Belonging Related Text Analysis
Text Type: Visual text
Title of text: Freedom Writers
Composer: Richard LaGravenese

In the film “Freedom Writers” we are introduced to the notion of not belonging, discrimination/segregation and their feeling of being rejected.

Through the opening scene we reminisce on Eva’s past were she witnessed a numerous amount of shootings in her neighbourhood from such a young age. We see discrimination when Eva’s voice over was played over “In long beach it all comes down to what you look like, if you’re Latino or Asian or Black...You can get blasted any time you walk out your door”.

In the class room at school we see how they alienate themselves from certain people “our classrooms are devided into separate tribes” as quoted from Eva’s voiceover. We see the students turning their desk away from others and the close up shots on their gloomy faces. This shows their barriers, also the tension in the room, this shows how no one feels a sense of belonging.
No one in the class room shows respect to the teacher but she clearly states to them that to “get respect you’ve got to give it”. If they all respected one another they could come to mutual respect which would lead to integration, an important value in society.

Showing the viewers how dangerous their “hood” is the teacher asks everyone “Raise your hand if anyone has been shot at” the camera then slowly scans across the classroom showing most students raising their hand with silence emphasizing the unhappiness of these students lives and how distraught they must feel waking up everyday. Eva’s voice over while at lunch time really show how eccentric their lifestyles are for such young students “we kill each other over race, pride and respect.

The game the teacher plays with her class and the questions she asks helps the students come to a better understanding of each other showing them that they are all the