Savior Trope And The Modern Meanings Of Whiteness: Film Analysis

Matthew W. Hughey, the author of “The Savior Trope and the Modern Meanings of Whiteness”, argues that the cinema has always been catered toward an ideology of the white supremacy. Likewise, Freedom Writers (2007) self-evidently appear as a majoritarian narrative by having Hilary Swank starring as Erin Gruwell who play as the enthusiastic white female teacher who help change the lives of the students of color. However, along the movie there is a subtle switch of importance from the teacher to these students as they strive to achieve a higher education. Although the film takes the same approach of a “white savior” movie, it is a deception to gain more viewers for the general audiences to reconsider the issues of stereotypes and racism within

the United States. Journalist Nicholas Kristof admit this idea by using the “white savior motif” to gain more readers regarding foreign countries, such as Central Africa, by involving some Americans in his journals (Hughey 3). Therefore, the movie does appear to support the majoritarian narrative due to its actuality in their representation of the white versus people of color.
Eva Benitez, starring April Lee Hernandez, appears as one of the main characters in the beginning of the film where she explains about the American dream.

The cinematic display of the American Barbie doll as having blonde hair, blue eyes, and idolize as a priced item of femininity as compared to the Latina doll in which Eva says “in America, a girl can be crowned as a princess for her beauty and her grace” whereas “a Aztec princess is chosen by her blood” implicitly contrast the cultural differences in terms of their color and value. As she adoringly stares at these dolls, Eva’s father bought her a pair of boxing gloves, instead. Her father taught her to fight for whomever said that “they are not equal in their beauty and their blessing”, which indicate a harsh and brutal environment within their community. One day when Eva is peacefully waiting for her father to walk her to the bus stop, she witnesses her teenage neighbor, Roberto, shoot at his own front yard. Without any specific reasons behind the scene where her father was arrested at his own home as the police burst into his living room, it appears to be misleading toward the fact that he was arrested because he commit a crime when Eva says that all he was trying to do was “fight for our own”, in other word, defend their own people. Eva’s counterstories explicitly display a cultural aspect of the Hispanic community, which implicitly trying to defy the unrighteousness of retaliation and resistant against the white. Yet,

the film’s represent the Hispanic community as using violence to claim territory clearly shows the “white superiority complexes that continue to frame the world in terms of a stark civilized-savage dichotomy” (Hughey 10). Although the movie starts off by showing Eva’s counterstory, it appear to be a harsh stereotyping toward the people of color. There is a great emphasis on gang violence and gun violence in their community, and apparently the students suffer through the most as compare to the only white boy Erin’s class when she ask who had been shot before. As Yosso argues, “a counterstory can open new windows into the realities of those ‘faces at the bottom of society’s well’ and address society’s margins as places of possibility and resistance” (14). Some might argue that the film take a negative outlook upon the People of Color, but the cinematic display of these characters drastically sets apart their culture and value.
According to Tara J.

Yosso, the author of the Critical Race Counterstories Along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline, Chicana/o suffer all through the “educational pipeline” from elementary to graduate schools due to implicit and explicit racism and stereotypes against the “socially and racially marginalized communities” in the United States (6). Moreover, she specifically focuses upon the counterstories of these students. She claims that the “Chicana/o communities have long experienced the explicit and implicit effects of racism through social institution such as schools” (2). A counterstories acknowledges the unequal educational access for the students relating to the lack of their success rate throughout the educational pipeline. As opposed to the counterstories, a “majoritarian story implicitly begins from the assumption that all students enjoy access to the same educational opportunities and conditions” (4). Yosso claims that “like White privilege, majoritarian stories seem invisible” and “instead of stories, they appear to be ‘natural’ part of everyday life” (10). Similarly, the film subtly implies the white privileges through its counterstories. Although experiential knowledge is less value due to the lack of statistical evidence and logical reasoning, the narratives do serve to highlight the important aspect of the lives of People of

Color.
Abruptly, the scene switches to Woodrow Wilson High School with Erin Gruwell who was being politely offered a cup of coffee during her orientation, to show a distinct contrast towards the violence that exist in Eva’s life. With her innate sense of humanitarian compassion for the students of color, Erin chooses to work in a high school with the highest integrated program in the district. Mrs. Campbell, the head of the department, seems oddly polite and reserve about her opinion regarding Erin’s enthusiasm. Particularly, the scene sets the tone of white superiority as they continue to discuss about the “voluntary integration” that resulted for the lost of 75 percent of their “strongest students”, and the fact that the majority of their lower income students had to “travel 90 minutes each way” with public transportation to attend school on a daily basis. As they speak about this issue, they dismiss the struggles of these student, which appear to be uncaring and “invisible” to them. Then, Erin proudly announces how her father was involved during the Civil Right movement and how she aspires to follow her father’s footstep. She contine to explains that she studies for law school to become a lawyer, but when she was watching the Los Angeles riot in 1992 on television she changes career to becoming a teacher, instead. Erin believes that “the real fighting should happen here in the classroom”, which conceptually connects to Yosso’s idea regarding the CRT for the commitment to social justice in education by “acknowledging schools as political places and teaching as a political act” (7). Mrs. Campbell simply replies, “Wow, Erin, that’s a very well thought out phrase” as if she feels that Erin is naive for believing that she could help these students that are considered to be the intruders in a once prestigious school in the district. Erin explicitly embodies the idea of the “white savior” character in the movie by maintaining as a role model for the students. On the other hand, Ryan Gilbert, a white male teacher for the Distinguished Honor Students, openly stated his opinion that these students will “eventually stop coming”, which clearly announces his dislike toward the student of color. However, Erin still chooses to believe that “if I do my job, [the student] will be lining up the door”. This line set a powerful message toward the outline of the movie, because it places the responsibility upon the teacher for the lack of student of color’s success rate in education due to racism and stereotypes.
By showing the contrast of white privilege and disadvantage of the people of color, it invoke feeling of sympathy and reasoning behind the true struggle that the students have to undergo in the current education system.The movie enacts poverty, gang activities, violence, racial discrimination, and sexism to advocates social justice in education for the people of color. Although the film negatively represent the people of color by expliciting displaying racism and stereotypes, it manage to show the separation between different ethnic groups while also demolish these racial issue by showing how the group of individuals from similar circumstances come together outgrown their differences. What it essentially wants people to realize is that as long as people choose to live in harmony, they can work together to achieve something greater, as a community. The classroom drastically influences the student to overcome their difficulties with the empowerment from institutional inspiration. By advocating for changes, every single individual in that single classroom aspires to make a change. As a teacher, Erin allow her students to make a “Toast for Changes” as her students return as a sophomore by asking them to acknowledge their own achievements. The greater message the film assimilate is that “they are heroes and that they ‘within their own small ways, [can] turn on a small light in a dark room’” to inspire and empower others that they can change even in the face of adversity, especially in not perfect educational system.