Themes In American History X
American History X
Hate is part of the human condition. From our very beginning of our being comes our need to judge and be apprehensive toward people that are strange to us. In the classic film "American History X", directed by Tony Kaye, two brothers are raised in a white supremacist world of racial hatred, self- pity, and social ignorance. It is only through the hard work and concern of a couple people that saved them.
The movie opens with a scene from the ocean, forecasting a recurrent theme in the movie. The water is a metaphor for the cleansing of hate. The brothers, Derek and Danny Vineyard, were raised along with their two sisters by their parents in Venice, California. Derek was the eldest of the children, Danny the third child. …show more content…
When he did it, he saw it as something to be proud of, but while in prison, he changed his mind. While Derek was part of the majority in the outside world, in prison he was part of the minority. As an African American inmate in whom Derek later befriended put it, "In the joint, you da nigger, not me." Derek felt apprehension because of this, and sought safety with a small handful of white supremacists. When he later offended the leader, they forgot his past friendship and gang-raped him in the …show more content…
While the tragedy came at the end of the film, it had been building since the beginning. The very morning after Derek got to talk to his younger brother about the evils of racism, Danny was killed by a young African American boy Danny had aggravated the day before. Because of Danny's racist thoughts and actions, he died even after he started to change his beliefs. It could also be argued that the prejudice of his father and the racism of his brother did their own part in setting in motion these events that inevitably led to Danny's
Hate is part of the human condition. From our very beginning of our being comes our need to judge and be apprehensive toward people that are strange to us. In the classic film "American History X", directed by Tony Kaye, two brothers are raised in a white supremacist world of racial hatred, self- pity, and social ignorance. It is only through the hard work and concern of a couple people that saved them.
The movie opens with a scene from the ocean, forecasting a recurrent theme in the movie. The water is a metaphor for the cleansing of hate. The brothers, Derek and Danny Vineyard, were raised along with their two sisters by their parents in Venice, California. Derek was the eldest of the children, Danny the third child. …show more content…
When he did it, he saw it as something to be proud of, but while in prison, he changed his mind. While Derek was part of the majority in the outside world, in prison he was part of the minority. As an African American inmate in whom Derek later befriended put it, "In the joint, you da nigger, not me." Derek felt apprehension because of this, and sought safety with a small handful of white supremacists. When he later offended the leader, they forgot his past friendship and gang-raped him in the …show more content…
While the tragedy came at the end of the film, it had been building since the beginning. The very morning after Derek got to talk to his younger brother about the evils of racism, Danny was killed by a young African American boy Danny had aggravated the day before. Because of Danny's racist thoughts and actions, he died even after he started to change his beliefs. It could also be argued that the prejudice of his father and the racism of his brother did their own part in setting in motion these events that inevitably led to Danny's