American History X - Paper 2

This essay is written in the first-person perspective of a 37 year old, white male plantation owner, that lives half of a mile south of Vicksburg Mississippi.

American History X (Tony Kaye. 1998), is an example of a Hollywood film that boldly embodies Bernardi’s argument; “US cinema has consistently constructed whiteness, the representation and narrative form of Eurocentrism, as the norm by which all ‘Others’ fail by comparison” (Bernardi page5). The plotline centres on the main character; a former neo-Nazi skinhead named Derek Vinyard, and his attempt to stop his younger brother- Danny Vinyard from getting involved in the white supremacy gangs of Los Angeles. The film is symbolic of aspects of European and American history; combining implications of both Nazi Germany and the reign of Adolf Hitler, with past and present US Neo-Nazism. American History X deals with controversial racial issues such as white supremacy and white privilege, the discrimination against people of colour, eurocentrism and the power of whiteness, through different cinematic mediations, film context and character framing.

The movie Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socioeconomic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. In this brief essay, I am going to discuss the impact racism and stereotyping have on the lives of some main characters in the movie, considering the development of the storyline and the impact of various incidents that change their perspective towards themselves and each other. Martin and Nakayama define racial identity as being based on physical characteristics, but they are also constructed in fluid social contexts (pg. 105). The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife constantly scared of "the other"; two African American thieves, a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife, a non-racist police officer, a Latino lock maker. The plot of the movie intersects all characters ' lives and their attitudes towards each other, while making the audience question the validity of prejudices and racial stereotypes.

The United States History is an important aspect that people in today’s society still learn about it, there are specific topics that are enormously mentioned in the actual reality. Some of those topics are; Puritanism, Separatism, Religion and even Politics. Going back to the late 1620s and the 1630s when King Charles decided to dissolve the Parliament of England, which did not left hope to the citizens that the will of God will be enforced in England (25). With these events, the people started to leave England to other places which first was Holland and then to Plymouth Plantation in New England (27). After Separatism came out to be a real problem in other areas, because of this John Winthrop decided to leave mother England to go to

The story begins with a black and white flashback of the moment when Derek commits the murder of the two young Afro-American's. Danny wakes up to see one of the men standing by the front door but can't see whether he is armed or not. He goes to tell his brother Derek who is in bed with Stacy, his girlfriend. Derek takes a semi-automatic pistol and sees two blacks and one in the car ready for a getaway. Derek plunges out of the front door and shoots the first Afro-American several times and spots the other trying to run away. He takes aim and fires again mortally wounding the second. The car driver speeds off with Derek firing several shots at the car, emptying the magazine. In slow motion he goes back to the wounded man to

It turned out that they did not, but the notion of “being raped by blacks in the prison” is shared not only with Derek but also with the audience of the movie. This notion probably comes from what Russell calls “the sexual body images of black males” (Russell, 2011, p.132). Derek has no communication with any members of these macho black guys. In the movie, they are just depicted as “beasts that may sexually offend others.” Since the possible victim is a white, it also indicates that the rape would be a kind of interracial pornography (There is almost no description of black females in the movie. The only one is the black shop-keeper who was insulted by Derek and his racist members). The other symbolic icon of blackness can be found in the characteristic of Lamont, who is a black inmate and becomes a good friend of Derek in the laundry room in the prison. He talks and makes jokes a lot, which also characterizes him as a typical young black male who has a big mouth. Another representation of black character is Dr. Sweeny. He is a high school principle who holds Ph.D. and tries to help both Derek and Danny. He is seen as a well-educated black role-model. He is also seen as the person who has gone through the Civil Right Movement in the 1960s and 1970s. He is a man of dignity and plays a “good guy” in this movie. During these events, some flashbacks of past events are inserted occasionally. One of them is a basketball match with a young black group. Here Derek finally

The film American History X begins with an average American middle-class family; four well-behaved children and two all-American parents living in Long Beach, California. The father is killed in a shooting, leaving his eldest son, Derek, the head of the household. Derek becomes enveloped in Neo-Nazi culture from the end of his adolescent years into early adulthood, and he becomes the leader of a gang. At this point, his younger brother, Danny, is an adolescent and begins mimicking his older brother’s behavior. But the turning point of the movie is when Derek is convicted for murdering a black man and serves three years in prison.

Derek is then hated after betraying his fellow prison gang members in public and is sexually assaulted by them. He was now alone once again, but was never hurt. The laundry man was determined to keep him safe and with that Derek changed his outlook on African

Let me introduce you to a world where colour matters, where if you are African American you can say goodbye to being a living soul, and you can definitely guarantee a brutal end to your life. Now “put your motherf****** mouth on the curb” and say goodnight. It’s a white man 's world and you my friend have no rights at all. American History X, directed by Tony Kaye is about a former neo-Nazi who has been released from jail and is now trying to right his wrongs. His goal to make sure his brother does not go down the same path that he did, a life of destruction and excruciating violence. The movie touches the subject of racism in 1998 revealing the extremities of violence in which the neo-Nazis inflicted on the African Americans. In the first scene of the film the audience witnesses Derek kill two black males that lead to his conviction of voluntary manslaughter. We also see Danny 's horrified reaction, as he watched his older brother take the life of two men. This moment was the trigger point in Danny 's life that would lead him down the same destructive path of his older brother. In the second scene, we see both brothers reflecting on their past choices of racism and violence. We also get our first and only colour flash back that leads us to believe that this was a pure and happy time in both of their lives. This was the point in the film where we understand that both brothers have acknowledged they have made the decision to change. The scene touches on the seriousness of the

American History X tells a tragic story that focuses on two brothers, Derek and Danny Vinyard. The movie begins with a startling flashback scene in which Danny interrupts his older brother Derek and his girlfriend having sex to tell him that there is a black man outside trying to break into Derek’s car. Next we see Derek run outside and shoot and kill two African Americans and attempt to kill another driving away. Derek is in his early twenties and Danny is 16 years old. Danny witnesses the entire transaction.

Racism and extremism are depicted clearly in both American History X and Romper Stomper, accentuated through violent and hateful dialogue. Flashbacks are clearly used to establish the creation and reason for these racist thoughts and extremist behaviour in American History X. These flashbacks are shown in black and white, symbolising the state of mind the antagonist (Derek) was in. He is presented as narrow minded, at the height of his ideology and can only see things in right or wrong, black or white. Once Derek realises and loathes his wrongs, he sees in colour, a clever use of film techniques used by Kaye. The violence portrayed in both films is also similar in the way that the Neo-Nazi gangs of LA and Melbourne terrorise minorities and believe that Mexican (American History X) and Vietnamese (Romper Stomper) immigrants are swarming into their western suburbs, buying up local businesses and crowding out the established residents. This is shown clearly at 35:00- 40:19 in American History X and

This demonstrates the idea that Derek is disrespectful that his racial hatred shows a violent rage towards blacks. As outlined, “Put your f***in mouth on the curb”. Derek’s actions, beliefs, tattoos, clothing and language are used at the beginning to emphasize me, you as the audience that Derek is portrayed as violent, the vicious villain of racial hatred. It’s because Derek dad (William Russ) a fire fight in Compton. He was murdered by black drug dealers, which strongly influenced Derek from inside and

American History X portrays the life of an extreme racist and neo-Nazi, Derek Vinyard, what led him up to his imprisonment, and his struggles to reform his lifestyle . The writers took it back to the very beginning where racism theoretically stems from, an individual’s upbringing. As a child, Derek Vinyard witnessed and experienced his father’s beliefs on other races and their lack of value. The father’s open racism led to the sons beginning to harbor discriminatory views. When his father murdered by an African American man while doing his job, Derek’s views on racial inequality went from just a thought to open hate speech. He joined a neo-Nazi group, where he began to act out his racism.

Many people around the world face many life problems and hard situations such as war, poverty, hunger and even racial discrimination, but despite these circumstances there are person who overcame on these crises and succeeded in their lives and became famous character in their communities and countries. If we turn back a bit and look at the history of America, we will find a lot of the issues and concerns that were there, and during that time in American History were African Americans who were outcastes and oppressed from the white American society. African American was suffering from racism just because their skins’ type, so they didn’t have freedom of expression or even the rights to vote. However, there was a young man who fought for his

“They (African Americans) are a burden to the advancement of the white race,” a comment that is said by a Danny Vinyard, perfectly demonstrates the racist attitudes, which result in violence, that are shown throughout American History X. The movie tells the story of two brothers, Derek and Danny Vinyard, who become victims of their surroundings and a product of the people they emulate. Derek, Danny’s older brother, is at first portrayed as the leader of the Skinheads, a neo-Nazi, Venice Beach gang filled with hatred towards any non-white groups especially African Americans. This hatred is intensified by the need to be superior, but in order to accomplish this, another group must be deemed inferior, and therefore oppressed, in this case African Americans. At the beginning of the movie, Derek is sent to prison for manslaughter, leaving his little brother to be alone and fall deeper into a hole of hatred and the beliefs of the gang. On the other hand, Derek experiences a series of events while in prison that lead him to a drastic transformation. Through Derek’s transformative journey, the movie depicts that even though hatred is a source of violence and exclusion, the anger brought about from hatred can lead to a positive personal development.