American History X: This Film Is Not About Skinheads or White Power Essay Example
American History X is a no-holds-barred look at the very real underbelly of racism. This film is not about skinheads or white power. This is a searing contemporary tragedy that grips one working-class family. The story is set in Venice Beach, Calif., and it begins by establishing the grievances of the white working class against the black working class. As Danny said in the movie "Things used to be great, but then "they" began to move in and the neighborhood turned into a 'hood. Pretty soon "they" took over the playgrounds and the schoolyards and pretty soon after that, everything "we" believed in was wrong and "we" were strangers in our own land." (American History X) The story follows an intelligent young man named Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) and his decline into the world of disillusion and hate known as White Supremacy. Once a thoughtful and easy-going teen, he soon begins his change when his casually racist fireman father is killed while trying to put out a fire at a suspected drug den. He (Derek) develops a simplistic and unoriginal philosophy blaming immigrants and minorities for what he calls a deterioration of American values. Falling under the wing of a neo-Nazi named Cameron Alexander (Stacy Keach), a villain who enlists alienated, disillusioned youths into his white supremacy group. Then he stands away and manipulates them into doing his bidding, never himself taking an active hand in the corrupt activities he orchestrates.
Derek soon becomes a recruiting agent for that local white group. While the local movement grows, Derek's soul withers further and further away, polluted more and more by hate. This moral deterioration culminates when Derek kills two black gang members who try to steal his truck. He is caught and sent to jail, where he is shown the error of his ways, the hard way. With the help of one of his former teachers (Avery Brooks), Derek begins to reform. It, however, may be too little too late.
While Derek was in prison, his younger
Derek soon becomes a recruiting agent for that local white group. While the local movement grows, Derek's soul withers further and further away, polluted more and more by hate. This moral deterioration culminates when Derek kills two black gang members who try to steal his truck. He is caught and sent to jail, where he is shown the error of his ways, the hard way. With the help of one of his former teachers (Avery Brooks), Derek begins to reform. It, however, may be too little too late.
While Derek was in prison, his younger