Minorities in the Media - Essay Example

The act of seeking out revenge by harming an entire classification of people simply because they have been stereotyped is a major depiction of ignorance and responsible for a vicious cycle of hatred to formulate. This is where the movie American History X comes in. The purpose of the story is to realize that racial hatred does not accomplish anything except create more hate. The director and writer of this movie accomplish their purpose through character development, the targeted audience, and cinematography.

Character development best helps to accomplish the purpose of the movie. The most developed characters in this film are Derek and Danny. Derek’s character is full of racial hatred and plays as a leader of a neo-Nazi group in Venice Beach, California at the beginning of the movie. “Based on this traumatic incident and an underlying climate of subtle racism, the elder son, Derek, focuses his rage on the minority community and becomes a racist agitator” (McKenna, 1999). Derek preaches to young skinheads about his beliefs of the American society and how minority groups are corrupting the society and wasting taxpayer’s money.

Derek shows great hate towards minority groups mostly because of the fact that his father had been murdered by a black man. American History X is clearly a film dealing with the social topic of racism. The most interesting aspect of this movie is the way in which the subject unfolds. First of all, it is quiet obvious how difficult a subject that racism is to portray and effectively depict. However American History X presents the subject without any qualms and a unique clarity. Secondly the film’s main figurehead for racism, which is portrayed by Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), is not an unintelligent redneck racist as most films usually portray anyone adopting such notions to be, but he is in fact a intelligent, eloquent, charming and bright man despite the fact that he clearly holds ideals which are terribly wrong and confused.

Finally, the film also shows that it is not only the white, neo-nazi racists who are fools for being involved in situations like these and adopt a lifestyle central on these stereotypes, but it is all those who hold hatred in their hearts. Through these methods, the film beautifully instills this idea upon the viewer, in an extremely compelling way, that hatred and racism will destroy a person and those who are closest to them. The intense realism that the movie portrays as far as the execution of the incidents is concerned is most impressive with no holds expelled of the intense racial hatred.

As we go back to the starting of the movie when Derek figures that some black guys were trying to steal or wreck his truck he immediately grabs a gun, and shoots one of them, wounds another, and fires at the third as he gets away. It was then that one of the most brutal scenes in film history is shown in the way Derek forces the wounded man to put his face on the curb and kicks the back of his head, smashing the mans skull. It is this scene that is such a perfect example of cumulative causation.

This is because it depicts the endless circle of hate between both parties involved. For example, the young black men were acting out this way simply because they had been disgraced by the white male in the local basketball game; therefore, they go up to damage the white males care, which in turn leads to Derek shooting the young black men. This is a vicious circle with no seeming end. The strength that