Hey Dolphy, Hit Me So I Can Hit You Back

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2015)

Feurer, command—we follow. It was the slogan of Hitler's tsunami back in those days, which is still found in individuals, underground single-man and obsessive people; they're obsessed with a certain lifestyle, and believe not in discussion, neither in argumentation, but in imposition. Bald-headed or not, individuals like Derek are reality, so are Danny(s) who're confused in choosing roads. What makes their predicaments even worse is the double-minded composition of the world, and that's something that is going to remain constant for a long time. Hence, so are the extremist mobs. I'm not declaring them wrong, I'm only calling them ambivalent. I'm aware of the Holocaust and the society that thinks it's perfectly justified. I wouldn't contradict their viewpoint, but my promulgation will certainly devise the conduct of suggestion, interaction, and double-exchange rather than straight exterminations. I don't wish to be called a monologue-r, although that title gains more viewer-ship. "Appeal to popularity" is an argumentative fallacy that individuals of all levels adopt in their conversational discourse. Now let's go to the review.
American History X captures absence/lack/irrationality of egalitarianism in a very unique way. Using Nazism, it extends its effects to the black community. Edward Norton (crazy-eyes) suited the role only from physical and expressive way; he was pretty bad from the "vocal" perspective; the guy can't do working-class roles at all; I mean let's face it, the guy's voice appears to be of an over-intellectualized kid doing weed, not a hipster or gangster. His acting nonetheless was superb, like when officers are arresting him and he looks at Danny with that psychotic smile (crazy-eyes, no?) The nigga-facta was good. Almost all the extras in the movie were African-Americans. I think this was a directorial flaw. America's still flowing with Whites. I'm not personally against blacks, in fact I've a lot of Afro-Am friends myself. But that doesn't mean that you flood the set with them. But then looking at the low-budget, it's acceptable. Moreover, the movie didn't look at perfection, but realism and digging the small-scale on-goings in America and potentially all over the globe.
American History has nothing but Norton's acting and screenplay (even that limited to the amount of touch with real-life scenario). But what it has is delivered with excellence. The story keeps you ponder over the ruthlessness of all sides. The world isn't so perfect as shown. You can't expect things to be rational, or mildly reasonable. Even paternal guidance isn't entirely logical, neutral and aimed at resolving physical and mental issues.
I was hit down by the movie, and I started to question the logical sense and accuracy of "white man's burden" claim. From Derek's skull-crushing to his assault in prison, and from that to Danny's ultimate redemption, everything builds up your trust with the movie, and believe me, whatever it says, you'll start following it the same way. So yeah that's probably the only good-thing about it.
With everything said, I think if you look from the low-budget perspective and director's mindset, you'll realize that film's intention and imparting was limited and it successfully got what it aimed. However, from the dramaturgical viewpoint, it lacks several accessories.