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Recommended: Violence in movies
America has come a long way with how people are treated as opposed to how things use to be not so long ago. In the film American History X (1998) we see how some parts of America were not adjusting to change in their towns which resulted in violent outbreaks and many deaths. Although throughout the movie we see the main character, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) that at the beginning of the film is in a “white power” gang and later transforms as a character to protect his brother and the rest of his family from being hurt and corrupted by the racist world that they were living in. The movie starts out in a black and white color, which represents in flashback points of what happened in the Vinyard family past. In that black and white scene there …show more content…
He now knows he was setting a bad example for Danny and he knows that the way they were living was not the right way to live. After their talk they head home and go into the room that they share, and tear down everything that was related to white supremacy off their walls. That symbol of them removing everything that they once stood shows how Derek got through to Danny. Danny did not understand the change that Derek went through, but he understands enough that if it was powerfully enough to change his brother, then he should listen to him and follow him too. And Danny most likely would not want to go through the same things his brother had to go through just to change the way he thinks, so they mutually agreed they were done with that life style when together they both pulled down the posters, the pictures and the Nazi flag off their bedroom wall, which symbolized the war they were fighting was …show more content…
There are many actions in the film that cause Derek to change as a character, but when he helps change his brother Danny, that his when the major change happens, they both agree they are done with their old life style and are ready to leave it behind. Derek walks Danny to school that next morning and explains they might be in danger from the decision that they have made, which got a few of their old gang members hurt that night. So Derek drops Danny off at school. In the article Contemporary Justice Review, they explain the end of the movie as, “newly reformed, happy-go-lucky Danny being gunned down in the bathroom by the clack boy he had blown smoke at earlier in the film. We hear him say: ‘Hate is baggage – it’s not worth it’” (Finley 229). That last quote Danny says show’s how both he and Derek have changed over the course of the film. They both learned in different ways that “Hate is baggage and it’s not worth it.” Although Derek is extremely upset by the death of his brother it is safe to say that he was a least proud that he had died not in hatred but as a new person. Just as how the old Derek had gone away and came back as a new
The film starts with an uprising after a white storeowner kills a black teenager. This incident Highlights Prejudices. The teenager was labeled a thief because of the color of his skin and the unjustifiable murder causes racial tensions that exist as a result of the integration of the high schools.
Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States: from Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror. New York, NY: Sentinel, 2007. Print.
Tindall, George Brown, and David Emory Shi. America: A Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton Co., 1997.
poster typically has the white cowboy large, presented front and center, with the antagonists and co-stars all behind him. An iconic western, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, has a poster picturing the white cowboy alone. Clint Eastwood stands there tall, stoic, and singular. Typical of most other westerns, the white cowboy is the center of attention. Here, however, there are two non-white figures presented: Bart, the Black cowboy, and a large Native American chief. This movie poster has the same style as other westerns with the color and layout, but is unique in the fact that a black man is presented where a white man would normally be dominating. Once again, this makes a statement about racial improvements. Previously having a black man at
2. Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror. New York: Sentinel, 2004. Print
... He becomes the symbol of hope that the Caucasian adults are willing to break down the barriers separating them from the African American children. When the other men just stood there daydreaming, this "citizenly" (192) man struck the first blow that could break down the racial wall. But because of this single action, one of the boys (Samuel) falls off the platform and dies.
Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States: from Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror. New York, NY: Sentinel, 2007. Print.
There are many adaptations and interpretations on how the English arrived to the Americas and established their colonies. The 2005 film “New World”, written and directed by Terrance Malick, is a film based off the English settlers and how they settled in the Americas in 1607, and the forbidden relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas. Although the film highly exaggerates on some scenes in order to make the history seem more interesting, the film still holds most historical accuracy and is an enjoyable film.
Fruitvale Station is based on the true story of a young man named Oscar Grant III, who is murdered due to existing social issues such as racism. The movie displays the young man’s daily activities from waking up and getting his daughter ready for school, taking his girlfriend to work, celebrating his mother’s birthday and finally to the time at which he loses his life due to misjudgment of his character. Majority of the social issues shown throughout the film are based on the character of Oscar Grant. He is a young unemployed African-American man, who has recently been released from prison. Oscar suffers from social issues due to his past and is forced to live with the choices that he made when he was younger.
One of the more prevalent themes of this movie is racism, and how prejudicial mindsets ultimately lead to one’s own demise. The movie outlines how racism, among other things, can adversely affect someone’s judgment. After the father died, we see how the family gradually deteriorates financially as well as emotionally after Derek (the older brother played by Edward Norton) turns to a neo Nazi gang for an outlet, which eventually influences his younger brother Danny (played by Edward Furlong) to follow down ...
Tolson, Claudette L. "White Supremacy." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Ed. Patrick L. Mason. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2013. 272-274. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
The film, Fruitvale Station, is based upon a true story of a young, unarmed African American male, Oscar, who was shot by a Caucasian BART police officer. The film displays the final twenty-fours of Oscar Grant’s lives going through his struggles, triumphs, and eager search to change his life around. There will be an analysis of the sociological aspects displayed throughout the movie that show racism, prejudice, and discrimination.
This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human.
... is the brutality of hate and racism. The emotions running high in the movie makes it powerful and moving and the death of Derek’s younger brother Danny Vinyard is shocking enough to bring tears to many viewers’ eyes. The movie ends with Danny’s voice reading his paper out loud and he ends his paper with a very important quote by Abraham Lincoln. This quote shows how Danny’s, as well as Derek’s, mindset changed from the beginning of the movie to the end. When hearing this quote it leaves the viewers in awe that Danny finally started to look past his hateful ideologies but ends up dead because of the lifestyle him and his brother decided to lead. “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature”.
This movie takes place in Los Angeles and is about racial conflicts within a group of people which occur in a series of events. Since there are a wide variety of characters in this movie, it can be confusing to the viewer. In the plot, Graham is an African-American detective whose younger brother is a criminal. His mother cares more about his brother than Graham and she wants Graham to bring his brother back home, which in turn hurts Graham. Graham?s partner Ria is a Hispanic woman who comes to find that her and Graham?s ethnicities conflict when she had sex with him. Rick is the Los Angeles district attorney who is also op...