An Overview of the Movie Freedom Writers and the Work by Robin Williams

Freedom Writers The movie Freedom Writer is an inspiring story that throughout the film, Ms. Erin Gruwell the main character (played by Hilary Swank) managed to be different as an exemplary teacher careless of the complexities that surrounds the learning environment. The story discusses how students managed to survive in school with the aid of an exceptional teacher who influenced them to change and aim for success in 1994. In Long Beach California at the Woodrow Wilson High School, Erin goes forward to her teachings to the undisciplined students in her classroom, whose students live by generations of strict moral codes of protecting their own at all cost. The movie Freedom Writers clearly demonstrated how the society past and present has been for those who permit it to be by not toasting for a change. The students accompanied by their teacher had shown American Values in each and every way, each standing on their beliefs as right or wrong.

According to sociologist Robin Williams, there are fifteen American Values. Within the movie “Freedom Writers”, there are fourteen American Values represented by student and teachers. Such as: Achievement and Success a major personal goals, Activity and Work supported, action/doing over reflection and not letting things happen, Moral Orientation which the absolute judgment of good/bad, right or wrong, Humanitarian motives as shown in charity and crisis aid. Efficiency and Practicality a preference for the quickest and shortest way to achieve a goal at the least cost, Progress a belief that the future will be better than the past, Martel Comfort as the us dream “I have a Dream”, Equality as an equality opportunity, Freedom as a persons right against the state, External conformity the ideal of going along joining with no authority, Nationalism and patriotism a belief that Ones’ values and institutions represent the best in earth, Democracy based on personal quality and freedom, Individual Personality emphasizing personal rights and responsibilities, Lastly Racism and superiority themes that periodically lead to prejudice and discrimination against those who are racially. These American Values are illustrated within the movie in various ways. Achievement and success in the movie: When Erin Gruwell started with these students as freshman, most of them were not expected to make it past their sophomore year. At the end of that school year, all of the Freedom Writers graduated from high school AND went on to college. Although the visits, trips, and awards were great achievements, this was probably their greatest achievement of all.

Freedom within the movie is illustrated among the whole film. When Eva Benitez father was arrested, her father announce through silence to maintain the gang proud and fight for what its best for their people. Witch meant loosing her freedom to join the gang. Since then she also experience and External conformity since she went along for what her father was doing, she when ahead and joined the gang with no authority. In order to achieve her freedom within, she needed to be morally orientated in order to differ the good and bad the healthy and not healthy. At the long run Eva Benitez founded the Equality in life as a 4.0 student. Social control in the movie illustrates as follows: The students who live in small neighborhood sometimes complain about feeling watched by their neighbors. They feel that if they don’t behave according to the social norm (gang leader), they will be ridiculed and talked about behind their back or even killed. In the movie we see the different subcultures that hate among them each other. Mexicans hate Cambodians, Cambodians hate black etc. this obviously increases the danger among all cultures.

The students from room 203 have each experience some sort of Social Structures, they each have to continue with the tradition of joining a gang with no education. They all have to maintain marriage among their own raise. Yet in the classroom they are able to interact together within the classroom. Erin’s husband was really close to her before she started working at the school because once her first class was placed, she was able to interact more and get an emotionally intimacy. Social structure is also demonstrated when the gangs demonstrate a form on loyalty and courage ness when one of the members needs one. So each student only had their members of the gang as a primary group. Erin knows that the students she is teaching are no challenge to the AP Students. Yet as their teacher she provides the same language as the AP students have and Strong stories to improve their skills. In other words, although she was facing a role conflict whether to let them read hard books or not, she did challenge the students and succeeded. Erin had been working really to achieve a positive success among the students which included discipline, hard work, events and even 3jobs. At the end the students and the teacher experience an achieved status because a teacher they want the best for the students and the students achieved a better future by creating the Freedom Writers program. Overall students learned their norms values and the aspects of the culture to new group.

A great example for socialization is when at the closely end a new member of the group joins the class knowing that she can be better in her AP class she still decides to move due that they were family and they value each other. The students gravitate on what is most important to others such as ones race (Mexicans, Americans, Cambodians, Chinese, and African Americans) knowing that is what is important to them- Moral Development. Master status is shown when even though there are a lot of gangs open to receive another member you have to maintain on one only and be loyal to them – like Eva stated. It clearly shows that the teacher and her students were walking in a parallel position. At first it wasn’t like that, the students where their own and the teacher was on her on system way, yet at the end they found a solution in which they were able to walk in a parallel position. There are six agents of socialization. The agents of socialization are the people and groups that shape out self-concept, beliefs and behavior. There are four agents of socialization that Erin Gruwell experienced within the movie that contributed significantly on her teaching. First she experiences her family agent. Knowing that the family was in high class she didn’t care to work at a low class school in fact she found it challengeable for her to teach.

Since her husband wasn’t being supportive and patient he found the easy way out by divorcing her and that eventually connected her to the students more. Next agent that contributed significantly to her development as a effective teacher was her social class. Due to the fact that her father was a wealthy man and well known, she didn’t bare to her father to help her in al she couldn’t. She faced the reality that she didn’t understand her students so she found a way to feel them. She created the journal system where each student own a journal (given by her cost) in the journal one could write anything they wanted and if wanted to read by the teacher then so be it. But this was the only way to be one on one with her students. Another agent contributing was education. This contributed significantly on her teaching because she didn’t like the fact that the school system minimized or not treated the same way as the other students to her students. Based on how the education systems worked. The students play the role as the departments of education believes. With this system it helped Erin to achieve and to fight for the rights of the students and achieved her goal such as books field trips and number one a dream. All this contributed by her a better teacher. Lastly the children who grew up in more affluent neighborhoods often do better in school but the poorer the neighborhood on a average have higher crime rates, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. Erin experience verbally and visually how her students neighborhood affected them in such a degree. Surely there was nothing she could do to prevent such thing to happen but the only thing she did was to provide them loyalty, respect, dreams and trust overall. Erin had faith on her students that no matter what is your social position, or education or where you grew up, what matter is you maintain respect and love and faith in those in need. Erin agents affected her to just become a better person contributing to a better teacher.