Analysis Of Dangerous Minds

Dangerous Minds is an 1995 film that is based on the autobiography My Posse Don 't Do Homework by LouAnne Johnson. Ms. Johnson was once a U.S. Marine, who around the 1989 became a teacher in Carlmont High School in Belmont, California. She was very eager to teach, but was stunned by the quick response of an open position. However, she later found out the reason for the opening. On her first day she was greeted by disrespectful students who called her names and where in their own worlds, not paying attention to her. Most of her students were African Americans and Latinos who came from East Palo Alto; a city with racial segregated and high on poverty. Ms. Johnson later learned that with an attention grabbers and some patients her students are

One of the components that consist of the student success includes their environment, in other words, the school itself. School is a place where the students spends most of their time, interacting with people and friends. As I recall, high school served as a second home for me, in which I felt very comfortable and safe in. Most of my days I was in school surrounded with friends and teachers that supported me, causing me to keep moving forward and succeed. In Dangerous MInds, the school was first shown with a positive appearance as its location seemed to be in a so to say “white” neighborhood; no grafitti, spacious residence zones, and people from high incomes who are able to afford houses and cars (2.25). Though that was just a facade; inside the school was not very appealing because of the way students behaved themselves, which mostly involved Ms. Johnson 's students. An example was when a student threatens Emilio to death because

Hollywood inflated the audience 's view of the neighborhood as it was shown in black in white, focused on graffiti with sirens in the background, and even entered a drug deal happening in front of the students as they entered the bus. It can be speculated that the living conditions the students live in is what causes them to develop tough attitudes toward life which causes behavior problems. This idea is seen today as well; students are the creation of where they live around. From past experience, I observed that the students that misbehaved and act out were the ones that came from a broken home or live in a rough neighborhood. For example, when Ms. Johnson first entered the class every student was in their own world doing what they wanted to do. None of them payed any attention to Ms. Johnson, but the ones that did were disrespectful by calling her “white bread” (8.00-9.35). In the movie Freedom Writers, the same reactions to a new teacher was expressed by the students (10.15). In both cases the students where minority students that come from low-income families. In both of these movies most of the teacher in the school accepted the student 's misbehavior and did not want to teach them or have anything to do with them. In Dangerous Minds, the students were even referred to as the special kids by the vice principal and by Hal, a teacher