Homework for 2BE: American History X opinion homework



Answer the following questions in min. 150 words.

1 Does the film teach you anything? Or is it just pure entertainment?
2 Did you like the film? Why?
3 Why is Derek angry?
4 What does he learn in prison?
5 Why is the film black and white sometimes?
6 Any more comments welcome.

Deadline March 08, 2020. Post your comments as comments.

Comments

Anonimowa_ said…
THE AMERICAN HISTORY X
The film "American History X" tells the story about racism and aggression.
The main charakter were Derek and his younger brother Dann. Derek's father was firefighter. He was shot by black bandit. After this, Derek became a Nazi. There was a lot of aggression and hatred in his life. He became the group commonder. The group attacked shops etc. Finally, Derek committed a murder. He went to prison for this act. At the beginning of his stay in prison, he was hanging out with the Nazis. Over time, he noticed different things and he made friends with a black man. Thanks to him, he changed his look at socienty and life. He understood that the color of the skin doesn't mean about the person and understood his mistakes. After three years Derek was released from prison. He became carring for his family. He wanted to help his brother who followed him, but at the end Dann was killed by black boy. The film sometimes was black and white, because that was bad Derek's past.
This film taught me that even the worst man can be change, but unfortunately not all mistakes from the past can be repaired.
I liked "American History X" very much and it made me curious.
Julia Nowak, 2e
„American History X” is a 1998 drama movie. The „American History X” director, Tony Kaye directed the film depicting one of the biggest predicament in USA to be precise – racial segregation and extreme nationalist.
The film is based on feelings. Of course beginning show us only negative emotions, but when we are reaching down in movie we could also see a lot of vulnerability, despair and a little change in humans soul.
That movie show us tough history of Derek whose was a skinhead and brutally killed two black people who tried steal his truck. He got out of the prison and he was trying to persuade his young brother Danny to make a new start, because Derek was the Danny’s authority. Derek had been explaining him how the prison turn imagining round… but I won’t betray Danny’s reaction. :P
The movie was quite big experience for youth like I am. I’d never thinking how extremism could change someone’s life because I never saw the elephant. We are living in world where intersperse good and evil and we should overcame a deficit – one of the evil’s sources.
Anonymous said…
,,American History X" is a 1998 American crime drama film. The film tells the story of two brothers from Venice, Los Angeles who become involved in a white supremacist/neo-Nazi movement.
In my opinion the film teaches us that it is not worth being supremacis because these people were dumbfounded by one person who told them only negatives about black people and did not tell them the whole truth. Neo-Nazis did not even notice that they were doing wrong, they stopped perceiving black people as people, but as a curse.
It's hard to say if I liked it, it sure was addictive for me, but sad and showed a lot of drastic scenes, which allowed me to realize a few things and learn more about the Nazis.
I think Derek is a good man, he just got lost a bit. Because of the emotions associated with his father's death, he wanted to take revenge, and Cameron took advantage of it and wound it up more and allowed him to enter the neo-Nazis movement. He was young, so he didn't know the world either.
When Derek gets to prison he has to work with a black Lamont. At first, he only deals with white neo-Nazis who engage in drug trafficking with Mexicans, which Derek doesn't like.
By spending time with Lamont, he makes friends with him (which slowly changes his attitude towards black people). Derek is brutally raped by neo-Nazis, this humiliation prevents him from continuing to hang out with them, and he begins to mate with people from Lamont. Derek stops being a neo-Nazi and even befriends Lamont strongly and is grateful to him.
Black and white scenes in the film are memories and reflections, mainly by Derek. These scenes also create horror and make the viewer pay more attention to the film.
But also do not forget about the headmaster of the high school, who played an important role in Derek's life and he helped him in difficult times in prison, the director also wanted to help Danny, so he gave him this homework. Wiktoria Ludwisiak 2B
Anonymous said…
The film "America History X" tells about the problem of racism in USA. Two main characters are brothers who are racists. The younger looks up to the older and he would like to be like him.
The film is good lesson of tolerance and shows results of hatred and racism. In my opinion the film is very interesting because it shows the problem in a captiviting way. At the begining Derek is angry at everybody who isn't white. But in prison he changes his views and later he is angry that his brother follows his bad example. In prison he meets a black man who helps him, besides white guys showing the same view-points harm him. The film is sometimes black and white to show Derek's process of transformation. To sum up the film tells us that intolerance is getting us nowhere, and we should respect one another.
IGOR ZAWLIK 2E
Anonymous said…
This film didn't teach me anything because I have always tried to be tolerant. It only showed me extreme behavior of people who are lacked on other races.
I like this movie because it's important for people who want to try to understand racist. This film showed me how dangerous behavior such people can be.
Derek in prison learned tolerance to other black peole. Ge realized that what he had done before wasn't . He understand that black people are normal like him or his family.
The movie sometimes becomes balck and white because it show the past which wasn't necessarily colorful for the main character. The black and white format separates the dark past from Derek's good change.
This movie is important and needed for all people. Shows realiteis of life black people and the problem of racism in the United States.
Maria Gryga 2E
Anonymous said…
„American History X” is a drama film from 1998 year. Film tells the story about aggression, racism and show us white man who killed black people, because he isn’t tolerant. His name is Derek and he has younger brother Dann. Their father was firefighter and he killed by black bandit. Because of that Derek become racist, his life was full of aggression. This film teach me that I should be full of tolerant and I really like this film because it is really interesting. I think this film is black and white sometimes because it shows us bad and sad memories of main characters, but I am not sure in 100%. This film show us that the worst person can be change but our mistakes can’t be erased. Derek killed two black people so he went to prison for this act. At the beginning, he was full of racism, but then he noticed a lot of things and he made friends with a black man. For me this film was really interesting and everyone should watch this.

NK/2E
Anonymous said…
American History X is a crime movie from 1998.Racism and neo-Nazi organisations are central theme of film.The main characters are Dann and his older brother Derek.Derek spent three years in jail for crime in racism background.After term in prison, Derek changed his attitude to the world.He understand that racial segregation and neo-nazism is no senese.Also he was trying to change his brother attitude to the world and protect him from neo-nazi organisation,That proofed that he really changed in jail.The black and white moments on film probably shows his changed.At the beginning of the film Derek was angry because he felts anger to bandits who killed his father.These memories make him very angry particulary to black people.The film was really interesting.The movie was very emotial and force viewers to reflect.The movie teached me that everyone can changed and everyone deserves for second chance.
Adam Grala
Anonymous said…
The film "American History X" presents the injustice of the world towards people of another race. This film shows us that making fun of other races makes no sense because together they can do a lot of good. From the beginning, the main character had neutral relations with people of a foreign race but other values ​​were imposed on him by his father. When his father dies, the main character feels hatred to people of another race. He wants to get revenge for that. He creates a gang that attacks another race. After killing a man he is sentenced to prison he realizes that he was doing wrong. After leaving prison he tries to fix it but it is too late. This film teaches us that it is not worth judging people by what race they are. You have to tolerate and support yourself. It doesn't matter where we come from or what skin color we have. The film had suspenseful and touching elements that led to tears. I highly recommend watching it is very addictive. W.K. 2b
Anonymous said…
"American History x" is a film about racism in the USA.
The main character is Derek,who was a racist and he believed that all national minorities for example black people or people of Jewish origin, they should be eliminated from the USA. Derek underwent a big makeover in prison.
Derek came back home as a completely different person.
Derek learned a humility in prison.
The black mate ( with he worked) caused that Derek to see a normal people in them.
Black and white scenes may show Derek's thinking. Once-Derek thought "straight", now Derek is thinking "widely and colorfully". Derek have more opened-minded, who don't look only himself.
Derek was angry, because he looked at people the prism of origin only. Derek didn't look on their value, that they can be a good people, who work honestly.
I like this film. This film carries a very important message that we always should look wide on diffrent things,we can't have single-minded.
The film made a great impression on me, in final scene I thought that I will cry soon. However, this film didn't teach me so much, because I always think that I am tolerant person. In my opinion you have approach everything in life with empathy and an open mind and this film confirmed my belief.
However, this movie made me realize how important a parent's authority for a child.
Derek's brother never met his father, he treated Derek as a father and he learned everything from Derek. Derek gave him a bad example of behaviour. Derek's brother looked authority in Derek. In this movie it was show how Derek's father once said a badly about national minorities and Derek as a young and influenial man took dad's words very seriously.
Zuzanna Sz,klasa 2 B
Unknown said…
‘’American History X’’ tells about leader of local Nazi organization who was sent to prison for racial murder. In prison Derek worked off his racial prejudice and decides to break contact with the old community after being released from prison. Derek was a great authority to his younger brother Daniel but Derek tried to dissuade him from Nazi ideology. He tells Daniel about his experiences in prison, which had an impact on his radical chance, hoping that this would change Daniel’s views.
The film presents the problem of racism and intolerance that prevailed in America at that time. All this contributed to the image of American society, with its prejudices, stereotypes and all views on the problems of ethnic minorities.
I think it is definitely a movie worth recommending. The story presented in it can certainly be touched and make you think about the validity of hatred and prejudice against racial differences.
Ania Adamkiewicz 2b
Anonymous said…
The film "American History X" is about two brothers. Derek is older than his brother Danny and he is fascist person. The boy began to spread racism, which he learned from his father. He killed two black people because they tried broke into his car. Derek was sent to prison for 3 years. He experienced different and hard situations, which caused that Derek has changed and his worldview. He stoped be untolerant and stoped have a contact with fascist environment. He was helped by the black man with whom Derek sorted clothes in prison. Derek tried to convince his brother that the path which he chose was not good. He didn't want to Danny be like him. This film has a lot of black and white scenes that allow us to meet the main characters. We can see a part of brothers' life. This movie shocked me and I think it is worth watching, because it show that color skin doesn't matter and people should be good to each other. Julia Mazurek 2E
Anonymous said…
„American History X” is an American crime drama film, which we watched on the last English classes.
The movie certainly wasn’t easy. Sometimes it required a deeper reflection, especially when scenes with murders shown. The film presents what racism leads to and what skinheads are capable of. It made me understand how awful people have been in recent years, although this is also a problem encountered today. Derek, the main character, made a negative impression on me at first. His behavior towards black people was gross, but when he got out of prison I noticed a change in him. Only staying there made him realize that what he was doing was not good for him and especially for others. He decided to change for his family. The movie sometimes was black and white but then scenes from the past were shown. At first it was a bit complicated for me but later everything was completely explained.
Maybe choosing this movie when we want to rest our minds wouldn’t be the best idea, but it teaches important values in every human life.
Amelia Gaik 2b
Anonymous said…
If i must write something about "American History X" is that the whole topic of racism in USA is intresting for example, how people choices of life can be messed up and be very dangerous to other innocent people that do nothing wrong, they are just being in wrong time and wrong place. We can see how racism can be dangerous and make people be like animals, because of problems that the peoples have. I'm not going to say that in the movie happend that or that, because it's just a spoiler nothing else, I'm here to say that the movie telling us how it's messed up being racist, facist and how normal and needed talk with somebody can be very helpful and can save somebodys even life. If you want, watch it, i'm not gonna force you to do that, it's your choice and your time to spend on it. ~Wojtek Rachwalak 2E

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