Teachers are everyday heroes, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s not everyday that we get to see a movie about students who are heroes too. Today, an inspiring and relevant movie about an out-of-the-ordinary teacher and group of students comes to theaters near you. Freedom Writers is a must-see.
Freedom Writers (MTV Films/ Double Feature Films) is a true story about a gutsy English teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, Calif. who uses writing and literature to change to the lives of her high school students. It is based on a 1999 book The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell.
A first time teacher, 23-year old Ms. Gruwell (played powerfully by Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank) arrives at the first day of school hopeful and optimistic about the year ahead. She knows that her racially diverse students came from tough backgrounds—most are gang members in a post-Rodney King Los Angeles and live in the ghetto—but she is unprepared for the fights and her volatile classroom. Still, Ms. Gruwell is tougher than her pearls and red jacket demeanor. She sticks around.
One day, when one of her students draws a racial caricature about Jamal, a black student in her class, she uses the incident as an opportunity for a lesson on tolerance. She tells her students about the Holocaust and begins to talk to them about the struggles of people throughout history and across all races.
As the movie progresses, Ms. Gruwell realizes that if she wants to connect with her students, she has to first understand where they’re coming from and listen to them. She gives each student a black and white composition book and asks them to start writing everyday—anything; poetry, lists; songs; journals. Her students first reaction is "Everyday is a war for us out there. How is studying grammar and literature going to help us?"
In response, Ms. Gruwell assigns The Diary of Anne Frank to her students (many of whom have never owned their own books) and begins to teach them about the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement. As the students read these stories, they start to write down their own life stories--and become a community engaged in a "Toast for Change."
"The kids learned to pick up a pen instead of a gun, and the act of writing saved them," says director and writer Richard LaGravanese who based his moving screenplay on the book The Freedom Writers Diary, a collection of the students’ and Ms. Gruwell’s diaries.
"Writing might be one of the best vehicles for some of my students to escape their horrific environments and personal demons. Even though they're not held captive in an attic or dodging bombs in a basement, the violence permeating the streets is just as frightening--and just as real," reads one of Ms. Gruwell's entries in her diary. In the movie, Ms. Gruwell uses writing to teach her students that literature can change lives because it shows you that you are not alone.
"I have great respect for Anne Frank for writing about her life in the attic, but to me, my neighborhood is somewhat like her attic. ... Like Anne Frank, I live through the pain of being stuck in my house because I don't want to become a casualty of war, gang warfare that is going on outside of my bedroom walls," writes one student in her diary.
So, how do you make a movie out of a book? LaGravanese selected excerpts from the diaries in the book and spent months interviewing the original Freedom Writers. The result: an emotional and realistic drama that sheds light on some of their most compelling stories and struggles.
Eva (in a powerful performance by April Hernandez) is a tough yet sensitive Latina girl whose father was arrested when she was a child. She witnesses an accidental shooting and has to decide whether to protect her friend or reveal the truth (i.e. do the right thing). Andre (played by Mario) has a brother who is on trial and may go to jail. Sindy’s (Jacklyn Ngan) family came to LA from Cambodia. She hasn’t been to prison, but has lived in a refugee camp and saw her best friend shot in front of her. As the movie progresses, each of these students struggles to make the right choices for their lives. Will they succeed? You must watch the movie to find out.
Freedom Writers is an inspiring and humbling film with magnetic performances by Swank and the cast of newcomers who play her students in Room 203. The chemistry between them is palpable. But, it’s so much more than that. It’s a message of hope, tolerance and empowerment, an example of how the voices of teens need to be heard, and about how human suffering can be lessened through sharing and understanding.
We're all familiar with the famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Well, I was thinking about this quote while watching the movie--and it struck me that it fit Ms. Gruwell pretty darn well. She opened her arms to a group of students who had been abandoned by the system and gifted them with respect, hope, and tools for survival. In turn, her students were brave enough to let go of their fear of change and accept the lamp of light that was offered to them.
Now, these are what I call heroes. If you want to be humbled and inspired this weekend, go watch Freedom Writers. Then come back here on Monday and let's talk about it. ...
Did you see the movie? What did you think? What was your favorite scene? Did you know about the Freedom Writers before the movie?
Freedom Writers is rated PG-13.
