Cassimere; American History X

American History X depicts Neo-Nazism as appealing to young middle class white kids. This is shown throughout the movie, especially in the scene of the basketball game between the black kids and the white kids. In this scene the viewer can see how the group of white supremacists might seem appealing to younger white males.

Derrick, a sort of role model to the group, comes off as brave and heroic after he has won the game and the basketball courts for the white supremacist group. They lift him up on their shoulders while the group of black kids walks off the court. To impressionable youths, Derrick looks like someone to look up to, while the group of black kids comes off as inferior because they lost the game, even though they cheated. Finley stated that the black characters in this movie “are depicted in a stereotypical fashion,” and that they come off as aggressive and child-like. Because they are portrayed this way in the movie, I believe that the intent of the filmmaker was to allow the viewer to see them as Danny or someone his age would see them. They would see them exactly in the way that Derrick and Cam Alexander have told them they are. They would only see characteristics that they have heard time and again from one of Derrick’s rants.

Most of the shots in this scene are from fairly public shots during the game. The scene was in black and white with high key lighting and high contrast between the lighter and darker colors on the screen. The swastika tattooed to Derrick’s chest stood out against his skin. The form was very open and the characters moved around from side to side of the frame. When Derrick and the person on the black team who elbowed him were arguing there were close up shots of both men, most likely to emphasize to the viewer the intensity of the scene.

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.