American History X commentary by Jenna Johnson
“American History X” was indeed a shocking portrait of the ugliness that humans can possess if influenced ever slightly in the wrong way. We know that one main argument about this film is its stance on racism, whether it be pro or anti. The film shows qualities of both, I assert, which are fleshed out mainly by Edward Norton’s character, Derek. Beck stated that Derek “shows the very different sides of the character as villain and hero. Although the latter image is one offered for the audience’s approval, the former one may very well have the greater impact.” That is, the inhumanity seen in Derek’s character as the leader of his “skinhead” gang is gruesome enough and strong enough to almost wipe out his redemption, thus making the film very much racist. For example, black stereotypes in the film are more unintentional I think, but they are still there, when most of the men in the prison are black, when it is black men who are breaking into Derek’s car, and even when it is black men who will fight at the drop of a hat on the neighborhood basketball court. Especially seen and spoken through the eyes of mostly the gang Derek and Danny are tangled up with, the feelings of white power and racism are prominent in this film.
This film takes a great turn while Derek is in prison and upon his release. As Finley states, the film “implies that prison is an effective way to reform racist individuals yet we know that in reality many racists formulated their notions of white superiority while incarcerated.” We see that Derek is a good measure of the way prison supposedly reforms racists, and Finley goes on to say how Derek “becomes almost a sympathetic character.” In this light, as Derek discontinues his old ways and tries to get his brother and other friends to follow suit, he does become somewhat part of the “white hero” myth, not for reasons of power, but for his personal triumphs against racial emotions and violence towards minorities. We can only hope that after the ending scene, where his brother is shot by one of his black schoolmates, that Derek’s experiences have been changing enough to prevent a recession into his past behaviors.