Film analysis "Freedom Writers"

Freedom writers is a movie about a teacher named Erin Gruwell (played by Hillary Swank), who is a very
eager and excited new teacher, that leaves the comfort of her town in Newport Beach to teach high
school students in Long Beach. Gruwell believes that the students she is going to be teaching are going
to be achieving students but quickly realizes that the students are known as "unteachables." the movie is
taking place during the LA riots which plays a huge role in how the students act towards each other and to
Gruwell. After an event that caused the death of a fellow student and Gruwell intercepting a very hateful
cartoon drawing, Gruwell actually is able to connect with her students. Gruwell starts to really let the
students feel that they have potential and can go places in their lives. Gruwell uses some really innovative
techniques to help motivate her students and to help her students see through a "different lens". Gruwell
eventually has the students write down their experiences and feelings. These diaries really help the
students connect with each other and provide an outlet for them as well. The rest of the movie is showing
Gruwell teaching her students through their years in high school and bringing in people to help motivate
her students. Gruwell brings in Miep Gies, who is the woman who helped shelter Anne Frank. Gruwell
eventually tells her students to write their diaries in book form. Gruwell then takes all the entries and
compiles them and names it "The Freedom Writers Diary". The movie concludes with a note saying that
Gruwell was actually able to bring many of students to graduation and send them to college.
  I thought that in the movie the mentor's approach (Hillary Swank) with the students was successful and
also unsuccessful. In the movie Gruwell has a lot of struggles with actually connecting with her students.
She came into the classroom expecting that all of her students would be willing and eager to learn, but
she learned quickly that wasn't the case. She had to learn that she shouldn’t assume anything until she
gets to know the situation. So that is an example of an unsuccessful approach. But Gruwell provided a
successful approach when she realized that she could reach her students by connecting with what really
mattered to them and showing a genuine interest in them. In the movie Gruwell brings in music from the
"ghetto/hood" and actually shows her students another form of the "ghetto" in the book "The Diary of
Anne Frank". These were all examples of successful approaches because it actually made progress with
the students. With these approaches, Gruwell made the mentor and mentee relationship that much more
successful.
  As a mentor, it is fair to say that sometime you will have to deal with a difficult student. If I had to deal
with a difficult student I would try to not assume anything about the student. I don't want to have my own
preconceived ideas about the student to cloud my judgment or impair me from giving the best advice
possible. I would do my best to see what the student actually wants out of the mentorship. If the student
continued to be difficult I might try to see if there are extraneous variables that are causing stress or
problems in the students’ life. I would also take an actual interest in the students’ life and activities. I
believe that this would build a great relationship between me and the student. Also in dealing with a
difficult student it's important for me as a mentor to know my own limits. I need to know if I'm actually the
best mentor for the student. I have to check my own biases and ideas. Finally I would want to make sure
that I had the ability to give the best resources to the student if they needed it.  A great example from the
movie is when Gruwell is dealing with a particular student named Eva. This student is being difficult
because she actually witnessed a crime but refuses to listen to anyone else and refuses to do the right
thing. But Gruwell doesn't give up on Eva and gives her resources and took in interest in Eva's life. In
doing so Eva eventually made the right decision and the relationship between Gruwell and Eva became
stronger.
The film actually provided a lot of different moral dilemmas. The first dilemma comes from Gruwell
actually having to decide if it's even worth her time to teach the students. That's always something
mentors are going to have to contemplate. Sometimes a mentor may not think that a certain individual is
worth the effort, but perhaps that really isn't for the mentor to decide completely themselves. Another
dilemma that occurred in the film was Gruwell's own personal life being affected by her mentorship to her
students. Her marriage and personal life were suffering and she had to decide what was really important
to her. A mentor must be aware of how their own personal life can affect the way they are a being a
mentor. In the movie Gruwell actually has to choose between her students and her own marriage.
Another moral dilemma is when Eva has to decide whether or not to testify in court. She has to decide if
she wants to do what is right and tell the truth or not tell the truth and make her gang and family members
happy. As a mentor it's important to realize that sometimes there may be multiple things happening in the
mentees life that may be affecting the way they are acting and the decisions they are making.
  In the movie I would say the mentor’s level of self-awareness was rather basic at the beginning  (Nutting,
1994-2009), and then began to mature over the course of the movie. At the beginning Gruwell was not
really aware of her own biases and really who she was as a person. She had a general idea of who she
was, but during the course of e movie she was challenged not only by her students but by her peers as
well, and in doing so she was able to become more self-aware. She was able to figure out who she really
is, why the way she is, and why she thinks the way she does. The same could be said for the students in
the film. The students were not very self-aware at the beginning of the film. But during the course of the
film, they were challenged by Gruwell and in by doing the activities that she had them do, they were able
to become more self-aware. When the students were able to write in the journals, is when in my opinion
they truly started to become better self-aware.
 After watching this movie, there are some things that I can take away as a mentor. From the movie I took
away that I should always be aware of my own biases. In doing so, it can really help me become a better
overall mentor. I can guarantee that I will come across a student that does not see eye-to-eye with me,
and might have completely different viewpoints about things than I do. In being able to know my own
biases I can better deal with a student who might be difficult. I can also take away from the movie, that as
a mentor it is ok to ask for help. Just because I am a mentor does not mean that I have all the answers.
Being a mentor means that I am constantly learning new things about other people, and about myself.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help as a mentor. This also goes with another tool I can take away
from the movie, knowing my limits. Sometimes I need to step back and see if I'm really the best mentor
for a particular student, also being aware that I can't always get the results that I want no matter how hard
I try. Also knowing my own limits as an individual and a mentor too. There may be certain things that as
my own person I'm not comfortable with or just not capable of doing. So being aware of this as a mentor
can help me benefit the student that comes to me for mentorship. If I know my own limits I can find other
resources to help the student. Lastly is challenging your student is not a bad thing. I read this and thought
it really pertained to what I just stated: "the mentoring relationship is one that allows constructive
confrontation, where both parties find their assumptions questioned."  (Clutterbuck, 2004)
  Overall "Freedom Writers" was a really great movie, but it also was great for me to watch the movie
through the lens of a mentor. It made me think about aspects of my own life, and how I would possible
handle certain situations as a mentor. There were also a lot of great tools to take away from the movie
that would greatly benefit mentors and future mentors.