Freedom Writers, based on the best-selling book The Freedom Writers Diary, is the true story of a Long Beach, California high school teacher, Erin Gruwell (played by two-time Academy Award Winner Hilary Swank), who, through her creativity
and dedication, succeeds in changing the lives of her “unteachable, at-risk,” and racially-divided students by breaking down their racial walls, infusing in them a hope in the future, and helping them see the value of their high school education.
Inspired by reading the books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, the class members write their own personal diaries over the course of the school year, detailing the ups and downs of their troubled, violent lives. Through these diaries and Gruwell’s courageous diligence, teaching, and example, the students’ lives are deeply altered.
I was privileged to be invited to a recent screening of Freedom Writers, produced by Paramount and MTV Films, scheduled for release on Jan 12, 2007. Since the screening was in Long Beach where Freedom Writers is based, we were honored with the presence of Erin Gruwell, the teacher featured in the movie, as well as many of the original Freedom Writers students.
The movie starts by showing the rough environment of Long Beach, California in the 1990’s—violence, intolerance, and hopelessness rule the day, especially in the lives of the disadvantaged high school students. Freedom Writers doesn’t hold back in portraying the grit and reality of the times, and it is consistent in doing this throughout the length of the film. As the movie progresses, it presents an impressively honest depiction of the story, tackling head-on the intense emotions of the characters, the social issues, and the dramatic scenes, portraying them in a true, down-to-earth manner. Part of this is due to the fact that a portion of the movie dialogue is taken verbatim from the actual students’ diaries—this gives a refreshingly real, honest flavor to the film.
