American History X While IT's Essay

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The film brings up numerous questions such as how does an individual descend so far and so deep into a movement as riddled with hate and brutality as Neo-Nazism to the extent that they would feel justified in murdering for this "cause." The film offers several answers, some of them satisfactory and some of them not; the answers which are less acceptable can be as useful in the task of inquiry as the ones that are adequate. For example, one critic explains that Derek blamed the death of his father on a range of race-related factors and we later see how his father tutored both sons in a range of racist beliefs, but "the scene feels like tacked-on motivation…"(Egbert, 1998). Rather what the film did do well was offer another answer for why these individuals, and the character of Derek namely could take such an extreme descent in to racism: "The scariest and most convincing scenes are the ones in which we see the skinheads bonding.
They're led by Derek's brilliant speechmaking and fueled by drugs, beer, tattoos, heavy metal and the need all insecure people feel to belong to a movement greater than themselves" (Egbert, 1998). The fearlessness of the film allows the door to be opened for an examination of the whirling factors that allow the Neo-Nazi movement to tick and to be maintained. Watching Derek's transformation from a repulsive hate-mongering racist to a gentle, peace-craving convert can provide insight in how to disarm such racist groups, even if the movie is an example of extremes.

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"American History X While IT's", 17 September 2012, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/american-history-x-while-75513