Freedom Writers Response

1.     Freedom Writers: I have seen this movie several times and enjoyed it very much. There is one line in particular that stood out to me in a different light because of this class. The teacher is having the kids participate in “the line game” and she asks them if any of them have been in juvenile hall. One of the girls asks if a refugee camp counts and she is told to decide if she thinks it does or not. She steps up to the line. I immediately thought of the Japanese internment camps and they were essentially prisons. This girl thought of the refugee camp she was placed in as a prison and not something that was meant to help her or protect her. The same goes for the Japanese internment camps. The United States government used the camps as means to confine the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but said they were using as a means of protection for the Japanese. This scene in the movie has always been especially striking to me. I find it extremely significant that Mrs. Gruwell lets the girl decide for herself whether or not the refugee camp counted as a sort of juvenile hall. It is also even more telling that the girl does decide to count it as a prison. I think that it is terribly sad that these places that were supposed to help are seen as prisons and these horrible places.