Wednesday, June 13, 2012

SECTION B- AMERICAN HISTORY X

AMERICAN HISTORY X- (KAYE) 1998 (USA)
A visually and musically thrilling film of the crime drama genre, American History X is set in modern USA and directed by Tony Kaye. The non-linear plot is about 2 brothers, the older one Derek a former Neo-Nazi skinhead leader arrested for murdering black robbers and trying to prevent his brother Daniel from walking the same corrupt path as he. The film is viewed from the point of view of Daniel who takes a backseat protagonist role to Derek the main protagonist. Daniel begins to walk the same path as Derek but fortunately, a professor at his high school called Sweeny informs him to write an essay on how his brother became a skinhead leader through life experiences titled “American History X.” When Derek returns home, he aims to redeem his actions and set his brother on the right path before it’s too late. The essay proves useful to the cause as it allows Daniel to express his emotions and as he writes it, he unravels the meanings behind Derek’s actions. This is done through flashback sequences in black and white film stock. The film invokes a strong emotional response to audiences drawn into feeling part of Derek’s family.


Themes
· Crime and Deviance
· Racism
· Redemption


Emotional Response
· Fear- Afraid Derek’s life is threatened. Afraid what will happen to Derek on his return.
· Disgust- Seth’s attitude in Derek’s home. The racist comments and lack of reason by skinheads.
· Shock- Derek skull crushing curb stomp on the black thugs head. “Should have learned your place at the court.”
· Empathy- Throughout film, understanding and gaining a rapport of Derek’s attitude. See that he has reformed and saw the error of his ways.
· Anger- Cameron tries to corrupt Derek’s brother.
· Anxiety- Derek suffers from losing a father. He is burdened with being man of the house at a young age baring the responsibility of role model. Spectators can definitely relate if they too lost parents making it easier for them to forgive.
· Happy- Derek’s return home. Time spent with family.


Macro Elements
· Non-linear structure, past sequences explained through flashback sequences. (Racconto Flashback Technique)
· Red Herring used at resolution sequences, made us believe Derek would get killed but actually tricking us when Daniel is shot dead instead. (Drive by, Slow Mo)
· Breaks Todorov’s Rules of calm, disruption then equilibrium as the film is opened up in a disruptive state. (Derek kill thugs at the films opening sequence.) (Prop-Gun)
· Narrative Structure is focused on redemption and used to make the audience understand how Derek became the way he was and to show that people can redeem themselves.
· The Plot is viewed from the POV of Daniel who explains what is occurring through his voice overs as he writes his essay.
· Opening Sequences uses enigma codes making the audience ask key questions why did he shoot them dead and what is going on.
· The sequences where Derek shoots the black thugs is shown in the opening sequences and later reshown in more detail.
· According the Uses and Gratifications, theory of escapism as Derek wants to escape the lifestyle of a skinhead but is constantly drawn into trouble.
· Director puts audience into a trance like state using the musical score in combination with slow motion effects to keep control over the mood of the audience. According 2 Step Flow Theory, director is the expert and we follow the set rules he has exhibited.


Micro Elements
· The flashback sequences for the characters are in black and white film stock. This signifies the viewer that these scenes are what happened prior to the narrative timeline.
· Constant use of Slow Motion editing to make the scenes more dramatic and have more of an impact on the audience. (When Derek is about to skull crushes black thugs head on the street curb and Danny screams and falls to his knees. Also when Derek is taken away by officers.)
· Officer covering up tattoo as he drags Derek away so that Daniel doesn’t get inflicted or traumatized by the events occurring. (Slow Mo)
· The Non Diegetic Musical score is there to set the mood putting the audience into a trance like state where their emotions are controlled by the expert. (According to the 2 Step Flow Theory)
· The narrative is explained from Danny’s V.O and through his essay “American History X.”
· Derek centrally framed when he does his Neo Nazi speech to the skinhead gang. Also centrally framed at the basketball court D.O.C (Emphasizes power and leadership)
· Tons of POV shots, usually from Daniel. (Lamont shoots Danny)
· Natural Lighting Effects
· Low Key Lighting Effects portray times most likely when crime will occur. (When Seth gets violent on Black Man and his white girlfriend.) (When Derek has to flee from the skinhead hideout.) (Lamont shown in his car with his crew driving through neighbourhood.) The lighting effects act as visual signifiers when crime occurs.
· Good use of close ups to show who is talking.


Conflict
Binary Oppositions
· The Skinheads vs Blacks. (D.O.C)
· Derek and Davina. (Conflict of ideologies)
· Police and the Criminals.
· Immorality conflict with morals and decency.


Characters
Derek Vinyard- The protagonist of this film a villain turned good. He was once a dominant white supremacist and Neo-Nazi skinhead leader as seen in the black and white film stock flashback sequences. However, he is reformed and sees the error of his ways after spending time in prison. Derek returns home to try and prevent his brother from going forth the same path as he knowing as a role model he should have known better. As the audience learns about his tragic past, they gain rapport of his lifestyle allowing him to redeem himself in the later parts of the narrative. (“See this tattoo, it means not welcome”, says Derek.)

Daniel Vinyard- Derek’s younger brother, the film is viewed from his point of view in the narrative. He follows his brothers footsteps after he is arrested due to seeing him as a role model and imitating his behaviour. However, when his brother returns he slowly begins to realise the wrongness of his behaviour as he writes an essay on how Derek became the way he was. Unfortunately Daniel is shot dead by a black student called Lamont due to previous conflict at school. (“When people look at me they see my brother.”) (“I hate the fact that it’s cool to be black…”)

Doris Vinyard- The mother of the Vinyard family who has to live with the nightmare of not one son straying from the path of decency but another. She seems to be the one suffering the most and has gotten physically ill with the stress of it all. She wasn’t even allowed to move on and engage in a new romantic interest after the death of the father thanks to Derek’s behaviour. (“What did I do?” “You feel good?” “I’m ashamed you came out of my body!”)

Davina Vinyard- She acts as the character in the family who is the opposite of the old Derek’s reason. Davina takes a more realistic approach than the idealistic ideology of Derek’s thoughts which is why they previously had conflicting arguments. (This especially happened when Derek grabbed her by the throat and she picks up a bat to assault him with.) Everyone in Derek’s family seems to be quite intelligent but she is the one who is the most intelligent when it comes to morals. It seems that could have been inherited by the mother who didn’t accept racism or discrimination which the father promoted to his family. (Close up shot to plates, red-herring thinking knife?)

Sweeney- A High School Professor who demands that Daniel writes a new essay titled “American History X” in order to secure his place at the institution and prevent the student from becoming a rebel on the streets. Sweeney also manages to speed up the process to get Derek out of prison as long as he agrees to help reform his brother. Sweeney seems to be the most powerful character in the film, suppressing his emotions towards the racism trying to prevent emotional response from characters within the diegesis for the greater good. (See this at resolution sequences of Danny’s murder)

Cameron – He is the true leader of the Neo Nazi skinhead group working behind the scenes. Cameron manipulates frustrated teenagers who have been wronged by other black youths to get them to join. Derek was one of the people he used seeing that he could influence a large amount of people because of his charismatic body language, voice and reasoning. He has deep hate for blacks and ethnic minorities and is probably the main reason Derek formed the D.O.C and became the way he is. However, Derek figures him out and learns that he even lied about spending time in prison. He is referred to as “the skinhead,” by Sweeney.

Seth- This is Derek’s incredibly racist friend. Seth has become truly corrupted with hate and only finds pleasure in making ethnic minorities suffer strongly believing in Cameron’s constructed dominant ideology. Hearing Daniel make nasty comments about ethnic minorities brings joy to his ears, quote “I hate the fact that it’s cool to be black.” When Derek tries to leave skinhead territory with his brother he points a gun to his head.

Stacey- This is Derek’s girlfriend. She is also extremely racist and a deep follower to the skinhead group. Upon Derek’s return, she believes he has changed and tries to get him killed. “Do it!” she says to Seth to shoot Derek. She seems more concerned about power lacking emotions of the behavioural norms of most females. She also refers to Derek as being viewed as a God, so why would he want to leave such an organisation.

Lamont- He is the school bully and black thug. Lamont is introduced to the narrative beating up on a white nerd. He seems to have dominant physical power over others and this is portrayed from the H/A and L/A shots of him kicking the nerd on the ground. When he encounters Daniel, he meets someone who doesn’t fear him and feels threatened. He pushes Daniel but he doesn’t back down and simply blows smoke in his face even though he has 2 goons by his side. The stress, feeling of a threatening presence causing anxiety and fear leads Lamont to obtain a prop which would later end Daniel’s life at the resolution sequences.


Messages and Values
Messages:
o “There will be consequences to your actions.”
o “Crime doesn’t pay.”
o “You can change yourself before it’s too late.”

Key Values:
o Family
o Education
o Status
o Respect

Cinematography/Visuals
· Black and White Film Stock
· Swastika (Tattoos) (“Not Welcome”)
· Computer Screen for essay acted as a Motif.
· Eye line matches (Daniel staring at Derek before skull smash at curb) (Commonly used to emphasize Daniels point of view in the narrative.) (Slow Mo)
· Slow Motion used for tragic sequences to get most out of emotional response. Makes images easier to recall for audience to understand perspective of characters.
· Officer covering up tattoo as he drags Derek away so that Daniel doesn’t get inflicted or traumatized by the events occurring.
· Restricted Visuals during the rape sequences and when black thug gets skull crushed on the curb. (Shows how shocking the event is to be imagined.)
· Low Key Lighting Effects portray times most likely when crime will occur. (When Seth gets violent on Black Man and his white girlfriend.) (When Derek has to flee from the skinhead hideout.) (Lamont show in his car with his crew driving through neighbourhood.) The lighting effects act as visual signifiers that most crime occurs in the dark, behind the scenes, unexpectedly and late at night.
· Derek centrally framed when he does his Neo Nazi speech to the skinhead gang. Also centrally framed at the basketball court D.O.C

Spectator/Audience Theories
Male Gaze- The camera work is largely put in the perspective of a heterosexual who believe masculinity is an accomplishment. Thus the audience sees Derek as a true alpha male who they wish to become like even before he is reformed. He has all the values and strength a masculine man should have which audiences envy.
Two Step flow Theory- The director is the expert who is able to manipulate the audience’s emotions who are the followers. The non diegetic musical score sets the audiences mood putting them in a trance like state where the film is constantly making them think in relation to their emotions.
Also film could be accused for giving a platform to fascist ideas. The scene where Derek makes a convincing speech about racist justification against ethnic groups could move some audiences to accept it as truth especially if they are already currently skinheads themselves.

11 comments: