My Professor

Rating: Null/10 (15 March 2010)

I had a professor at Eastern Washington University who liked to say outrageous things to get us thinking in our teacher-preparation classes. He told us that all stereotypes are born from some tiny kernel of truth, that right or wrong, stereotypes are born from some sort of relative reality.
So don't be offended by what I have to say. I found the hatred and the violence in Tony Kaye's American History X horrifying and dispiriting, the stuff that makes me look, from time to time, at the human race and think "pestilence." Yet, there's just a smidgen of truth in Edward Norton's pep talk to his skinhead followers just before they destroy a grocery store owned and operated by a Korean. There's a nugget of reality in Elliot Gould's attempt at understanding the violence of the 1992 LA riots. Mistreatment garners hate--and a desire for revenge! A government that doesn't enforce what Michael Savage hammers at--language, borders, culture--ceases to serve its constituency. Given the reasons--lame or not--to wage war against our neighbors, we are predisposed to do so.
That's why I think American History X is a great film. It could never be considered by anyone with a shred of maturity as entertainment. It does accomplish one of the critical Six Parts of Drama, penned by Aristotle--it evokes intense thought.
I've had a copy of AHX in my stack-of-movies-to-watch for about a decade, thanks to my video store in-laws who used to give us screeners, and I finally sat down to watch the movie. My preconception was that X was some sort of hoary drive-by gang movie. I really didn't know what to expect, beyond the positive comments by students over the years. I was engrossed by the film, its performances, and its clear and tragic narrative from the start.
Which brings me back to my professor from a quarter century ago at EWU. I liked the guy, the way he was able to tweak our politically correct sensibilities and to get us talking. American History X has that same ability.
He and the movie were wise. Hopefully anyone who sees the movie shares in that wisdom.