Freedom Writers [2007]

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="06dd8c02dduajq.jpg"> <div>                                                   </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="236b90d50.jpg" border=0 width="144" height="213" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>Judy & Lutz Perschon</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Judy Lutz Perschon"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >back to</FONT>  <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="At The Movies With Lutz"><U><B>At The Movies With Lutz</B></U></A></div> <div> Freedom Writers  [2007]</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="758" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 268 WIDTH="746"><div> Boston Globe, Ty Burr says:  <I>"It's familiar, but 'Freedom' still inspires." </I> This movie has a familiar story. It is about a teacher who comes into an impossible situation where students have lost their purpose to learn.  There have been several with that theme.  But this one did, as Ty Burr points out, inspire.  It grabs you in,  and keeps you there.  It has so many good life lessons, and in spite of her unreal smile, Hilary Swank does a good job in her role.    We laughed and cried and in the end felt entertained.  The movie is based on a true story.   I found this on the Freedom Writers Foundation web page. "<I>The Freedom Writers Diary</I> is the amazing true story of strength, courage, and achievement in the face of adversity. In the fall of 1994, in Room 203 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, an idealistic teacher named Erin Gruwell faced her first group of students, dubbed by the administration as "unteachable, at-risk" teenagers. The class was a diverse mix of African-American, Latino, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Caucasian students, many of whom had grown up in rough neighborhoods in Long Beach. In the first few weeks of class, the students made it clear that they were not interested in what their teacher had to say, and made bets about how long she would last in their classroom."  We really liked it and recommend it.  No need to see it on the big screen.  You can wait for the DVD version. </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 51 WIDTH="746"><div> Lutz's Rating <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Judy's Rating <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="0fb15150.gif" border=0 width="21" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 263 WIDTH="746"><div> <B>Storyline From Yahoo:  </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="arial" >Fresh–faced, idealistic twenty–three–year–old Erin Gruwell is ready to take on the world as she steps inside Wilson High School for her first day of teaching. Her class, a diverse group of racially charged teenagers from different walks of life--African Americans, Latinos, Asians, juvenile delinquents, gang members, and underprivileged students from poor neighborhoods--hope for nothing more than to make it through the day. On the surface, the only thing they share is their hatred for each other and the understanding that they are simply being warehoused in the educational system until they are old enough to disappear. Despite her students’ obstinate refusal to participate during class, Erin tries various means to engage them on a daily basis. But then ghetto reality steps in to focus the picture. A racially motivated gang shooting witnessed by a Latina gang member in Erin’s class, and an ugly racial cartoon that Erin intercepts during class, become the most unwittingly dynamic teaching aids. They spark a transformation in the classroom, compel them to listen and force her to take off her idealistic blinders and take in the kids’ survival stories of their undeclared war on the streets. Erin begins to connect with them. She brings in music from the ‘Hood, and literature from another kind of ghetto, The Diary of Anne Frank, and with these simple tools she opens her students’ eyes to the experiences of those suffering intolerance throughout the world and the struggles of those outside their own communities. Knowing that every one of her students has a story to tell, Erin encourages them to keep a daily journal of their thoughts and experiences. After sharing their stories with one another, the students see their shared experience for the first time and open up to the idea that there are possibilities in life outside of making it to the age of eighteen.</FONT></div> <div> <B>Ratings: Critics  B    Users B+</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>