In the American criminal drama movie American History X
Edwards Norton, Ethan Suplee, Fairuz Balk, and Beverly D'Angelo all appear. The film's American debut was on October 30, 1998, under the direction of Tony Kaye (McKenna 12).
The movie tells the tale of two brothers
who join neo-Nazi organizations as a result of their father's passing.
Danny Vinyard, a high school student
is given the task to write about a narrative that has to do with the fight for human rights at the start of the film. Writing about Adolf Hitler angers Danny's teacher, who is reportedly Jewish.
The movie then follows the story of his brother Derek
who is in prison due to a voluntary manslaughter. Derek is a neo-Nazi, and they attack a small market after winning a basketball game against the Crips. Later at night, someone tries to steal a truck outside their house leading Derek to shoot the thieves. He is imprisoned for three years where he joins a neo-Nazi group in jail. However, he soon befriends people of other ethnicity leading him to be beaten and sodomized. After being paroled, Derek tries to convince his brother to leave the neo-Nazi group. Danny changes his ways and leaves that group leading them to be hated by their people. Danny is later ambushed in school and killed by a young black student. Derek arrives in school and mourns for his brother.
The movie tackles the issue of racism in the United States
Many young people have hate towards one another because of various reasons. Derek and Danny hate black people because their father was killed by a black man. Their hate is driven by this situation which affected their lives. Danny who only had hated against black people joins a neo-Nazi group and ends up hating the Jews who had nothing to do with the death of their father. However, the prison sentence for Derek makes him realize that the hate against one racial group is not right. He becomes friends with a black person. This friendship causes his people to abuse him. Derek realizes that the people he adores can also hurt him. At this point, one can realize that hate against a racial group is unwarranted. One can be friends with any person. Every racial group has its bad people. Even after Danny and Derek learn to accept other racial groups, Danny ends up being killed. From the movie, one can identify that the fight comes from within a person.
Works Cited
McKenna, David. American history X. New Line Cinema, 2014.
