Thursday, October 7, 2021

American history x essay

American history x essay

american history x essay

 · American History X is a film that depicts a traditional white family in the mid s, but spotlights the two brothers’ journeys into maturity. The movie focuses on the older brother Derek, played by Edward Norton, and how Derek’s Neo-Nazi associations in his life greatly influence his younger brother Danny, played by Edward Furlong American History X () illustrates how segregation is aggravated by missing father figures as well as the herd mentality of the characters in the film. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsches concept of the herd mentality states that people need a concept or a worldview to adopt in order to give meaning to their lives American History X Essay. Words5 Pages. American History X. Will racism ever come to an end or will its path go on infinitely? For the most part, the majority of people respect those who are different either in color, race, and/or heritage; however, there are those few that hold bigoted views towards people who are different than they are



American History X essays



In this assignment, I was challenged to find important historical and cultural connections of the film American History X and analyze the important rhetorical of my findings, american history x essay. I went about choosing American History X by placing a poll on Facebook listing out the films that I had american history x essay slight interest in considering for this assignment and American History X won by a landslide.


I was actually somewhat disappointed, because I wanted to do The X-Files, but I chose to stick to my promise and go with whatever text american history x essay. I watched American History X some years after its release in Although, I know I must have watched it sometime after I got out of high school because at the time of its release I was 12 years old and with the amount of violence in that film I know I did not watch it with my parents.


From the little memory I had of the film from the first time, I could only recall that American History X had a lot to do with white supremacy and racism, that Edward Norton played the lead role and that the kid who played in the first Terminator was his brother and was all grown up. I hesitated watching the film again for quite sometime because I knew I would need to dedicate a solid two hours of mental energy towards it.


One could argue that I was merely just procrastinating; however, I benefitted from having done so because future class discussions provided a foundation for how I could study the film. After reading about and discussing in class the topic of approaching a text organically, I decided to implement that mentality and view the film as objectively as non-object individual can.


It is difficult to say whether it was that approach that ultimately led to my findings in the film, or if I would have american history x essay them anyway since it was my second time viewing the film, american history x essay. Everyone can appreciate that after the second and third time of watching any film you begin to pick up on things you missed the first time.


In either case, I found the movie to be incredibly eye opening and I enjoyed having to research the history surrounding the film and, ultimately, american history x essay, the state of the nation during what was my childhood. The movie flips between black-and-white scenes of the past and color scenes of the present. The color scenes portray the present and highlight the effects the hatred has had on the entire family. Overall, american history x essay, the movie critiques on not only the effects of urban racism and bigotry, but also the how minds of young people are so impressionable.


The film even succeeds in creating a sense of sympathy for characters that are typically hated, Neo-Nazi racist skinheads, and paints them not as foolish, uneducated racist bigots, but instead as misguided intelligent human beings.


On the surface the film discusses racism, violence, american history x essay, and bigotry, but upon closer examination I found a deeper message within the film. Watching it a second time, I realized that this film is really emphasizing the lack of critical thinking skills in young people, particularly in teenagers and young adults and how impressionable their minds are.


Then, upon further research related to those very topics it touches on in the film, I discovered that the entire movie itself actually harbors an obscure form of racism that was reflected in many movies throughout the s.


However, within the most recent years it has evolved to focus american history x essay on the gay, lesbian and transgender community. History certainly can be seen as repeating itself as many of the arguments that gays and lesbians make regarding their civil rights and discrimination almost mirror the same arguments made back in the s during the civil right movement.


Reverend Dr. Phil Snider made this connection so blatantly clear in his speech that went viral on YouTube that he gave before the Springfield City Council of Missouri just a few weeks ago. In his speech, Dr. I think the twist of his speech highlights the main issues regarding any form of racism and discrimination and they most certainly could be applied to the issues of racism that America faced in the s.


The s was saturated with debates over, court cases involving and numerous media american history x essay centering on the issues of racism and affirmative action, american history x essay. In March ofthe three white law school candidates charged that they were unfairly discriminated against and rejected for entrance into the school for less qualified minorities in the famous case Hopwood v. All of these enormously impactful events and numerous others shaped much of the discrimination that occurred in the s.


Cinethetic racism in the s was typically found in films that have a black character whose purpose in the film is to support the white protagonist.


The concept expressed in this quote is clearly evident in the film American History X during the many scenes of Derek in prison working in the laundry room with Lamont, a friendly black prisoner who attempts to befriend him. Eventually Derek is able let down his guard and the future interactions between them usually consist of Lamont humorously explaining how things work within the prison. This contradiction is depicted in the scene of Lamont and Derek working in the laundry room and Derek very genuinely asks Lamont why he is in prison.


I think this is the most important scene throughout the entire film because it gives the audience exactly what they want: they want to see Derek experience this epiphany and for him to recognize how he has perpetuated discrimination against black people.


But it does not take very long for the film to revert right back into the traditional cinethetic racist ways. I liken this idea of cinethetic racism to what actors refer to the subtext of a script. On the surface it appears to be a film that tries to defeat racism, but ironically there are hidden agendas that completely go against the moral of this story.


Just as magical Negros are a disguised form of racism found in American films in the s, there american history x essay also disguised forms of racism going on politically throughout the nation, more specifically in California. During the s, racism and american history x essay rights disputes were approaching the heights they reached in the civil rights era of the s.


However, after many decades of affirmative action policies attempting to right the wrongs minorities faced and with California experiencing an economic downturn, many whites became less tolerant of minorities receiving preferential treatment through affirmative action programs Alvarez.


And, furthermore, that there will always be a certain level of racism, as if to suggest that there is a threshold for which it is acceptable, but also that it american history x essay the responsibility of the majority, white people, to keep it in check.


Yet the moment any form of racism or discrimination is felt against whites, it is completely intolerable and demands political action. The scene opens with a dinner table conversation between Derek and his father about the material he is learning for his English class.


His father than expresses his american history x essay for such material with the following monologue:. You gotta question these things Derek. I got two blacks guys on my squad now that got their jobs over a couple of white guys who actually scored higher on the test. Does that make sense? They got their job because they were black not because they were the best?


Another aspect that I find so interesting about American History X was how writer David McKenna was able to pull directly from real life situations to add dialogue into this screenplay. More importantly, it was used in a scene where Derek is trying to energize a group of young skin heads before they vandalize a grocery store owned by minorities.


I find it so ironic that the character of a racist Neo-Nazi was reciting actual words from a speech promoting the removal of affirmative actions polices that were, allegedly, intended to reduce discrimination and increase equality. When I discovered this tidbit of information I was completely blown away.


I had no idea how closely this movie reflected real problems going on in society in the s. McKenna grew up in Southern California, where the film story takes place, and personally witnessed bigotry and racism Bruce. Personally, I think McKenna succeeded in having that be the main message of the film: the impressionability of a young mind and that all behaviors are learned.


However, despite how well received the movie was and the numerous nominations Edward Norton received for his performance, that is not the original message the director intended. Tony Kaye was the director of American History X and, ironically, he also turned out to be a major competing persuasive force throughout the entire film making process. McKenna wrote the film based off of his personal experience witnessing acts of racisms in Southern California in throughout the late s and early s.


Whereas, Kaye is not only much older than McKenna, but grew up in United Kingdom and had only been living in the United states for a few years before he got involved in the film at all, american history x essay, and, therefore, did not quite have the same outlook for the script Topel.


From studying American History X, I have learned how racism evolved in a very peculiar fashion. As racism, specifically towards black people, became less and less accepted by whites over the last years, certain segments of society seemed to find ways to continue a small, but undeniable level of racism since it was no longer socially acceptable among the general population to outwardly express it with for instance, lynching.


Racism and discrimination has certainly come a long way over the last sixty years, american history x essay it has definitely not been eradicated. In regards to American films however, one would have to sit down personally with directors and producers of s films to determine if they intentionally created these magical Negro characters in order to perpetuate racism.


In either case, it is very curious that a movie such as America History X meets the qualifications for cinethetic racism. In my opinion, for a film that was intended to enlighten the american history x essay of the problem of racism in America, yet ultimately perpetuated a veiled version of it, could no more flawlessly fit into this concept of cinethetic racism. Also, the argument of whether or not reality reflects art or if art reflects reality is just as frustrating to argue as whether the chicken or the egg came first.


But in the case for this film, I would contend that American History X, art, is reflecting reality. In fact, the notion behind cinethetic racism and the magical Negro tie in so neatly with the arguments for Proposition and Gov.


With a closer look into both, one can see that each share their own masked form of racism veiled as though whites are helping minorities. Art was imitating the subversive racism that was occurring in reality, american history x essay. As an actor myself, I think it is unfortunate for director Tony Kaye that, for whatever reason, he was not able to get his original vision of the film produced.


I think because of the numerous racially historical events that were occurring the s that producing a movie which centered on the freedom of speech around racism as Kaye originally intended, was the last thing any audience wanted to watch in a theatre. All in all, I think film did a fabulous job highlighting historical events and attitudes going on throughout society american history x essay the s, despite the fact that the film may be perpetuating racism at a subversive level.


American History X. Tony Kaye. Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. New Line Cinemas, Alvarez, R. Michael, and Lisa G. Sage Publications, Inc. Bruce, David. com, n. Goldstein, Patrick.


Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. Hughey, Matthew W. University of California Press, Leinberger, Gisela. Parker, american history x essay, Beth H. Equal Rights Advocates, n. Preacher Phil Snider Gives Interesting Gay Rights Speech. Phil Snider. YouTube, 13 Aug. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. The History Channel website. Oct 21 Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, and Patricia Warren. American Sociological Association, Topel, Fred.




Guy Torry: Ed Norton Had Arguments when We Worked on 'American History X' (Part 5)

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American History X Essay - Words | Bartleby


american history x essay

 · Related Essays. American History X. American History X. Hire writer. Rape In American Slavery Affected African American Society History Essay. Essay type Research. Documents and research on the slave epoch in the antebellum South are awash with horror narratives of the brutal and cold intervention of slaves, peculiarly adult females. Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins Racism And American History X Analysis Film Studies Essay ABOUT THE “AMERICAN HISTORY X”. The movie was a corporation of many talented people such as: Tony Kaye (the versatile SUMMARY. The “American History X” is one of the greatest movies ever. Throughout the movie, the past and present are  · American History X is a very controversial movie. It is a movie about a. Venice Beach skin head gang called the D.O.C. The gang is run by the master mind of. Cameron Alexander who likes to poison children’s minds with racism and other negative. things like stealing and vandalizing. The story is based around the family of Derek Vineyard who Cameron. Estimated Reading Time: 2 mins

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