Abstract
Prejudice is prevalent in many aspects of the society. At some point in our lives, we will all come in contact with some sort of prejudice whether it is only witnessed or perhaps even a personal act. The movie "Freedom Writers" perfectly exemplifies the effects prejudice can have and how difficult it is to avoid these negative effects. Throughout the analysis, we examine the main theories of prejudice that are illustrated in the film and discuss how they apply to the students, the school, and society as a whole and how these effects were reduced by a motivated teacher.
The movie "Freedom Writers" is based on a true story about a young teacher who goes above and beyond her call of duty to motivate her students to learn and excel in a society filled with prejudices. Erin Gruwell is the new English teacher at a recently integrated high school in Long Beach, California. Her students are divided along racial lines and have few aspirations beyond basic survival. Surviving to the age of eighteen is seen as an accomplishment in a society filled with gangs and racial prejudices. When Gruwell discovers how much of her students' day to day lives are engulfed by racial prejudices she introduces them to books like the Diary of Anne Frank. Using the story of Anne Frank, she opens her students' eyes. She encourages her students to start a journal, like Anne, and to write in it their innermost thoughts. After sharing these stories with each other, the students learn more about their classmates and the racial barriers begin to reduce.
