The movie American History (1998) throws light on the racial discrimination prevalent in American society. The feelings of hatred, unrest, and intolerance between the two races are best revealed in the movie, and the spectator is really shocked by the brutal murders and violence done in the name of racism in the movie. The plot of the movie unfolds through the eyes of Danny Vineyard (Edward Furlong), and as the movie progresses, one understands the real reason for the murder committed by the hero Edward Norton who plays the role of Derek Vinyard in the movie.
One understands how Derek gets transformed from the prison, and his efforts to save his brother from his own fate keep the spectator in thrill and suspense all throughout the movie. Most of the violence and deaths were seen in the movie leave lasting impressions in the minds of the audience regarding the meaninglessness and futility of using violence as means to achieve one’s goals.
The flashback scenes in the film make the spectators aware of the past incidents that took place in the life of Derek and Danny Vinyard. In the opening scene of the movie, one finds Danny being called to the Principal’s room for writing a paper in praise of Hitler and his neo-Nazi movement. He is asked to write a paper on his brother, who was imprisoned for killing two black guys, instead. On coming out from the principal’s room, he finds three black boys beating up a white boy, and this prompts him to think about the good old days of the white gang before his brother was arrested. Thus, the life of Derek Vinyard before he was imprisoned is unearthed through flashback scenes which are very effectively employed by the director.
The movie pictures how racist ill feelings are transmitted to the younger generation by adult members. As a youngster, Derek is very much influenced by his father’s critical views on black culture and how one has to suppress them. In the beginning, we find Derek more interested in the idea of white supremacy rather than its violence of culture, and this is evident in the basketball court scene where he only tries to channel his aggression into the game, black versus white, for the ownership of the courts. But his father’s murder turns him into a fanatic. The plot of the movie develops from the murder of Derek’s father, a firefighter, who was shot and killed by a black drug dealer.
The murder of the father by a black man stirs racial hatred in him, and this is exploited by Cameron (Stacy Keach), the old white supremacist. The death of Derek’s father assumes a greater significance in the movies as Derek blames the whole black race for the death of his father, and this makes him hate anyone who is not a white protestant. Later, as the movie progresses, the spectator understands that it was not just the murder of his father that turns him into an extremist; even his father’s conversation at the dinner table one night about racism has lasting impressions of hatred in his raged mind.
Thus, Derek becomes an active member of the Venice Beach neo-Nazi gang,” “The Disciples of Christ (D.O.C.,” which aims to protect the young whites from black minority gangs and undertakes measures to keep them under control. How much dedicand is committed to Derek for the organization’s evident from the scene where he assembles his gang members and makes a speech of hatred in front of a store owned by a Korean immigrant, accusing the immigrants of stealing the rightful jobs of Americans. He angrily states: “We’re here tonight to show the government how we feel about minorities taking over our country.
They treat us like criminals while they reward them with jobs and fucking welfare checks” Without any scruples, he and his gang attack the employees and chase away the customers from the shop. The spectator cherishes feelings of anguish when they find the scenes where he displays the large Swastika tattooed on his chest and the carved letters D.O.C on his right hand, and these suggestions to the audience how much he is caught in the web of racism and hatred. The dinner scene is yet another instance of the extremist standpoint of Derek. Murray (Gould), their Jewish guest, shares a liberal view supported by Derek’s mother, Dori Beverly (Angelo), which turns Derek violent, frustrated, and mad that even his mother remarks: “I’m ashamed that you came out of my body.”
Danny follows the footsteps of his own brother after the latter was imprisoned. His outlook towards the black race is evident in his conversation with Seth Riyan when he states that “they are a burden to the advancement of the white race” and that he believes in “death, destruction, chaos, filth and greed” The other characters in the movie too display their racist standpoints: his girlfriend Stacy (Fairuza Balk) and his neo-Nazi mentor Cameron Alexander support him in his extremist attitude towards the black people whereas his own mother and his black inmate Lamont tries to instill liberal feelings in him.
For instance, Avery Brooks, who plays the role of Dr. Bob Sweeny, tells him that he” “used to blame everything and everyone… for all the pain and suffering and vile things that happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Us—used blame everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn’t get any answers ’cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions” In the same way, the reaction of a common black woman to Derek’s murder is revealed in the movie when she observes: “Derek Vinyard deserved the death penalty for what he did to that young man! And now he walks the street as free as you and I” Thus, almost all characters in the movie reveal their perspectives regarding the issue.
The cruelest and cold-blooded murder in the movie takes place in the scene where Derek kills the second of the two blacks who tried to break into his car. Derek shoots one of the men, killing him, and wounds a second. The scene where Derek orders him to place his mouth on the curb and then breaks his jaw and neck and his triumphant walk afterward attract the attention of the audience. The spectator is forced to despise this action of the protagonist as he/she can no way justify the incident.
However, the incident is the key to the development of the plot of the movie, and it expands the scope of the movie in general. It is these first two murders that provide Derek an opportunity to get transformed, and towards the end of the movie Danny’s murder is directly linked with this incident. Later his life in the prison and his acquaintance with the black inmate named Lamont (Guy Torry), with whom he works in the prison laundry room, changes his outlook towards black people and he comes out of the prison as a transformed man. While in prison, he begins to see things in a different way. His mind becomes open and liberal and he is able to understand where hen has erred in his true knowledge regarding the American History.
The spectator feels sympathy for Derek when Danny is shot to death by a black gunman that his efforts to save his brother were futile. The death of Danny is of greater significance because of the very fact that he was murdered in school by one of the younger brothers of whom Derek had murdered at the beginning. Thus, the spectator finds a continuity of revenge and deaths in the movie and the fact that Derek doesn’t try to avenge the death of his brother conveys the real message of the movie.
Even the murder of his own brother is now unable to turn him into a beast as he has grasped the meaning of life and the futility of violence. The change of Derek from murderer to a great forgiver makes the connection between his first two murders and that of the death of his own brother more appealing to the spectator. The film ends with shots of the beach at sunset, and Danny reciting the last lines of his essay which is quoted from Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection”, which actually conveys the message of the movie.
The movie, as its title suggests, really speaks of the American history as it deals with how America had been in the past; and it clearly provides a message to the spectators as to how America should be in the future. The movie doesn’t glorify violence or murder; instead, it spreads messages of harmony, oneness and unity. The movie, directed by Tony Kaye, exerts special, capturing images in the mind of onlookers with his crafty art of direction, the employment of appropriate background music, and the effective use of flash backs which creates dramatically forceful impacts.