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Brittney McCormick
Professor Newsom
ENG 1020
11-October-2010
Freedom Writers
Crimes have always been a problem within todays’ society, especially for
teenagers. However, many methods have been used to help bring down the rate of
crimes committed by teens. According to The Justice Department many crimes such as
murder, robbery, and aggravated assault were down 20 to 70 percent. There have been
many methods but the one that seems most influential is the one presented in the nonfiction movie Freedom Writers. Freedom Writers is used to show the racial stereotypes
and pressures inhibit students from becoming successful in school. Nonetheless, it is
one instructor’s goal to help these students rise above these possible setbacks and live
out their dreams, while the school insists she teach the students discipline and
obedience. Gruwell’s students consist of Black and Hispanic or Latino minority students.
The Latino or Hispanic students were stereotyped as being gang members and the
Blacks were thought to be poor and criminals. In Freedom Writers, the producers use
resemblance, pathos, and ethos to make a compelling argument about inner-city
students.
Freedom Writers starts off with a teacher that wants to work at school that
exhibits diversity. Her name is Erin Gruwell and she ends up in a high school called
Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. Gruwell sets out to change the
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life of the teenagers she encounters at her new school, where race is a huge factor.
When Gruwell discovers a racial drawing she uses this to teach them about the
Holocaust; through this she gradually gains her students trust and has them write in
journals for her to read, only if they please, about being evicted from home, abused, and
seeing their friends die.
Many of the movies viewed on the television screen are thought to be surreal. In
other words, they are not based on the things we face in real life, and even if they are
non-fiction they still have this fantasy ending that doesn’t always occur in real-life.
Contrary to this, in Freedom Writers, resemblance is used throughout the entire film to
showcase problems that teenagers and the few people that are there to help them
encounter. I know of many situations where actual people have the problems presented
in the movie. There was always that one person that got criticized for trying be there for
those adolescents that needs them the most.
While watching Freedom Writers you see the students face different trials and
tribulations. Richard LaGravenese, the producer, utilizes the artistic appeal known as
pathos to make the audience feel sympathy for the students. For example, a
Hispanic/Latino girl named Eva witnessed her boyfriend mistakenly kill an innocent boy
while trying to do a drive-by shooting. So she battles with the decision of whether to be
honest when she testifies and get her boyfriend convicted of murder. Though a thing
such as this Gruwell finds ways to unite the students through the things they face on a
daily basis because of the neighborhood they live in and the color of their skin. Pathos
is also brought out while watching the other students argue and refuse to get along with
each other instead of uniting as one. LaGravenese also employs pathos as the other
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kids within the class face problems of their own, such as being put out from their home
and witnessing the demise of their friends.
Additionally, Erin Gruwell is a very caring and committed instructor thus, she
establishes her ethos to the other teachers and administration that are against her
method by showing that she can make a change in the students within her class. She
shows that no matter what the students do, such as making fun of her, she will not give
up on making trying to make a change in their lives. For instance, there were many
times that Gruwell could have just given up on her students, but she wanted to prove
that she was beyond ordinary and she wasn’t giving up that easily.
It seems to be that the claim the producer is trying to convey is that students from
low-income inner city communities have it harder than surburban students and they
need people that will not give up on them. There are so many children that live in this
situation. Many students face problems such as the ones represented throughout the
movie, but they don’t have someone like Erin Gruwell to help them make it through,
which is a very compelling claim made by the producer of this motion film. LaGravenese
is surely right about the claim made about low-income families because, as he may not
be aware, recent studies have shown that In 2001, almost 19 million children lived with
parents who worked regularly in families that remained low-income. Based on the
previous information this makes a very strong argument.
In conclusion, the producer of the movie does a great job of relaying to audience
many problems that low-income family children deal with. LaGravenese shows that
many teens aren’t readily able to deal with the problems they face, through
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resemblance pathos, and ethos. Those students need someone that is willing to be
there for them. LaGravenese does a great job of showcasing this because I am from a
low-income family and I can relate to the things presented in this movie because I have
witnessed them. However, as it is shown in the movie I feel that it is possible for any
student to turn their life around. So it is believed that if a teen from a low-income family
from a poor neighborhood doesn’t have anyone to look up to they will not become a
model citizen and they will be condemned to their low poverty community.
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Works Cited
"Freedom Writers. Dir. Richard LaGravenese. Perfs.Hilary Swank. 2007. DVD.
Paramount Pictures in relation with MTV Films, 2010."
http://www.urban.org/publications/900832.html