Cameron White: American History X
First off that I want to say that I really enjoyed American History “X” because it presented an interesting, and often conflict of racism in American society. I felt that the creator of this film was not supporting racism, but rather sending the message that racism is unnecessary in any society across the America. Even thought some of the scenes were very explicit and gory, it was necessary for the viewer to understand that racism is not just words of hate, but also acts of deadly violence. There are two examples violence in the film I remember most clearly is the beginning scene where Derek kills the three men for attempting to break into his car in the middle of the night. The other scene was when Derek’s little brother whom was also a skin head was shot a killed at school. Both of these scenes are perfect examples how racism and hate can escalate in to deaths.
Another aspect to the film that I found to be very interesting was how after Derek was released from jail he was perceived as a hero. Prison had an effect on Derek and once he got out of the penitentiary he cleaned up his life and wanted nothing to do with the “skin head” and wanted his brother and girlfriend to also get away from the scene. Some may say the a hero figure is more boring compared to a villainous figure, but this movie was about sending a positive message and I do not believe that would have been established if Derek would have went back to his old ways once being release from jail. Beck stated, “although the [hero] image is the one offered for the audience’s approval, the former [villainous] many well have the greater impact on the audience… what they condemn in words is made attractive visually on the screen” (21). I agree with this statement and feel by showing Derek as changed person it shows how people can change their ways and also the power evil can have on individuals.