American History X: An Essay

[NOTE: This essay contains a few spoilers here and there, just so you know!]

American History X, a film starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong, is more than just a movie about racism and white supremacy. This film is powerful and realistic, and it's not just because it shows the brutality of hate crimes. What really drives home the theme of the film are the positive aspects of it. Three of these aspects are redemption, brotherly love, and loyality. They prove, with exceptional strength, to be American History X's true driving forces.

In American History X, Derek Vinyard is a man who returns from prison after 3 years for the manslaughter of two black men, and has completely changed, proving that everyone is capable of change. He is no longer the racist, prejudiced man he used to be. In the scenes of the film showing him returned from prison, he wears long-sleeved shirts to cover the swastikas and white power symbols tattooed on him that he used to show off with pride. He's grown his hair out, straying from the symbolic bald heads of the other neo-nazis and skinheads he once associated with. In the beginning of the film, he is proud of how his younger brother, Danny, is following in his footsteps and growing increasingly hateful. This changes incredibly quickly when he comes home. We begin to see Derek in a new light, telling his brother not to go to a neo-nazi party that night. After Danny insults his principal, who is black, Derek scolds him for doing so, and tells him that he should respect him. We see that Derek really does have true intentions to redeem himself as a person, and no longer wants to be the man he once was.

The brotherly relationship between Derek and Danny shows their strong, although in some ways incredibly dangerous, bond. No matter what Derek does, Danny loves him. To Danny, Derek is not only his brother, but also his role model and his father figure. Their bond is as touching as it is hazardous, because for a large part of Danny's life, Derek is a hateful and abusive person. Under his influence, Danny becomes this way too. However, as Derek's change in character becomes clear, Danny also changes. The two brothers are like mirror images of one another; whatever Derek does, Danny mimics. In the end this turns out to be a positive characteristic of their relationship, although it is possible to imagine an alternate scenario in which Danny is so far gone into Derek's old ways that he can't come out, and the change in Danny, that is seen so clearly in Derek, never happens.

Loyalty is shown from multiple perspectives in the film as well, and plays a key role in delivering the many messages of the film. Danny's unwavering loyalty to his older brother mimics Derek's loyalty to his cause. Derek, at one time, would do anything to help the D.O.C (his neo-nazi gang). Derek and Danny are both incredibly loyal people, however their loyalty is projected through negativity and hatred rather than positive traits. Danny is the only character, however, which breaks this pattern in some form, by showing his loyalty to his brother through unconditional love. Eventually we see Derek reciprocate Danny's unconditional love by leaving the gang and shifting his loyalty to his family, but for much of the film this isn't the case. Loyalty is also seen in lesser characters through their hate crimes and, unlike Derek, perpetual love for the neo-nazi cause. Other members of the D.O.C who once respected and idolized Derek, making him a god-like character in some ways, immediately turn on him when they learn that he has turned his back on the gang.

Racism and white supremacy are clearly only the crust of American History X. It is obvious that loyalty, brotherly love, and the idea that people are capable of change and redemption are three of the layers underneath that crust, and that this is a film about so much more than the story of one man's hate crimes.