American History X Essay

In the extract of American History X that we watched, it is clear that there is tension between each race. The white race in this extract is shown to be violent and aggressive whereas the black race is shown to be innocent. The white male has a swastika tattooed over his heart which suggests the is patriotic towards his political group.
At the start of the extract, the brother of the violent male is sitting in a bedroom which is surrounded in swastika signs and poster that are severely racist towards the black race. One poster has on it “Nigger’s Beware” The word “Nigger” is a derogatory term which is vastly racist towards black males and females. Also in his bedroom was a large swastika sign which was hung up on the wall. Having a sign that large on the bedroom wall suggests that his brother and he are really devoted to their belief. Another factor is that the scene was in colour – this is important as it shows the audience that it was the present time, as the black and white parts of the film were flashbacks showing what had previously happened.
The next part of the extract is a flashback to the dramatic scene which got his brother arrested. This part is shot in black and white to let the audience know that it was a flashback. It starts off by showing a stocky man, shooting at a driving car. This suggests that he was a violent person as he was shooting the gun accurately, which shows that he has handled a gun in the past. As the car gets away, the man is shown as having a swastika tattooed on his chest, this shows his patriotism. This group had beliefs that there was the best way. In addition to this, the Nazi party are an extremely racist group. As the man walks back towards the house, there is an injured, black man on the grass. The patriotic man, man handles the black man and starts verbally questioning the man to why he tried to steal his father’s truck. During this, the younger brothers voice over is played saying “If only I didn’t tell him” which suggests that he beliefs it was his fault for what happened that night. Soon after his, his brother put’s the victim’s mouth on the curb and stomped on the man’s head; this shows how intense and loyal to belief he was.
Sound plays a big part in this extract. The sound in the extract is differentiated through each part. At the part where Derek is going over towards the injured black man, the music forms a crescendo which builds up to show the drama of events that have happened. Other sounds that are heard are rather religious sounding music as Derek is getting arrested which suggest that it is rather heavenly for him to get arrested.
As well as sound, cinematography plays a large part in this extract. The cinematography expresses the emotion shown in this extract. The main turning point of this extract is the point that handcuffs is placed on Derek as it shows that he is not in control anymore. The camera shows it from his brother’s point of view to add effect. The moment he is arrested, his facial expressions change as it somewhat shows he understands what he has done, and seeing his brother this upset, is making him emotional.
At the point Derek is arrested, he stands in the way Jesus did. This is shows dramatic irony as his Nazi party were against Jews, and Jesus was actually a Jew. Standing like Jesus suggests that he believes he is better than everyone else, but at the moment he was arrested, everything changes. Suring this angelic quire sounds are playing to make it biblical At this point his brother looks distraught, which suggests that Derek was maybe his protector and he has now been taking away from him. It also could make the audience to relate to this.
Race is shown in this extract to be a more white male dominant extract, as Derek brutally kills two black males. The white male, Derek, is shown to be a violent male. The black males in this extract follow the usual conventions of a movie as the black males are more likely to be the criminals. The movie somewhat breaks conventions as the criminal normally hurt the victim, but in fact, the tables turn in this extract as the victim turns into the criminal as he kills the males. Killing the black male by curb stomping his head, shows how discourteous he is to the other race.
Race is shown to be really important in this extract, the white race is the most dominant, and the black race is shown to be vulnerable and defenceless. This is shown as the Derek who is white, kills two black males, and the black males don’t fight back, and follow Derek’s instructions.