American History X

Crime is believed to be caused either by social inequality or poverty; in some cases by Greed. If someone gets robbed by a black individual, he may start hating every black person and classify them all as thieves. In the film, the father of the protagonist gets shot and killed while doing his job as a firefighter, putting a fire out during the LA riots. His son's (Derrick) rage is focused on every black person. Blinded by hatred, he joins a Neo-Nazi group to avenge his father's blood.
Derrick is in his home when two black guys break into his car attempting to steal it. His brother (Danny) is in the next room, he hears the window smashing and gets Derrick. Derrick comes out and shoots, killing one of them while wounding the other. Instead of calling the police and turning the wounded man over to the authorities, he decides to take the law into his own hands by killing him in an extremely barbaric way, right in front of his younger brother. He gets arrested and sentenced for two years in prison.
The first days in prison he meets fellow Neo-Nazis who share the same ideology. He quickly joins them and spends his time in total safety. His duty is the laundry department where he has to work with what he hates most, a black person. The black man, ignoring Derrick's ideology, tries to make friends with him but in vain. During his stay in prison Derrick notices his friends exchanging drugs with Hispanics. He gets mad and tries to talk to one of them about how wrong that is. They laugh at him and warn him to take it easy. Because of his dedication to his ideals he decides to stop being a part of that group, dismissing them as fake. Gradually he breaks away from that kind of thinking and befriends the black man from the laundry room. Little by little he gets more comfortable and even plays basketball with people of different races at the yard. His ex-partners in hate do not appreciate that and decide to teach him a lesson. They brutally rape him in the showers.
Puzzled and disappointed, he lies in the hospital bed. When his high school teacher, who happens to be black, comes to visit him, he is embarrassed and ashamed. After a deep conversation, Derrick asks for help. The teacher says that he will talk to a parole officer. In the mean time he's all alone in jail with no protection from his "friends." The black man from the laundry room gets upset and advises him to go back to them. Derrick has made up his mind though and has no intentions of rejoining them. He also notices that none of the black men are after him. He keeps to himself and reads books that his teacher gave him.
The day comes when he finishes his sentence. Saying goodbye to his friend from the laundry he realizes that he is the reason, a black man, that he wasn't attacked. When he comes home, a surprise is waiting; Danny following in his footsteps. He quickly takes action against those who tried to change his brother. Unfortunately Danny is already marked for a hit and gets shot in the bathrooms of his school. In a state of hysteria Derrick runs in, hugs his brother's lifeless body and blames himself for what happened.
It's remarkable when Derrick was still with the racist assembly and he gave a speech to the rest of the group. To a badly informed person what he was saying may seem partially true although in a severely generalized and twisted point of view. He blames immigrants for the economy of the country. His strongest motive is that they have taken grocery store jobs from the white middle class workers. If any of those kids wanted that kind of work, they could easily have it. After analyzing the speech it's clear that Derrick is an articulate young man, but unfortunately misguided. Despite his brilliancy, he fails to realize that he is being used by Cameron, an older racist who poisons the minds of insecure kids. Cameron uses Derrick to influence the younger, more impressionable minds; using a younger speaker to identify with the youth in a non threatening way.
The reaction of Derrick's girlfriend is also remarkable when he announces to her that he is done with the movement. Obviously she wasn't in love with Derrick but with the idea he used to stand for; she changes her mind within seconds of Derrick speaking to her. His girlfriend is so absorbed in the movement that she cares about nothing else, not even Derrick's life; so was Derrick at one point in time.
The rape intends to show that an ideology, such as racism, can easily turn its followers against each other. If someone is insecure enough to hate a whole race, for whatever reason, then that person is capable of hating even one of his own. Evidently hate is just a desire which needs to be directed at a random target. The justification for the emotion can make sense to no one but the person who feels it. Derrick got thrown in prison for what he believed in. He was then assaulted and raped for what he had become.
While at the hospital, when he's having the conversation with his high school teacher, he is still not completely disconnected from the lifestyle that put him there. That is until his teacher asks him if what he did made his or his family's life better. Realizing that he had been gravely mistaken, Derrick asks for help, while he bursts into tears; the philosophy that Derrick was living, fighting, killing and willing to die for is erased.
When he gets out of jail and he finds out that his brother is becoming just as he used to be he decides to put a stop to it. Danny informs him that there is going to be a party at Cameron's house the same night. Derrick advises him to stay home but they get into an argument. Danny does not understand the change. He walks away and Derrick goes out with Seth (a former friend) who is not smart enough to see that Derrick has changed. It seems everyone, besides his mother and his sister, cannot notice that Derrick is not the same person. His sister mentions quitting school and getting a job; Derrick raises his voice and says that she should stay in school and finish, that he will find a job. His sister looks at him and at that moment she realizes that her brother is a changed man. He talks to his mother and asks if it's ok that he stays, she tells him that he is most welcome.
At Cameron's party, two of Danny's friends approach Derrick praising him for what he did; apparently bothered by the ignorance of those kids Derrick walks away. He has come to this party to find Cameron and tell him to leave his brother alone. Cameron says that he's more important to him than Derrick will ever be, emphasizing the power of ideals. Derrick loses his temper and punches Cameron. On his way out, Seth walks into the room that Derrick has just come out from and finds Cameron on the floor. Trying to get out, Derrick is face to face with Seth pointing a gun at him. After few brief moments, he manages to take the gun away and run out of that place. On his way home he is confronted by his brother who is outraged by Derrick's attitude. Derrick then explains what happened in jail. His brother finally understands and agrees with Derrick to get rid of the self-destructing philosophy and move on.
The movie makes clear the fact that Derrick's brain was being polluted before his father's death. At the family table during supper Derrick mentions a book written by a black author. His father makes some comments regarding books written by white writers. He also lectures how he's at risk on the job because, according to him, affirmative action is a swindle to put black people to jobs that they're not qualified for. That conversation implanted the virus of racism into Derrick's mind. Would his father be proud if he were alive, seeing what Derrick had become? Probably not, but he had such an influence on his son. That is what the film wants to point out. Sometimes, we do not know the power that we have to influence others, and how one statement can be misconceived.
The day before Derrick became a murderer he had a vicious fight with his family.
His mother, after his father's death, started dating a Jewish man. Derrick bothered by that, finds an excuse, the trial of Rodney King, to start a fight. He turns against his family, pushing and knocking down his brother, humiliating his sister while his girlfriend is encouraging him to continue. His mother's boyfriend walks out of the house and out of her life, stating that he is sorry. Shortly after his mother asks him to leave the house; he says that he will be gone in the morning. His girlfriend declares that he can move in with her. Moments before the shooting, Derrick's girlfriend notices him getting his gun and heading towards the door. She jumps out of the bed and yells "wait a minute" but it's too late. She contributed to this act of violence, feeding the hate; she didn't stop him when she had the chance.
The movie's basic message is how someone can transform from an unpleasant violent person to a kind one. Derrick was sent to jail for murder and through his experience he realized that he was on the wrong path. He didn't think he was doing anything wrong until he was faced with the contradictions he used to believe in. He felt the need for a change but he was obviously scared. Towards the end of the movie, his teacher asks him to talk to his ex-crew, because Cameron and Seth are in the hospital as victims of gang violence. He asks this, not to put Derrick in danger but to prevent retaliation. Derrick at first refuses, fearing for his life. Then he realizes that he is partially responsible for what happened; he has become aware of the influence. Some times we may say things which make sense at the moment because that is how we feel, that we will never break away from something that we believe so strongly. One time or another in our lives we have defended beliefs which later on we probably felt ashamed of. The message is that we shouldn't be so absolute. Careful self-criticism can make us better individuals.