Freedom Writers by Richard LaGravenese - Movie Review Example

Freedom of Affiliation Among the commonly repeated phrases in respect to ity is that which links power to greater responsibility. The statement cannot be any further from the truth in the wake of the world history which serves as a reminder of men and women who used their power either responsibility or irresponsibly. This paper examines the role of authority in influencing the decision made by the subjects. Drawing lessons from Freedom Writers (2007) and relating to Milgram experiment, My Lai massacre and Abu Ghraib torture, there is no doubt that the figure of authority plays a significant role in determining the level of dehumanizing acts a subject would be willing to commit. Directed by Richard LaGravenese, Freedom Writers (2007) recounts a story of how a group of students from Woodrow Wilson High School used writing to change their lives for the better. Erin Gruwell, an ambitious female teacher takes charge of a racially divided class as their English teachers. Students from this class have organized themselves into gangs that extremely hated each other. For instance, the Latinos hated Cambodians, who in turn hated blacks, who further hated Whites and the vicious cycle went on and on. Clearly the class was no gone zone as Erin faced resistance from not only the students but also some of the members from the administration who refused to give her resources to use in transforming the class. However, her patience and tolerance eventually bores fruit when students gradually began heeding to her authority. Even the worst of the students, including Eva, Jamal, and Marcus, break down when Eril makes them understand of how their gang activities is ruining their lives. Marcus is particularly moved by the story of the holocaust survivor. Eventually, Eril becomes the figure of authority in the class leading to all of the 150 students successfully graduating from the school. Testimonies of life experiences have brought to light real stories that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. The world has been marred by heart wrenching tales of how humanity has been subjected to all sorts of atrocities over the years. Events of the Holocaust still linger painfully in the minds of many especially those of the Jewish origin. Acting under the authority of Adolf Hitler, Nazi soldiers set out to exterminate all Jews in Europe by confining them in concentration camps and throwing some of them in the fire furnace. While the holocaust may appear in the distance past, events of the My Lai massacre and Abu Ghraib torture are the most recent. In My Lai Massacre, a platoon of American soldiers invaded a village in Vietnam and tortured, raped, and killed approximately 400 innocent civilian, including woman and children. They did all this on ground that they could be linked or sympathizers of the North Vietnamese Army which was fighting to liberate the South Vietnam. The figure of authority in these killings was Lieutenant William L. Calley. In the year 2003, the United States army went in another mission in Iraq. This time round the target was to bring the regime of Saddam Hussein to a standstill, destroy the supposedly weapons of mass destruction, and quell the activities of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization which was gradually becoming a threat to the global security. Acting in collaboration with the Iraq government, the U.S. took command of part of Abu Ghraib prison which was used to confine Iraq prisoners who were in the U.S. torture list. Reports revealed later on indicated massive acts of torture happening in this prison which led to deaths of many prisoners. A picture of a prisoner wired to high voltage terminals and his life severely in danger should he make any movements was just an example of extremities of the facility. Many Iraq families complained that they never even got a chance to see the bodies of their relatives who for one reason or the other could have been confined in the prison. All of the aforementioned real life cases shed light on perhaps an authoritative figure who chose to be rogue and allowed for the massive killings. For instance, the army platoon involved in the My Lai killings simply acted under the authority of their commander who was Lieutenant Calley. Similarly, the torture cases that happened in Abu Ghraib were supported by the extremities of the authoritative figure who guaranteed protection to his or her subjects. This conclusion is largely supported by the original Milgram experiment conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram. Milgram’s main objective was to test the level of obedience of the subjects of the experiment to the figure of authority, who for this case was the experimenter. The subject (teachers) triggered supposedly electric shocks of increasing magnitude to a students each time he failed to provide a right answer to the question posed. The experimenter played encouraged the subjects to go on with delivering the shocks even when the subjects feared that they could be extremely harming the student. The results indicated that many people, acting under an authoritative figure, would go beyond the limits of humanity to perform dehumanizing acts. Relating the Milgram experiment to the movie Freedom Writers, there is sufficient reasons to prove that a figure of authority plays a very big role in determining the actions of his or her subjects. While in the My Lai Massacre and Abu Ghraib torture the persons in authority acted to generate inhumane acts, the case of Freedom Writers shows how the same authority could be utilized to produce sensible actions from the subjects. Authoritative figures who abuse their power end up coming despicable acts. On the other hand, authoritative figures who are governed by reason and strong sense of ethics are more likely to influence their subjects to act in the same manner. Erin, the teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School, shows how she used her authority to positively influence her subjects, who are the students, to embrace positive relationships and their school work. This was not an easy task as she first had to contend with resistance, intimidation, and disobedience of some of the students led by Jamal, Marcus, and Eva. However, Eril was effective in the use of her rhetorical skills to figuratively paint a picture of the envisioned future each of these students could enjoy in the event they follow her instructions. Connecting the previous lifestyle of Eryl’s students, there is no doubt that they derived their authority in the gang groups in which they were members. Most of them, in their diaries, write of their friends who have been short dead either due to drug related activity or having been part and parcel of criminal activity. Eva is just an example of how she was willing to protect a member of her gang by falsely testifying of a killing which occurred in the supermarket. This just shows how the source of one’s authority can dictate the nature of the actions they can do. However, as the movies draws to a close, Eryl has become the figure of authority to all of her students. As a matter of fact, most of the actions of these students are informed by the advice they received from Eryl. In conclusion, the source and nature of authority that subjects receive greatly influence the nature of their actions. This paper has reviewed several real life cases and indicated how authority played a key role in determining the actions which were undertaken by the subjects. For example, the My Lao massacre which occurred in Vietnam was a result of an irresponsible army commander giving instructions to his subjects to go on with the wanton killings. The subjects, as evidenced by Milgram’s experiment on subjects’ obedience to authority, went on with the killings. The same scenario is replicated in the case of Abu Ghraib where the U.S. officers in charge of the prison propagated all form of atrocities against the Iraq prisoners under the instructions of an authority. Similarly, Eryl’s case in Freedom Writer and her influence on the students agree with the Milgram’s experiment. The students were more than willing to subject to her authority. However, unlike the case of My Lai and Abu Ghraib, the authoritative figure in Freedom Writers had a positive impact on her students. The students obeyed her orders including jotting down their diaries in what led to the publishing of The Diaries of Freedom Writers. Read More