The Value of Gender and Race - Movie Review Example

The Value of Gender and Race: Freedom Summary Erin Gruwell, played by Hilary Swank moved from Newport, beach to start working as a teacher inWoodrow Wilson High School in Long beach. She wanted to learn about the life in the city but what she faced were problems she never thought would be there. Erin was assigned to a small class; she was supposed to teach them reading and some English literature until she realized that the class was a bunch of “unteachable” students. Nobody wanted to learn anything for they are preoccupied with their daily lives such as mingling with their ‘gangs’.

This is one of the reasons why the class performed badly in school and even the faculty did not want to lend school to the class on the grounds that the books might get destroyed or might get lost (Berardinelli).Despite all the challenges Erin never gave up, at the course of 1992-1995, she had some extra work just so she could buy books for the students to use. However, the book was a small problem compared to the real issue that the class has. Students were dividing themselves according to race.

The African Americans were excluding themselves from the rest of the group, as well as other races. And these factions even spark chaos from time to time. Once in a convenience store, April Lee Hernández playing Eva in the movie was coincidentally with a Cambodian refugee Sindy played by Jaclyn Ngan. Although they did not have much problem with the co-existence of one another, their boyfriends did. Sindy’s boyfriend got shot by Eva’s and the long dispute between the factions elevated to another level.

Eva was not going to testify in the court that her boyfriend, a race of her own shot someone from another racial division. Justice was being delayed. When Erin heard of it, she thought it would be bet to intervene and let the children know about the bad things regarding racial segregation. She told them about the holocaust, on how because of the racial hatred of the Germans attempted to kill all the Jews – an act which the Germans almost succeeded. Erin told them that because of the Holocaust, more or less four million people died in a very short period of time.

She eventually realized that she was starting to gain the sympathy of the children through her stories to them. Then Erin encouraged the students to make diaries of their own where they will write their fears, hatred, dreams and aspirations. Miep Gies, the one who sheltered the Ann Frank was invited by the class through their fundraising activity. Gies told them everything about the Holocaust that she knows of. To let the students realize the gravity of the factions that they are doing, Gies invited them to go to the gas chambers in which the Jews were killed by the Germans.

Students touched the walls of death and felt so bad about the things that they have been doing. While in court, Eva’s family was so shocked when she pointed out that her boyfriend did the crime. Erin was very proud of what she did; she has shown the world that as a woman, Eva will not delay justice just because her family or her racial group is pressuring her (McCune, Schreiber, and Lowenstein). Although Scott, Erin’s husband played by Patrick Dempsey broke up with her because of Erin’s too much association with the kids, she still continued to teach the children.

Erin compiled the diaries of her students and she called it the compilation of “The Freedom Writers.” It symbolizes the groups’ effort to break away from the stereotype of women and the continuous racial segregation of some parts of the world. The class marched as a one united group during their graduation, and Erin could never be more proud. Works CitedBerardinelli, James. “Freedom Writers: A Film Review.” Reelviews. Reelviews, 2006. Web. 21 Sept. 2010. .McCune, Pat, Penny Schreiber, and Joan Lowenstein.

“Miep Gies.” Jewis Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2010. .