Piece #1: Critical Thinking

The Film Freedom Writers is based on the principal of insiders vs. outsiders, racial segregation, anger and a group of teenagers who in the end are saved from themselves. Each character in this film represents a different type of outsider, yet they all unite as a group to change the only life they've been taught by family, gangs, and friends.

Ben, the only white kid in the class, is the most obvious outsider. When we first see Ben there is an assumption that because Mrs. Gruwell is white the two of them will have some kind of bond but that is not correct. Ben is scared to death to be in this class and some of the other students take advantage of that. There is a defining moment when Eva tells Mrs. Gruwell that she hates white people. Mrs. Gruwell in turns asks Ben if he'd like to respond to that. He says something like, "Can I please get out of here". He not only doesn't want to participate in the discussion, but he doesn't want the rest of the class to associate him and Mrs. Gruwell together. The first day of sophomore year when Ben and Marcus run into each other in the hallway, they shake hands and Marcus says, "Still white I see," because Ben doesn't have the handshake down exactly. This however, was taken as a friendly jab and not aggression. The change in attitude over one year’s time is miraculous. Ben goes from being afraid of his own shadow to relying on his classmates as friends. Ben narrates a documentary he made based on the Freedom Riders and talks about how afraid he was of being in the class. He talks about how he could have lied to get out of the class but he stayed. He was looking for a reason to belong and be a part of something.

Andre is portrayed as another type of outsider. His mom no longer sees him because he looks too much like his father who left them and his brother is awaiting conviction for a crime. He is torn between doing the right thing or being pulled back into the drug dealing lifestyle that he is accustom to. Andre is an outsider to his family, he is an outsider to some of the black gang members at the beginning of the movie, and he's an outsider to respect. He makes a statement to Mrs. Gruwell saying, "Why should I give my respect to you, because you're a teacher?" Andre doesn't trust anyone especially Mrs. Gruwell. There is a scene where Andre has missed school for a few a days and Mrs. Gruwell catches him in the hallway. He had given himself an "F" on self evaluation and Mrs. Gruwell says this is a slap in the face to her. During this conversation she says, "I am not letting you fail. I see who you are and you are not a failure". This seemed to come as a surprise to Andre because it appears that no one has ever made an attempt to care about him before. All he needed was someone to show him respect for it to change his life.

In my own personal experiences I have never gone through anything similar to what takes place in this film. I always thought I had an open mind and could get along with anyone no matter their color. I've never made decisions about people because of the tribe they're with. However, I was not raised in a war zone. My life, while still full of struggles, compared to some of these kids’ lives is very privileged to say the least. I try to put myself in Eva's situation where her family expects her to protect her own and send an innocent man to prison because, "You got to take your victories when you can". I like to think that I'd have the courage to do what she did but faced with that situation of family disownment and possible death, I only hope that I'd be that strong. Her actions were very courageous and I respect her for that. This changed my outlook on doing the right thing and not taking the easy way out.

There are many examples throughout this movie that demonstrate what it is to be an outsider. The most important message this movie portrays is that you can overcome anything regardless of where you come from or what color your skin is. A lot of these kids needed someone to believe in them first for them to know they were worth anything. However, the real morale of the story is you have to believe in yourself. When most of the kids entered their freshman year of high school they did not think they'd even graduate much less live to see eighteen years of life. At the end of this story it says that many of these kids went on to college as the first in their families. This is an epic ending to a very sad beginning.