The title of American History X is derived from the name of a class Danny (Furlong) is forced to take after writing a controversial essay on Adolf Hitler’s autobiography‚ Mein Kampf. When his Jewish teacher (Gould) becomes outraged‚ he bursts into Principal Sweeney’s (Brooks) office and complains. Danny is called into the office and is told that he must write about the life of his brother‚ Derek Vinyard‚ and have it on his desk the next morning or face immediate expulsion. Danny continually complains
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These are just a few areas of what the movie American History X touches on. The primary sociological behavior displayed in this movie is deviance‚ which is defined as an individual going against the norms of society. Norms are a standard to a particular society or group as displayed here with race. The father in this movie‚ Dennis Vineyard‚ was a firefighter who worked for his community and while putting out a fire was killed by African American drug dealers. While raising his children‚ he
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AMERICAN HISTORY X American History X (1998) illustrates how segregation is aggravated by missing father figures as well as the herd mentality of the characters in the film. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche ’s concept of the herd mentality states that people need a concept or a worldview to adopt in order to give meaning to their lives. This herding of people who choose to adopt this certain ideal or ideals in effect causes the stifling of individual thoughts or creativity because everyone
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Reflection on American History X After watching American History X‚ I swore to myself that this would be one of my favourite movies of all time. It changed my view on racism‚ violence‚ abomination and change. These four were all exposed in the movie. Those three were very much shown in the film even at the beginning of the story when Danny told his brother‚ Derek‚ that a group of black guys were breaking in to his car. Their father‚ Danny and Derek‚ was killed by a black man that caused Derek’s
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American History X This is my favorite movie. One would think that America as a more modern society is moving forward with affirmative action‚ equal rights‚ and government laws. Differences in skin color and cultural beliefs are the visual characteristics that have caused various hate crimes. Laws that give non-white ethnic groups the rights to share in education and form businesses add a new frustration to white America. Danny Vineyard‚ played by Edward Furlong‚ young life has seen its share
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Danny’s history teacher (Elliot Gould) explaining to the principal‚ Dr. Sweeney (Avery Brooks)‚ that Danny wrote a book report on Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The teacher tells Dr. Sweeney that he is offended by Danny’s gesture and he wants to see him punished‚ declaring that Danny was pressured into writing the paper by his older brother Derek‚ although Sweeney assures him that Derek was not involved. Instead‚ Sweeney asks the teacher to leave and asks Danny to step in.Danny then puts an American flag
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While watching‚ American History X‚ I’ve noticed the Derek went through a lot just to find justice‚ however‚ he made the wrong decision‚ which caused him to experience something terrifying. The movie was released in 1998 and became really popular as the years went on. With all the Nazi symbols‚ gang violence‚ and jail time it shows a path that Derek took because of the death of his father. The film follows the Christian myth‚ “Metanoia (shift of the mind)”‚ which is what Derek went through‚ then
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The film American History X by Tony Kaye looks at the idea of manipulation‚ one of the roots of racism. Kaye uses dialogue‚ close-ups‚ a mise-en-scene‚ a wide-shot and a mid-shot to show how easy it is to be manipulated‚ despite your intelligence. Kaye’s purpose is to show that if you are manipulated under the right circumstances and the manipulation is coming from the people you love‚ then racism and hate can be adapted. During a flashback of the Vinyard family we learn that it was Derek’s father
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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
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Film Review-American History X American history X is the shocking drama that takes racism to a deeper level of understanding and shows us a family torn apart by hate and fear. There is loads of films about modern racism but "American History X" is absolutley the best i’ve encountered. Second comes "This is England" that pretty much describes same things but not as accurate as American History. The reckless violence and the strong hate shows us how twisted our modern society is and how a normal
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