Drama Film American History X - Essay Example

The story about American x is told in flashbacks of black and white. When in the movement he killed two black men who were members of the gang. Before he killed them he found them trying to break into the truck that his father had left for him. Later he was imprisoned for three years as a result of manslaughter.
As the film starts, there is a flashback, where Danny is trying to get some sleep but he cannot sleep because he was disturbed by the noise coming out from his brothers’ room. The brother was having sex with his girlfriend. He then hears another voice from outside, when he peeped through the window he saw a black man who was trying to break into his brothers’ truck. Danny ran into his brothers’ room to inform him about what he had seen. Derrick ran out with his pistol and started firing at the black men, and he managed to kill all of them.

After that incident, Derrick is sentenced to three years imprisonment. In prison, he was raped by his fellow skinheads but later was befriended by a black man whom he had to work for, just for his security in prison. The experience that Derrick went through when in prison changed him forever. On his return home, he realized that his younger brother Danny had started to involve himself with the group of white supremacists. Danny was spitting racial slurs right and left, the same way that Derrick used to do before he was imprisoned (Smith, 2007). Derrick was in dismay when he realized that his family was torn apart, due to his violent action. Immediately after his release, he goes to try and see if he can bring the family together. He wanted to reconcile with his sisters and mother, and also to change Danny from his disturbing behaviors.
Towards the end of the film, it was clear that Derrick was able to change Danny to be the boy that he ones. To distance themselves from the white supremacy the boys had to tear down the pro-Nazi and racist propaganda that were on the walls in Danny’s bedroom. After he stripped off the hate that was in his room Danny embarked on working on his schoolwork paper. The initial intention of that paper was to share about hi Derrick’s lifestyle when in the Neo-Kazi movement (Christopher, 2008). But when he saw how his brother had transformed, his paper took another direction. He wrote a paper full of hope, telling how he and his brother were freed from the bondage of rage and bigotry. Toward the end of the film, Derrick escorts his brother to school and bid him bye. After a short while when he went Derrick heard gunshots when he ran to the site he saw his brother lying on the floor with the essay next to him.

The film American History X shows some incivility. The emotions of incivility are created in the film because there is a group in the film that is known as white supremacy. Derrick was in the group and his rage toward the blacks is shown when he kills the three black men. He murdered them brutally because he considered the blacks, an inferior race. Another emotion of incivility is that instance in the film American History, where Danny was shot by a black (Parfit, 2008). This boy killed him because he was filled with hatred against the whites. The other incidence that shows incivility is when Derricks’s father was murdered by a black man who was a drug dealer.
When Danny died Derrick ran to him and started mourning as he asked himself what he had done that led to his brother’s death. This incident made the audience see that Derrick had influenced the life of his brother. From the narration of the film American History, the audience learned that older people can influence the lives of smaller children. Danny entered the Neo- Kazi movement because his brother was one there. The film the terrible shooting incidents make the audience feel devastated. However, the audience gets to understand that people do change from their evil ways and start doing the right things just as Derrick changed his behavior. American History X is a story that is rich in issues about incivility, and it has lessons on the effects of incivility and the pain that it can cause to those, who practice it. Read More