The Freedom Writers a story about the students of classroom 203 and how a new English teacher, Erin Gruwell, changed their lives writing. Many of the students in the classroom attended Woodrow Wilson High School as a result of the voluntary integration program issued by the superintendent. Most of these students had rough upbringings to say the least. They were enslaved by the gang life, crime, abusive homes, and social injustice. Until Gruwell gave these students some hope for freedom, these students had no room to dream of a better life. She believed that change needed to happen in the classroom before you could see change in the world. She was right. When the students finally see that there could be change in the world, there is a dramatic
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She is not seen taking her sparkling cider and sharing her 'toast for change '. She is always questioning what Mrs. Gruwell is teaching and she is constantly staying true to her belief that she needs to “protect her own” no matter the cost. Earlier n the movie, Eva witnessed a murder at a convenient store and she is the only one who had seen the shooter. The shooter, Paco, was a male of her own mexican blood. Even though there were other witnesses involved, Eva, being the only one who can identify the murderer, had the power to protect her own blood. She could lie claiming that a black kid on the scene committed the murder, or she could tell the truth going against everything she had been taught. Her pivotal moment of change was foreshadowed by the visiting of the Dutch visitor, Miep Gies who hid Anne Frank. The camera pans towards Eva when Gies says “I did the what I had to do because it was the right thing to do... even an ordinary teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room.” Although Eva was always taught to “fight for her own” and “protect her own”, when the day came for her to testify, it was going to be a choice between staying loyal to tradition or committing to change. When the judge asked her what went down at the convenient store that night she paused for several moments. She looked deep into the eyes of the innocent defendant and his family behind him, her own family, and then she saw her classmate, who was a member of a rival gang and another witness of the shooting. After several moments to gather her strength she made a choice and with a deep breath she said, “Paco did it”. The whole court gasped and Eva understood the gravity of her decision. Her family might disown her or she might be killed for testifying against somone in here own gang. She went against everything that the gang life had taught
She is not seen taking her sparkling cider and sharing her 'toast for change '. She is always questioning what Mrs. Gruwell is teaching and she is constantly staying true to her belief that she needs to “protect her own” no matter the cost. Earlier n the movie, Eva witnessed a murder at a convenient store and she is the only one who had seen the shooter. The shooter, Paco, was a male of her own mexican blood. Even though there were other witnesses involved, Eva, being the only one who can identify the murderer, had the power to protect her own blood. She could lie claiming that a black kid on the scene committed the murder, or she could tell the truth going against everything she had been taught. Her pivotal moment of change was foreshadowed by the visiting of the Dutch visitor, Miep Gies who hid Anne Frank. The camera pans towards Eva when Gies says “I did the what I had to do because it was the right thing to do... even an ordinary teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room.” Although Eva was always taught to “fight for her own” and “protect her own”, when the day came for her to testify, it was going to be a choice between staying loyal to tradition or committing to change. When the judge asked her what went down at the convenient store that night she paused for several moments. She looked deep into the eyes of the innocent defendant and his family behind him, her own family, and then she saw her classmate, who was a member of a rival gang and another witness of the shooting. After several moments to gather her strength she made a choice and with a deep breath she said, “Paco did it”. The whole court gasped and Eva understood the gravity of her decision. Her family might disown her or she might be killed for testifying against somone in here own gang. She went against everything that the gang life had taught