American History X: The Realization After the Deed

The film follows Derek Vinyard, a former neo-nazi skinhead, who from experience, manages to come back to his feet and tries to rescue his little brother from the toxic environment he was once a part of. The film jumps back and forth into two timelines; the black and white timeline represents the racist and blind perspective that Derek and his people have towards the non-white community, whilst the timeline with color is a way of showing Derek's growth and change of mind as he looks at the world differently.  

One could say the racism mentality began when Derek's father was murdered while trying to do a black man's job but the seed was planted way earlier, when Derek's father expressed his views on black people and how he thinks they are creating "nigger bullshit". Accordingly, Derek listened to his father and believed his words, starting a whole new Derek Vinyard. A scene from later in the film shows the development of the seed as Derek acts like his father and officially shows his true colors. 

Derek Vinyard becomes a big figure for the neo-nazi community and together, they perform various acts of discrimination towards any non-white person in town, resulting in Derek becoming a target for the non-white community. This leads to a very gruesome night, as a group of black men try to steal Derek's car but fail and instead, end up getting shot and taken down. The police arrive and Derek has no option other than to surrender.

In prison, Derek is raped by the men he once thought were his brothers and he unwillingly befriends a black inmate. With these two very important experiences, Derek becomes disgusted of the person he once was and realizes his wrongdoings, making him a want a change for himself and his family. 

When Derek is released from prison, he is a changed man but his job is far from over as he has to save his little brother, Danny, from the lifestyle Derek introduced him to. Derek arrives home and starts establishing order around the house and as expected, his brother already has the clean-shave like every other neo-nazi. Derek takes full responsibility of this and goes to talk to the head leader of the skinheads and takes matter into his own hands, "I came here for one reason, to tell you that I'm out. Out! And Danny's out, too. And if you come near my family again, I'm gonna fucking kill you". With that said the former neo-nazi legend erases all ties he had had with the skinhead community. Derek takes Danny away from the party, as things started to get out of hand, and gets the chance to explain to Danny why exactly he's no longer the person he used to be.  With that said Derek and Danny Vinyard were out of the game.

Thinking everything was over, things take a turn for the worse. Danny is killed in the school's bathroom by another student. The killer's eyes immediately widen after doing this deed, showing instant regret. This black boy appears in previous scenes from the film, showing a relationship between Danny and this individual, inferring that this act of murder is some sort of initiation for this young man and suggesting that Danny may have done similar deeds as they both belonged to gangs and were following a similar path, thus concluding "American History X". 

"American History X" is a movie I recommend to anyone. Such a high caliber production that captures the raw human nature in such a way of turning it into art, deserves to be watched. The film has no bearings and is not afraid to show the reality of white skinheads. The story teaches us about the hate and love that people can cause in our own worlds. 

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite", this is a quote from Nelson Mandela and I believe it fits perfectly into what this movie is all about. I don't just think this film is just about racism and neo-nazism, in my opinion, this film is about hate and love. Derek belonged a group that instigated hatred towards others and ironically enough, the people he thought he loved were the ones to turn their backs on him, resulting in him becoming associated with a black inmate, proving him that he can love and respect the ones he once hated. Derek did not always hate black people, until he learnt from his father that they were a parasite to the white community. Derek did not always respect black people, he learnt to love them by associating himself with one, making him realize that his previous persona was a total farce. As harsh as this movie was to watch, I believe "American History X" opened doors for the cinema world.

Good/Good