Immediately upon hearing about this film, I thought of Dangerous Minds. This made me hesitant to see it, thinking maybe it was just another retread. However upon learning that the film was based on a true story, it made me more interested in seeing it.
Hillary Swank plays Erin Gruwell, a teacher who ends up working with racially charged teens at a Long Beach, California high school. She starts out with a naive mentality that all she has to do is teach them and they will care but eventually she realizes that a change to her approach will get their attention. Her discussions end up revolving around the hate and violence that plague the students' everyday lives, bringing the students to realize that they have more in common than they initially thought. Along the way Gruwell must battle with conservative teachers within the school, who object to her new methods of educating her students. What ends up interesting the students and where the title comes from is the notebooks they are encouraged to write in by Gruwell. She gives them the freedom to write about whatever they want and it becomes a personal journal for most.
As mentioned, the story has been done before, but I enjoyed that the film concentrated equally on the students as well as the personal life of Cruwell. The film has plenty of emotion and is a constant reminder to those who are more fortunate than others in this world, that sometimes what most of us consider horrible in our daily lives, is nothing compared to others.
Hillary Swank plays Erin Gruwell, a teacher who ends up working with racially charged teens at a Long Beach, California high school. She starts out with a naive mentality that all she has to do is teach them and they will care but eventually she realizes that a change to her approach will get their attention. Her discussions end up revolving around the hate and violence that plague the students' everyday lives, bringing the students to realize that they have more in common than they initially thought. Along the way Gruwell must battle with conservative teachers within the school, who object to her new methods of educating her students. What ends up interesting the students and where the title comes from is the notebooks they are encouraged to write in by Gruwell. She gives them the freedom to write about whatever they want and it becomes a personal journal for most.
As mentioned, the story has been done before, but I enjoyed that the film concentrated equally on the students as well as the personal life of Cruwell. The film has plenty of emotion and is a constant reminder to those who are more fortunate than others in this world, that sometimes what most of us consider horrible in our daily lives, is nothing compared to others.