I laid across my bed last midnight to enjoy a movie. I don't own a DVD player. I have a ratty VCR that I hardly ever use. When I want to watch a modern movie, I lie in bed and cuddle with my laptop.
I watched Freedom Writers - a movie about a white high school English teacher, who makes it her mission to educate poverty-stricken minority students in Los Angeles. Normally, I refrain from watching such movies. Hollywood seems to have a fetishism for white heroes, who stop at nothing to rescue black and brown, down and out people.
But, this movie was different.
Hilary Swank, who plays the teacher (Erin Gruwell), mentors troubled youth using the power of history. Her character literally transforms the students' minds.
It all started when a student drew a negative caricature of another student. The image was seen as a joke by most, but it hurt a black student, who was the subject of the insult. Gruwell (Swank) discovered the image and used it to prove a point. She explained that during the Holocaust, Germans used negative images of Jews for propaganda purposes. Jewish people were portrayed in newspapers as people with enlarged noses and other facial features. The dehumanized art was a way to discredit and demonize Jewish people, Gruwell said. Hitler's regime took over countries, and the ramifications of his gang heavily outweighed the gang and violent backgrounds her students had grown accustom to, she added. A student's art sketched on notebook paper symbolized a harsh element of history, according to Gruwell's lesson.
In response to the classroom experience, she took the students to Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance, where they got a first-hand glimpse of deadly German concentration camps. Afterwards, Gruwell introduced her students to Holocaust survivors.
They read the diary of Anne Frank and learned of her family's history. The students and Gruwell personally met Miep Gies, the woman who helped shield Frank's family from German soldiers during the Holocaust. Gies visited Gruwell's class and lectured about her Holocaust memories.
It is the historical elements of Freedom Writers that makes it a must see film. Gruwell's students were victims of society's harshest environments during a turbulent time - the 1992 LA race riots. Thus, Gruwell's students were viewed as meaningless criminals, not future leaders or writers, which is what they went on to become.
I watched Freedom Writers - a movie about a white high school English teacher, who makes it her mission to educate poverty-stricken minority students in Los Angeles. Normally, I refrain from watching such movies. Hollywood seems to have a fetishism for white heroes, who stop at nothing to rescue black and brown, down and out people.
But, this movie was different.
Hilary Swank, who plays the teacher (Erin Gruwell), mentors troubled youth using the power of history. Her character literally transforms the students' minds.
It all started when a student drew a negative caricature of another student. The image was seen as a joke by most, but it hurt a black student, who was the subject of the insult. Gruwell (Swank) discovered the image and used it to prove a point. She explained that during the Holocaust, Germans used negative images of Jews for propaganda purposes. Jewish people were portrayed in newspapers as people with enlarged noses and other facial features. The dehumanized art was a way to discredit and demonize Jewish people, Gruwell said. Hitler's regime took over countries, and the ramifications of his gang heavily outweighed the gang and violent backgrounds her students had grown accustom to, she added. A student's art sketched on notebook paper symbolized a harsh element of history, according to Gruwell's lesson.
In response to the classroom experience, she took the students to Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance, where they got a first-hand glimpse of deadly German concentration camps. Afterwards, Gruwell introduced her students to Holocaust survivors.
They read the diary of Anne Frank and learned of her family's history. The students and Gruwell personally met Miep Gies, the woman who helped shield Frank's family from German soldiers during the Holocaust. Gies visited Gruwell's class and lectured about her Holocaust memories.
It is the historical elements of Freedom Writers that makes it a must see film. Gruwell's students were victims of society's harshest environments during a turbulent time - the 1992 LA race riots. Thus, Gruwell's students were viewed as meaningless criminals, not future leaders or writers, which is what they went on to become.
Gruwell believed in uplifting oppressed students, who lacked a strong support system. She witnessed her father's work with social leaders and demonstrators during the Civil Rights Movement. As a result, she followed her passion, which stemmed from her father's social efforts.
Although Gruwell and her students over came obstacles, there are still countless numbers of underprivileged youth who desperately need mentors. A mentor can be anyone who is willing to use themselves to serve, enlighten and strengthen young people.
Gruwell used writing to empower her students. They journaled their experiences and struggles, living in an other America. The students willingness to engage in truth telling dispelled stereotypes and perceptions about poor youth. Their stories were inspirational.
I felt compelled to work harder for America's underprivileged youth.
I set up after curling in bed next to my laptop. A adrenaline rushed through my spirit and I thought of the under-represented youth in Iowa City, Iowa, where I currently live. Afterwards, I contemplated the true essence of freedom. Its meaning sustains me as I personally grow.
Freedom means to look adversity in the eye, and engage in public service to those who need it most.
Freedom is the embodiment of Gruwell and the Freedom Writers.
Salaam,
E. Tanille
I felt compelled to work harder for America's underprivileged youth.
I set up after curling in bed next to my laptop. A adrenaline rushed through my spirit and I thought of the under-represented youth in Iowa City, Iowa, where I currently live. Afterwards, I contemplated the true essence of freedom. Its meaning sustains me as I personally grow.
Freedom means to look adversity in the eye, and engage in public service to those who need it most.
Freedom is the embodiment of Gruwell and the Freedom Writers.
Salaam,
E. Tanille
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