SOUND OFF!

As stated, I am an education major. My professor succeeded in pissing me off today. For the first few days of class, she showed the movie "Freedom Writers". Its one of those movies about a failing schools in an urban minority setting. Some teacher comes in and saves the students from themselves. My professor is White and the class is made up of predominately minority students. A lot of students are failing the class. So, one person suggested that she give another assignment. Boy was I mad! Lol. I'm passing but I have to do extra work because others aren't. Anyway, she asked for a one page response about the movie and here is what I have.

“The Freedom Writers”, “Dangerous Minds”, “The Principal”, “Stand and Deliver”, “187”, “Lean on Me”; what do all of these movies have in common? They follow the same format and they tell us Hollywood likes stories about failing schools and the teacher(s) that “saves” them. “Freedom Writers” is the latest movie Hollywood released involving schools in impoverished neighborhoods and their educationally, socially, and IEP reports might conclude, mentally challenged students. Everyone likes a feel good story with a happy ending. Unfortunately, failing schools are in dire need of help and Hollywood should not glamorize the issues and challenges these students face.

Worldwide, the movie “Dangerous Minds” grossed $179,519,401.00. I cringe when I think about the number of books, supportive services, art programs, or computers that money could have bought. “Freedom Writers grossed $42.6 million worldwide, and earned $26.5 million in DVD rentals. “Lean on Me”, which was released in 1989, has grossed $31,906,454. Hollywood is a money hungry conglomerate. There is money in these stories. I wonder how much of this money reached the schools and student’s families that are the highlights of these films.

“Freedom Writers” is a story about a new White teacher who enters a minority school. The students are unruly, they face many issues such as gang violence, poverty, crime, and of course, they are failing in school. The teacher has a difficult time at first, but with effort is able to reach out to the students. The students write a journal about their lives, it gets published, they pass their class, and they graduate. The teacher showed a great amount of dedication and initiative. After her class graduated, she left the school. I visited the “Freedom Writers” website. The teacher, Erin Gruwell proceeded to open the Freedom Writers Foundation. It’s a non-profit organization that tries to close the achievement gap across the country.

After watching these movies you have to wonder. Why doesn’t Hollywood release a movie of an all White wealthy neighborhood, where all the children go to good schools and attend good colleges? It’s simple. There’s no drama, no story, no fuzzy feeling at the end of the movie when the students get their degree. In fact, it’s expected that these children will do well. No one expects children from rough neighborhoods to excel. If they did, it would not be such a shock when they complete school. The one thing that makes a great movie is when the unexpected happens. What does this say about our society? What does this say about the education department’s commitment to these schools?

One cannot isolate the issues many of these students face and place the blame of their poor academic achievement solely on the education department. However, if the education department would pay half as much attention to these schools as Hollywood does, perhaps these schools would do better. I take great offense to these movies. I commend any teacher who is able to turn the lives of their students around in such a dramatic way. However, such efforts should not be glamorized. There is still a lot to be done in terms of failing schools. The last thing we need is another movie about another failing school, with another bunch of troubled youth, with another great teacher, who somehow manages to save the children. I believe we need less action behind the camera and more action in the schools.

I hope I pass this class. Lol. I am never one to hold my tongue and I have strong views. Her face is going to drop when she reads this and frankly, I don't give a damn. I am an excellent student and even though she may not like me (especially not after this) she cannot fail me.