Erin GruwellÂ’s passion to become a teacher is soon challenged by a group of Black, Latino, and Asian gangbangers who hate her even more than each other. When Erin begins to listen to them in a way no adult has ever done, she begins to understand that for these kids, getting through the day alive is enough they are not delinquents but teenagers fighting a war of the streets that began long before they were born. Erin gives them something they never had from a teacher before - respect.
Though "Freedom Writers," based on a true story, squeezes a few streams of tears from audience members, it thrives on racial stereotyping and overuses heartfelt confessional moments. The message is poignant—the film discusses the impact of gang violence and the idea that integration is often undermined by self-segregation—but the film is clichéd and unrealistic.
Though Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, is technically integrated, kids never wander outside of racial boundaries—"Little Cambodia," "The Ghetto," "Wonderbreadland" or "South of the Border." When Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) comes to Wilson as a first year English teacher in 1994, she finds her class full of troubled teenagers and an administration still bitter over the open enrollment policy that caused their standardized test scores to plummet.
On the day that marks Erin's abrupt change from meek teacher to intense revolutionary, she discovers a caricature of a black student with oversized lips that another student drew. She confronts her students about their racist behaviors and is met with customary resentment. How could this white woman relate to our situation, their misunderstood teenage minds are thinking.
NOW SHOWINGTrailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/freedomwriters/trailer1/Official Website:
http://www.freedomwriters.com/