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The Theme Of Prejudice In The Film Freedom Writers : Movie Review

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“But even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room.” The 2007 film Freedom Writers, based on the 1999 novel The Freedom Writers Diary, includes many well-known celebrities including Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, and Mario and was directed by Richard LaGravensee (Dargis). The motion picture gives viewers a look into Erin Gruwell’s freshman and sophomore English classes at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. Gruwell, a new teacher, is hired to teach an incredibly diverse class consisting of blacks, Asians, and Latinos, many of whom are involved or have been influenced by the gang war occurring in their area. Erin soon realizes that she is not going to be able to simply teach the children in her class, she must be creative to find a new, interesting way to get her point across and received. The film demonstrates that through patience, courage, and acceptance much can be accomplished. Freedom Writers contains an apparent theme of prejudice that still applies to the world today. After a new integration plan gets put in motion, the administration at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California hires a young, first-year teacher, Erin Gruwell, to teach freshman English. On her first day, Gruwell quickly discovers that her class is filled with students that have been defined as “at risk” and “unteachable” and that the different racial groups in the class cannot tolerate each

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