Prejudice and bigotry will kill our children

Rating: 9/10 (14 August 2013)

American History X is about the idea that prejudice and bigotry will kill our children. The idea is that prejudice is a slippery slope. A father's offhanded racist remark over the dinner can lead to unintended consequences. The result, in the world of this movie, is children killing each other. The movie makes a pretty convincing argument that the consequences in our world would be just as dire, that there is no room for even a little bit of bigotry in our society if we are to survive without killing each other.
American History X goes about proving this idea with two main plots: the internal plot of Derek's redemption from being a skinhead Nazi to a tolerant individual actively helping the good cause and the external plot of Derek's attempt to save his younger brother Danny from the brainwashing that ruined him. Derek is successful in redeeming himself, but his attempt to save Danny fails when Danny is shot and killed. This suggests that even if we live with hate in a momentary weakness, that hate will have consequences far beyond the moment. The movie suggests that with hate, there is no such thing as true redemption. Therefore, we are all well-advised to avoid even a little bit of it.
The movie makes the idea fully believable because of the depths of hate and true redemption Derek goes through. He seemed to have finally won the battle to save both his family's soul when his past all of a sudden catches up to him and kills Danny. This twist at the end makes it impossible to finish the movie feeling good about ourselves that the hero has won his redemption through his trials by fire. It makes it impossible not to think and feel and believe that hate will eventually catch up to all of us if we let it in for even a little bit. Great idea and a great movie.
My Story Chart of the movie is at storycharts.ca.