time, when gang violence and racial tension reached an all time high. Then you are pulled right into the diary of one of the students named Eva Benitez played by April L. Hernandez, she tells you about her childhood growing up. She tells us about her struggles in life. She speaks to us about her trouble in the gang life.
Despite her students’ stubborn refusal to participate during class, Erin tries various ways to engage them on a daily basis. But then ghetto reality steps in to focus the picture. A racially provoked gang shooting witnessed by a Latina gang member in Erin class. After an ugly racial cartoon that Erin intercepts during class, she finds the most knowingly dynamic teaching aids. They generate a transformation in the classroom, obligating them to listen and force her to take off her impractical blinders and take in the students’ survival stories of their undeclared war on the streets.
Erin begins to connect with them. She brings in music from the hood, and literature from another kind of ghetto, The Diary of Anne Frank, and with these simple tools she opens her students’ eyes to the experiences of those suffering intolerance throughout the world and...