Christensen & Ullrich
Freedom Writers
directed by Richard LaGravenese
Theme - “Quote” - Context - for Film Analysis Essay
“In America, a girl can be crowned a princess for her beauty, and her grace. But an Aztec princess is
chosen for her blood. To fight for her people as Papi and his father fought, against those who say we
are less than they are, against those who say that we are not equal in beauty or blessings”(Eva).
IDENTITY: Eva is different than other American girls because she is from a Spanish culture.
RACISM: Eva feels that she is treated differently because she looks different.
“They took my father for retaliation. He was innocent, but they took him because he was respected by
my people. They called my people a gang because we fight for our America”(Eva).
COMING OF AGE: Eva witnessed her father get brutally arrested in her home at a young age.
RACISM: Eva thinks her father was treated poorly because he was hispanic.
“When I got my initiation into the gang life, I became third generation. They beat you, so you won't
break. They are my family”(Eva).
COMING OF AGE: Eva is young when she joins a gang to feel safe and loved.
IDENTITY: Eva is beaten because that is how you welcome a new gang member. Makes you strong.
“In Long Beach, it all comes down to what you look like. If you're Latino or Asian or black, you could
get blasted any time you walk out your door. We fight each other over race pride and respect. We fight
for what is ours”(Eva).
RACISM: Eva believes that everyone from a different race is dangerous and in a gang.
COMING OF AGE: Eva lives in a world of violence where you can get shot at any time.
“We used to have one of the highest scholastic records in the district, but since voluntary integration
was suggested, we've lost over 75% of our strongest students”(Principal).
RACISM: The principal is blaming student performance and school rank on the integration of new
students of a different race.
“My PO doesn't understand that schools are like the city, and they city is just like a prison, all of them
divided into separate sections, depending on tribes. There's Little Cambodia, The Ghetto, Wonder
Bread Land, and us, South of the Border or Little Tijuana”(Eva).
RACISM: Students are all separated by race because they don't trust any other race.
“You can't go against your own people, your own blood. The same words my father used so many
times. So when the police questioned me, I knew I had to protect him”(Eva).
IDENTITY: Eva will do anything, lie to the police, to keep her family and friends of the same race safe.
“They print pictures like this in the newspapers, jewish people with big, long noses... blacks with big,
fat lips. They also published scientific evidence that proved jews and blacks were the lowest form of
human species. Jews and black were more like animals. Because they were just like animals, it didn't
matter if they lived or died”(Miss Gruwell).
RACISM: Gangs among students are no different than the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler.
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“White people always wanting their respect like they deserve it for free. It's all about color. It's about
people deciding what you deserve, about people wanting what they don't deserve, about whites
thinking they run this world no matter what. You see, I hate white people”(Eva).
RACISM: Eva hates all white people because she thinks that they all think less of her.
“I saw the white cops shoot my friend in the back for reaching into his pocket, his pocket! I saw white
cops come into my house and take my father away for no REASON except they feel like it! Except
because they can! And they can because they're white. So I HATE white people on sight”(Eva)!
COMING OF AGE: Eva has seen a lot of violence in her young adult life.
RACISM: Eva's experience with white people have all been negative, so she judges all white people.
“You know what's gonna happen when you die? You're gonna rot in the ground. And people are gonna
go on living, and they're gonna forget all about you. And when you rot, do you think it's gonna matter
whether you were an original gangster”(Miss Gruwell).
IDENTITY: You won't be remembered if you have the identity of a gangster. No one will care.
“How dare you compare them to Anne Frank? They don't hide. They drive around in the open with
automatic weapons. I'm the one living in fear. I can't walk out my front door at night”(Mr. Guilford).
COMING OF AGE: Kids live in a world where they drive around with weapons to get what they want.
IDENTITY: These kids are not the victims, they are the reason there is all this violence.
“This was an A-list school before they came here. And look what they turned it into. Integration's a
lie. Yeah, we teachers, we can't say that or we lose our jobs for being racist”(Mr. Guilford).
RACISM: Mr. Guilford thinks that the school is not A-list anymore because the integrated kids don't
want to be there and get an education. Only white kids want to learn and get an education.
“How many of you know someone, a friend or relative, who was or is in juvenile hall or jails? How
many of you have been in juvenile hall or jail for any length of time? How many of you know where
to get drugs right now? How many of you know someone in a gang? Stand on the line if you've lost a
friend to gang violence... more than one... three... four or more”(Miss Gruwell).
COMING OF AGE: Miss Gruwell is playing a game with her students and finds out that a lot of her
students have and are currently dealing with huge issues that kids of their age shouldn't have to.
“I watched my mother as being half beaten to death. I watched as blood and tears streamed down her
face. I can still feel the sting of the belt on my back and my legs”(Brandy).
COMING OF AGE: Brandy wrote in her journal about a time she watched her mother get beat.
“I sat there until the police came. But when they come, all they saw was a dead guy, a gun, and a
nigger. They took me to juvenile hall”(Marcus).
COMING OF AGE: Marcus saw his friend get killed by accident because they were playing with a gun.
RACISM: Marcus waited for help and was arrested because he was black and the only one there.
“My brother taught me what the life is for a young black man. Pimp, deal, whatever. Learn what
colors to wear. Gang banners. You can sell to one corner, but you can't sell another. Learn to be quiet.
The wrong word can get you popped”(Andre).
IDENTITY: Andre has to live a certain way because he is black, and he wants to be safe and protected.
Christensen & Ullrich
“If you look in my eyes, you'll see a lonely girl. If you look at my smile, you'll see nothing wrong. If
you pull up my shirt, you'll see the bruises. What did I do to make him so mad”(Gloria)?
COMING OF AGE: Gloria is physically abused she hides it from people because she is scared.
IDENTITY: Gloria lets herself be treated poorly because she doesn't think she deserves any better.
“At sixteen, I've seen more bodies than a mortician. Every time I step out my door. I face the risk of
being shot. To the rest of the world, it's just another dead body on a street corner. They don't know that
he was my friend”(Jamal).
COMING OF AGE: Jamal lives where it is common to be shot at and killed. This happened to his friend.
“During the war in Cambodia, the camp stripped away my father's dignity. He sometimes tries to hurt
my mom and me. I feel like I have to protect my family”(Sindy).
IDENTITY: Sindy's dad spent time in a prison camp, and it has affected his life negatively.
COMING OF AGE: Sindy is physically abused by her father, and she sees her mother get abused too.
“I was having trouble deciding what candy I wanted. Then I heard gunshots. I looked down to see that
one of my friends had blood coming from his back and his mouth. The next day, I pulled up my shirt
and got strapped with a gun I found in an alley by my house”(Alejandro).
COMING OF AGE: Alejandro decides to begin carrying a gun around because he was picking candy out
with a friend in the store, and his friend was shot and killed.
“I've lost many friends who have died in an undeclared war. To the soldiers and me, it's all worth it.
Risk your life dodging bullets, pulling triggers”(Marcus).
COMING OF AGE: They are kids and they live in a world of chaos.
“Since my pop split, my mom can't even look at me, cause I look like my dad. And with my brother in
jail, she looks at me and thinks that's where I'm going, too”(Andre).
IDENTITY: Andre's mom has given up on him because she thinks he is just going to end up in jail.
“Do I have a stamp on my forehead that says The National Spokesperson for the Plight of Black
People? How the hell should I know the black perspective on The Color Purple”(Victoria)?
RACISM: Victoria is upset because her teacher thinks that she should understand how uneducated
oppressed women feel because she is black.
“Okay, well, I was always the person that was gonna get pregnant before I turned 16 and drop out.
Like my mom. Ain't gonna happen”(Gloria).
IDENTITY: She does not want to end up like her mom. She wants more out of life.
“Why bother coming to school or getting good grades if I'm homeless? I walk into the room and feel
as though all the problems in life are not so important anymore. I am home”(Student of Room 203).
IDENTITY: He identifies school as his home because it's the only place he sees hope. He feels
accepted and safe when he is at school.
“And when I asked another honors teacher why we don't read more black literature, she said, we don't
read black literature because of all the sex, drugs, cursing, and fornication! I thought a simple it's
inappropriate would have sufficed”(Victoria)!
RACISM: Victoria switches English classes because the Honors teachers don't like black literature.
She feels singled out by them because they think she is rare... a black student in an Honors class.
Christensen & Ullrich
“I want to come home. I don't want to be in the streets no more. I'm sorry. I want to change. I can't do
it alone. I need you, Mama. I need you”(Marcus).
IDENTITY: Marcus does not want to be a part of the gang life and wants to change, so he can live at
home.
“Paco killed the guy. My father won't talk to me anymore. And I have to lay low for a little while
because there's word out to jump me. So I'm gonna be living with my aunt”(Eva).
IDENTITY: Eva went against her own kind and told the truth in court, so her friend was guilty.
“Everyone in this room has a chance to graduate. For some, you'll be the first in your family. The first
with a choice to go to college”(Miss Gruwell).
IDENTITY: The kids are learning that there are other choices in life like college.