You likely don't need a lengthy explanation of what this article is actually about. The content here will serve to properly introduce you to one of the most impressive films of all of the 1990s, "American History X". You should learn a few different things about this film to fully appreciate it as it was meant to be appreciated, and most of this prevalent information will be contained within the upcoming paragraphs.
This movie was not based on real events, as some people seem to think that it was. Though, the course that the film takes might not be all that unlike what others might have experienced in their own lives. This is a reflection about how we can be led so strongly to believe something that we later cannot believe in anymore through the introduction of circumstances beyond our control.
The movie starts rolling by introducing you to Danny Vinyard, who is still in high school. After getting in some trouble over having written a history paper on a white supremacist, he is told to write a paper on his brother Derek. Derek is Danny's older brother and he is, for all intents and purposes, the main character of the piece.
You also learn that Derek, his immediate family and his close friends all share a extremist skinhead view on the world. That world, indicates that black people are the problem that society has to put up with and for all intents and purposes should be eradicated. This began when Derek was a small boy and watched his father gunned down by a black drug dealer. He was taken under the wing of a white supremacist that encouraged him to stand up for himself. So Derek formed his own gang of white kids that would never be afraid of blacks in their community again.
You also learn why Derek is in jail, through the retelling of his brother Danny in a narrative. Three black men attempt to break into Derek's car and he is alerted and heads outside with a pistol drawn. He gets two out of the three with shots, killing one and wounding another. What follows is one of the most graphic sequences ever depicted on film, in which he forces the wounded man to place his teeth on the curb and Derek stomps on the back of his head, killing him.
However, Derek is required to face his beliefs when he heads off to prison. He learns very quickly that there is no place for his beliefs, and ironically befriends a black man when they are forced to share laundry duty together. When his old history teacher visits and tells him that Danny is headed down the same path, Derek vows to change his ways for good when he gets out and move himself and his brother far away from the mess that he has made.
When he is released, he goes to find his girlfriend to ask her to move away with Danny and himself. He also confronts Cameron, the old white supremacist who encouraged Derek as a young boy. He tells them that he is through, and leaves with his brother after some trouble erupts outside. Danny finishes his paper, with the reflection that hate is baggage and it doesn't pay to be pissed off all the time.
The story ends with Danny being shot to death by a black kid in the bathroom at school. Powerful acting from Edward Norton (Derek Vinyard) and Edward Furlong (Danny Vinyard) bring this story to the screen and give it the perfect acting that such an impressive movie requires. American History X might be hard to watch at times, but it is a grand reflection on how people could be so confident in what they believe to be right.
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