However, a significant group protested the film’s depiction of Woodrow Wilson High School and some of its teaching staff.
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The movie faced criticism for its depiction of the school and other teachersįew contested that Freedom Writers was an inspiring film. It took writer and director Richard LaGravenese six years to craft a narrative from The Freedom Writers Diary’s entries. From that story, he created the inspiring film Freedom Writers. And you will become the authority of your authentic story.’ We were going to go to DC as the original Freedom Riders did in the ‘60s to change segregation.” “So my pitch to my students was, ‘Could you imagine someday that there’s going to be a kid who was homeless just lke you? There’s going to be a kid who lost her dad just like you. Excerpts from the journals feature in The Freedom Writers Diary. Erin talked to PBS SoCal about how she got her students to share their journal entries: They also learned of the destructive potential of racial stereotypes and the ruin racial wars had brought upon the world.Įrin encouraged her students to journal their experiences, bringing them closer together. Gruwell’s approach worked as the students learned of the power of personal storytelling. They listened to Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank from the Nazis. Gruwell’s pupils read The Diary of Anne Frank and Zlata’s Diary instead of Shakespeare and the classics. So, Gruwell modified her syllabus to educate her students on the history of racial feuds in the world. She compared the racist remark to Nazi propaganda and was surprised to learn that only one of her students knew of the Holocaust. Gruwell’s desire to effect change sparked after she found several students ridiculing their classmate’s race. I was basically this new teacher given the students that nobody else wanted.” It happened to the kids I ended up teaching because I had all the kids who were busted, kids who had learning disabilities and kids had trouble with the law. “What I found, because I was brand new and I didn’t live in the city, was that there was a lot of intrinsic separation and masked racism. Erin talked to PBS SoCal about her group of students:
She taught a diverse group of students, many of whom came from supportive families and a few who’d endured sexual abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness.
Erin Gruwell arrived at Woodrow Wilson High School in 1994 as a student-teacher.
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