Review of American History X (1998) by Mike S — 04 Nov 2013

This tragic story is brilliantly acted and beautifully shot, but brutal, violent, and depressing. It seems to say that education can change an evil man into a good one, but educating one man at a time is a slow process and we may be running out of time.

After the death of their father, brothers Derek (Edward Norton) and Danny (Edward Furlong) fall under the sway of a radical white supremacist. Derek becomes an obscenity-spewing leader of a white gang that trashes immigrant-run corner stores and chases black neighbours out of local parks. He eventually goes too far and ends up in prison for a vicious, brutal murder. While he is out of sight, his legend grows among the skinhead crowd and younger brother Danny goes along with the vitriol (although there are some indications that Danny doesn't totally buy into the Aryan ideology). Finally, Derek is released a changed man and does his best to save Danny from the cycle of hate and violence.

The movie is told through a combination of present-day scenes after Derek's release and flashbacks (filmed in crystal-clear black and white) of the murder and Derek's time in prison, where we see how he comes to recognize the white supremacists' preaching to be utterly false.

This is a difficult and disturbing film to watch. I watched it with a high-school teacher whose students repeatedly tell her how awesome it is. Clearly, some teenagers are completely missing the point, which is always a danger when presenting such hate-filled behaviour in a realistic way. The weak-minded will see it as glorifying a point of view that in fact it is showing as utterly abhorrent.

This film presents a view of a life that middle-class viewers like me have never experienced and I hope never will. I know these attitudes and actions exist, but I don't really know what purpose is served by putting them on the screen.