It’s a Hard Knock Life for these “Freedom Writers”

Any film about the struggles of inner-city high school students belongs in a redemption-themed blog. The problems these kids face are mind blowing. Death, abuse, abandonment- it’s the world they live in. As someone who doesn’t relate to that world, “Freedom Writers” helped to close the gap for me. Based on a true story about newbie teacher Erin Gruwell, the film opens with her idealistic expectations of “helping kids succeed.” Her first few weeks on the job, however, show her that her job won’t be easy. Just as she’s about to give up, a racist drawing by one of her students gives her an idea. Teaching them about the Holocaust, the students start to understand the implications of their lifestyles. Her next step is to have them journal as an ungraded assignment. Erin starts to learn what life is like for these kids.

There are many examples of redemption in this film. Erin’s devotion to helping her students succeed is perhaps the biggest example. She gets two part time jobs to help pay for field trips. Her marriage suffers. She’s opposed at work. However, nothing stops her quest to fight for her students.

This is all very heartwarming when coming from a Hollywood film. If the film is really based on a true story, then Erin’s commitment to her job of helping her students succeed is nothing short of unbelievable. She sacrifices her personal life, loses her marriage, and risks her career for inner-city kids who hate her. The costs are high, but so are the stakes. It’s not like Erin wanted to lose her free time, husband, and acceptance by her teacher peers- she had a mission and she was true to what she knew she wanted to do. Her biggest loss, her husband, was heartbreaking to watch. Losing one’s spouse because of ambitions is a bitter pill to swallow, and the film did a good job of portraying it as the unfortunate loss that it was. Still, Erin continues on.

Not many would go so far.