Hannah Young

Review Essay 1
Stephen McElroy
January 27, 2016

Freedom Writers

Almost twenty years ago, Long Beach, California was just another city in our
country that contained a heavy mixture of different cultures and races. Students from
Woodrow Wilson High were all self-segregated, the rich whites enrolled in honors and
AP courses on their way to college while the minorities went to school packing daily for
their own safety. Over the years, the privileged white students began to enroll at different
schools, leaving behind a majority of poverty-ridden minorities that overtook the student
population at Woodrow Wilson High. First year English teacher, Erin Gruwell, was
assigned to teach the students that were deemed a lost cause by the school. One of my
favorite movies, Freedom Writers, was based off this amazing journey that Gruwell took
her 150 unteachable students on.
The action of the story begins on Gruwells first day of teaching, when she was

unwelcomed by her students in her sophomore level English class. After all, what did
this privileged white lady know about the struggles her students faced daily? School was
on the bottom of their priority list. One day, when Gruwell noticed a vulgar caricature
note being passed around her classroom, she went on an informative rant about how
these kind of racist pictures were similar to those used as propaganda by the Nazis in
WW2, which inevitably led to the Holocaust. This is when she realized that not one of
her fifteen to sixteen year old students knew what the Holocaust even was. Speechless
in disbelief by the lack of knowledge these teens obtained, Gruwell knew what she had
to do. She changed her teaching lessons and began to teach her students about The
Diary of Anne Frank, a kind of situation in which the students could relate to themselves.
She worked two part-time jobs and gave every student a notebook of their own to record
their thoughts and feelings in, just as Anne did. This is how Gruwell was able to learn
about all of her students individually and see the struggles that they face in their life and
understand how school is far from their first priority. This was when the students first
began to take an interest in their school work.
The county began to notice all of the improvements Gruwell had made in her
classroom, they began to fund her proactive teaching skills with things like computers for
the entire classroom. Not only did the students grades improve drastically, but their lives

outside of the school walls improved. The students influenced their siblings and friends
into going to school rather than joining gangs and selling drugs. They also were able to
write a log of their own, entitled The Freedom Writers Diary, which became an
international hit. The story was told in a different point of view in every chapter, all kept
anonymous, about the students own lives. Each chapter began with Gruwells own
passage and led into a students story; their captivating writing style caught a lot of
attention. This log became nationally recognized, which was able to provide financial
support and scholarships to almost everyone of Gruwells students, after all, most of
them attended college thanks to Gruwells support. The majority of her students went
into teaching in regards to Gruwell positive influence and all of them today are apart of
the Freedom Writers foundation.
This movie was one of the best movies made not only due to the excellent acting
skills of Academy Award winner Hillary Swank, but because of the inspiration it put on
thousands of people across the globe. The theme of empowerment radiates throughout
the film, giving hope to everyone, especially because it was a true story. The hardships
that the characters all faced are relatable problems people face daily and this movie
proves that there is another side of life if one works hard enough to turn things around.
In the movie, the students learn that there are other people in the world that faced

difficulties but were able to change the situation and influence a sense of well being into
other people as well.
Erin Gruwell is still inspiring students across the country. She set up a scholarship
fund and gives inspirational speech tours. Also, anyone can set up a video chat feed
with her and shell give one-on-one chats and also do a live feed with classrooms. Erin
ran for congress in District 38 but did not win, but she was given the Spirit of Anne Frank
award in 1999 and stopped teaching for awhile to focus all of her attention on the
Freedom Writers Foundation. This movie inspired so many people, including myself,
around the globe and won the Golden Camera award in Germany, Humantias Prize and
was nominated for an Image Award, but did not win. This movie inspired me as an
adolescent and will continue to do that for generations to come.