A diverse group of hopeless inner city kids is given the gift of an affluent liberal white woman teacher. That’s the plot of the 2007 film Freedom Writers, one of the more hilarious white savior films ever made. Set in 1990s Los Angeles, the film depicts the “true story” of an idealistic teacher delivering hope to her rough non-white students.
The film has all the clichés you can imagine: tough kids with hearts of gold, a bubbly heroine who can’t be told no, Holocaust survivors teaching kids to ditch hate, and racist administrators who won’t believe that blacks and Latinos want to learn. (more…)