Capacity to change, racial issues, social injustices

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2010)

Danny Vinyard played by Edward Furlong was a teenage boy who submitted an essay paper in class declaring his opinion of praise on the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. The teacher whom Danny submitted the paper to was Jewish. The principle summoned Danny in for a meeting telling him he is going to redo his assignment but with a different objective and twenty four hours to do it in. The task is a full essay on how his life has been shaped by the events that have taken place including the events that took place to land his brother Derek Vinyard played by Edward Norton in prison. The day Danny met with principle and assigned his new objective was the day that Derek is released from prison. Derek became very involved in a white supremacist group and his hatred for humans with color was intense. One night Derek's vehicle was being broken in to and he goes out and catches the guys, he killed themhe went to prison. While in prison Derek's job paired him with a black man and over time they become close and Derek changes. Derek's change is the prime example to the prominent theme of the moviethe capacity of oneself to change. The movie deals with the life of Danny and Derek Vinyard and some crucial issues that deal with racism and social injustices. The themes of the movie are the ability to change yourself, racism issues, and social injustices. The motif and symbols seen throughout the movie were very relevant to the theme. The Mein Kampf, the posters, and the tattoos were all relevant to the theme of the movie. The dialogue to the movie was very appropriate and stayed right in line with the themes. The movie American History X was a great movie that dealt this issues that always seem to be issues at least in the past and present the issue of racism and social injustices have always been a problem and could be a problem in the future. I like how this movie showed the hatred, anger, and violence within a family and within the society but this movie showed all the gritty details and scenes that were full of hate but it also showed the consequences of decisions and the light at the end of the dark tunnel.