American History X - Amanda Palazzo
“American History X” is a film that, after first viewing it when it came out in 1998, inspired me to become more of an activist for social causes. I had supported and been interested in organizations that fought for civil rights, justice, and change, but this film was the catalyst that got me off the sidelines and more actively involved. Because I viewed “American History X” as one of those “important” films, I found the articles, “Legitimation Crisis and Containment: The ‘Anti-Racist-White-Hero’ Film, by Kelly J. Madison, and “The White Supremacist in Anti-Racist Films” by Laura L. Finley and Peter S. Finley, somewhat jarring and my opinions in need of some reevaluation. Not before these articles, did I ever encounter any dissenting beliefs regarding this film, and, though I still feel it has some relevance to the issue of racism in America, I now view it with my rose-colored glasses removed and an awareness of the “Eurocentric” and “Anti-Racist-White-Hero” threads that run through it.
In “American History X,” as Madison states, “the ‘white’ protagonist is the subject; we experience ‘reality’ through his eyes. In comparison, ‘black’ characters are variously objectified, seen largely from the outside through the eyes of the ‘white’ hero (407).” The film follows brothers Derek and Danny, the former an ex-neo Nazi recently released from prison after serving time for murdering a black man, and the latter a budding neo-Nazi, looking to follow his older brother’s example. Through flashbacks, we learn what perpetuated the racist views of the brothers, but in real time, we see those views eventually disintegrate. Derek trying to steer Danny away from a destructive path, relates to him the paradoxical nature of his friends and enemies in prison, with his closest acquaintance being his black colleague in the laundry, and his adversaries being the other neo-Nazis. With the cleansing scene of the brothers taking down their Nazi paraphernalia, we are led to believe that all is well, that the brothers have reformed their ways, and that they will ride off into the sunset, two repentant souls. We are soon jerked back to reality, however, when Danny is gunned down by a black schoolmate.
The entire premise of the film closely adheres to the narrative structure Madison found to be prevalent in many films that discuss race, at least from the “white hero’s” point of view, with the “white hero sacrific[ing] a great deal…to further the cause of the black people’s struggle…suffering terribly for his or her efforts (405).” Aside from Danny’s principal, who is black, the film portrays only the white characters as making any headway in improving race relations. Derek prevails in removing Danny from of a life of hate and violence, and even agrees to work with police in an attempt to bring down the community’s neo-Nazi leader, Cam Alexander. In this film, we “delve into the complexity of the experiences of the ‘white’ protagonists,” but the black characters are left to perpetuate stereotypes, as discussed by Finley and Finley. They are depicted as “aggressive” towards both whites and members of their own race, drug abusers and dealers, unintelligent, and equally racist (230-31). Not only are the negatively and stereotypically depicted, they also contribute nothing to improving rapport between the races. This job, of course, falls solely on the “white hero.”