I decided to watch this film because it was mentioned in the play blackout saying that James watched it as well as other films like it. I know this film is set in America but I thought it would give me a better understanding of skinhead culture and James's character.I found this film very interesting because the main character and James kind of related, both having a father who was very masculine and also not around for them. In American History X the father showed his views on black people which made the main character think of them in a different way to he originally did. Also because his father was killed, it meant like James, Derek wanted some masculinity and guidance in life therefore he decided to become a skinhead.
Trailer:
Furthermore it was interesting to see how something such as a fighting over a game of basketball could in later years turn to violence with guns and pure hatred. We can see the result of this at the end of the film when Daniel gets shot just because he told some black boys to stop beating somebody up. We can see how hatred has been passed on to the younger generation so that they will take action against each other.
I really felt that the character Daniel was very similar to James because he was trying to find his identity. Also near the end when he takes down all the posters from his bedroom, this was exactly what James did so it showed me how some skinheads can turn their lives around.
Like James's mother, the mother in American History X tried to keep her children safe, however it she wasn't always able to because she was overpowered and when they finally did leave the skinhead gang unfortunately Daniel still got shot because other people still felt hatred towards him and his family.
Plot summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_History_X
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