* FairForItsDay: Nowadays, the film is widely regarded as a quintessential “white savior” film, and all the racial implications that trope comes with. However, the story is told with some accuracy, and it does uplift the BIPOC students in a way that other such films don’t. It also highlights the systemic racism that these kids deal with that forces them into their situations in the first place.
* IronWoobie: Erin, considering she ''goes'' '''''hard''''' to help her students when all she gets is scorn from the staff and other teachers because she's teaching "the unteachables".
* JerkassWoobie: All the students are unpersonable at first, but it becomes more understandable after their tragic past. They lose the "Jerkass" part as the movie goes on.
* OneSceneWonder: Miep Gies doesn't get much screentime, but damn, is she memorable!
* QuestionableCasting: The idea of Pat [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 "Ursula the Sea Witch"]] Carroll playing '''Miep Gies''' will probably get a raised eyebrow from more than a few people. [[AvertedTrope Luckily]], [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct she delivers]] an ''[[OneSceneWonder awesome]]'' performance.
* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Ben Samuels, the TokenWhite kid is played by Creator/HunterParrish, who would go on to star in ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'' and the 2012 revival of ''Theatre/{{Godspell}}''.
** Tito is played by Creator/GabrielChavarria, of ''Series/EastLosHigh'' and ''Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes'' fame.
** Joe Seo of ''Series/CobraKai'' fame, plays an uncredited extra in Erin's class.
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