Fascism/Nazism was attractive to the young people of Venice Beach in California. It attracted the young people that were once scared of the black gangs taking over the neighborhoods. There is a scene where Danny talks about the gangs as if they were a “plague” coming to take over everyone in the neighborhood. It is when Derek gave him the idea that white kids shouldn’t walk scared of black kids in their own neighborhood. It is exactly why Derek started the whole deal to win the basketball court back over to the whites of the neighborhood. The exact scene Danny talks about the whole idea is a very personal shot of his face when making a smirk to the black boy he had smoked right in front of in the bathroom. It is when he comes to the basketball court to tell about the old days at the basketball court. It’s as if Danny wants the black boys to think there are coming sooner or later so they better watch out. It is a personal shot to show emotion in Danny’s face about how he felt superior to the blacks in the neighborhood even though Derek was in jail. He recalls the old days when Derek won the basketball court. It shows specifically the class of young people Fascism and racism attracted because those are the white young people wanting to get rid of the blacks in the neighborhood. Just as stated in the article, the most stereotypical form of black people depicted in the movie are violent thugs and Derek wanted to get rid of these violent thugs to make sure the white kids would not be scared in their own neighborhood. They are violently depicted in the basketball when Derek is playing fair and winning, then one of the black guys has to come up and hit him. Derek specifically in the basketball scene shows his white superiority and it is those type of young people that are attracted to the Fascism/Nazism ideas. Derek would feed the kids ideas that the black people needed to go and it would be done in an easy fair way. The basketball court scene shows Derek’s perfect idea and the black and white filming shows exactly how Derek viewed the world for himself. It was as simple as black and white.
good point about using black and white not simply to talk about the past but also to talk about the stereotypical views about race. Lower middle class whites are most in conflict with the other because neighborhoods in that class are often impacted by influxes of other races.
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