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The controversial American History X is an excellent film directed by Tony Faye starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. This film chronicles the behavior of a ex-nazi skinhead named Derek Vineyard (Ed Norton), the events encompassing his incarceration, and the effects of his life on his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) who idolizes him. The film begins with Derek violently murdering two black men that are trying to break into his car and home. The murder is the event that sends him to prison and forces him to reflect on his life. Prison is also the point of self-disclosure. The self-disclosure manifests itself in the form of Derek's prison flashbacks.
He discloses this information to his brother in order to explain why racism and prejudice is wrong. We also learn that Derek was put on this path to hate by his father, and this hate was accentuated by his fathers death / murder while carrying out his duties on the job as a fireman. We also learn that he mentored a local white supremacist named Cameron that groomed Derek to lead a large number of other skinheads. While in prison he is put on the path to enlightenment ironically by two black men. One of them is a former high school professor (Avery Brooks) that Derek respected, and the other is a fellow inmate that befriends him. He is then released from prison to find his family living in less than satisfactory conditions and Danny heading in the same direction as Derek once was.
Danny says he will be just like Derek, which is his self-fulfilling prophecy, and accomplishes this, only the outcome is worse. Derek's goal now is to save Danny's future by telling him the errors of his past. However, he is a day too late because some of Danny's previous actions prove to have grave consequences. Derek faces a number of issues as we follow him along his journey of self. One of these issues being self-esteem. Previous to Derek's enlightenment he had very high self-esteem as far as how he was perceived, in fact it was too high.
He thought himself and other white protestants like him to be of the master race. In this he suffered from the fallacy of overgeneralization. He believed all other races to be inferior because of the limited ignorant rhetoric that his mentor spit out. Derek's belief that he was of the master race coupled with the high opinions of him from his reference group, other skinheads, bolstered his self-concept as well as gave him a superiority complex. Any young man that had as many people following his lead as he did would have a high self-esteem.
However, after he is released from prison he realizes the error of his ways. Derek does not experience a transition as drastic as going from high to low self-esteem, but it definitely decreases somewhat because of his regrets from the past. He balances out on an even keel due to his newly found beliefs which leave him with a healthy self-esteem. There were many moments of conflict revealing only intense emotions during the course of the movie. Most of the conflicts had only debilitating emotions. There was a scene where Derek and his siblings were at dinner with their mother and her date who happened to be Jewish.
A heated discussion began, between Derek and the date, during their meal about Rodney King, which turned into a more heated argument about affirmative action. Derek became extremely irate and offensive toward the date. His anger grew exponentially to a point where he could no longer function properly or control himself. He exhibited a loss of control when his sister tried to leave the table and he grabbed her hair, threw her down, and shoved meat in her mouth in an effort to silence her opposing views. This also illustrates the fact that his private life is no different from his public, his acts of violence know no boundaries. Another scene involving conflict was during a blacks versus whites basketball game in which the winner would have territorial rights to the court indefinitely.
In this scene the producers intention of cultural variables of language is prevalent. He illustrates the variables or differences through derogatory slang terms. For instance, the whites called blacks niggers, monkeys, or boys and the blacks called the whites honkies or pastrami eating crackers. The two were always trying to high-status the other by way of derogatory terms, physical attacks, or athletic ability. The pint up anger towards one another's race was also an example of debilitative emotions. There were other types of conflicts that involved relational messages.
Derek had a silent status battle with a black inmate that he had his labor duties with. They had been working with each other for weeks and Derek refused to talk to the black inmate when he had been trying to have friendly conversation with Derek. The inmate knew why Derek was not talking to him, so he finally came out and said Look around you You know I may be black, but in here youre the Nigger. This statement knocked Derek into the reality of his situation, and he began speaking to the other inmate after that. He realized who was higher up on the food chain. In addition, there was one more silent battle of the status relational message.
This battle was between Derek and his high school professor. Derek knew that this battle was futile because the professor would high status him every time. The professor was successful in this because he practiced the pillow method and empathy with Derek. The professor would take an objective frame of mind when listening to Derek and did not judge him. It was easy for the professor to step into Derek's shoes because he knew about the more sordid aspects of his personal and home life. The professors perseverance proved to be integral in saving Derek's life.
American History X is a remarkable film for many reasons. However, of the many two stick out in my mind. The first is the lesson learned that if one perseveres through adversity he / she cannot only become stronger, but also come out of it with knowledge that few will ever acquire. The second and possibly more valuable lesson is that learned behavior no matter how old or ugly can be unlearned. In my estimation these are two of the most important lessons in life, to move forward no matter what and not to let pride nor prejudice stand fixed in your way of progress.
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Research essay sample on Controversy In The Film American History X
