Lanaux American History X

The scene that illustrates the attractiveness of Nazism/Facism to a group of young people is the scene right before the vandalism of the Korean owned store. We see Derek rallying a group of young skinheads while Danny explains the reason for the increasing following Derek garners. Danny says the new skinheads are young men who have been harassed and beaten by black thugs. In the words of Danny, 'Don't just be some punk, be part of something." They manifest their fear and frustration into extreme prejudice for the sake of power and revenge.

Later in the scene we see Derek preaching to the eager new members his neo-nazi propaganda. The camera focuses on him through most of his speech but we get brief shots of various members watching him. The shots of them are in close up, and we see that they are fully attentive and absorbing the material. The camera focuses on Derek longer though so we the audience can pay attention to everything he is saying. The shot looks as if we're a part of the crowd. The article on white supremacy talks about the issue of voice and how the choice of giving Derek various opportunities to preach makes a difference in the message to viewers take from the film. The article states the white supremacist is the brightest and most articulate and the other side are to meek and ignorant to argue. While I disagree that the opposing side of Derek's views are not as smart, I agree that having Derek be the most articulate character is an important aspect of the film. It makes his personal transformation much more meaningful.