American History X :: Movies Film

In the opening scene, we see Danny Vinyard, a young whiteness supremacist, sitting in the principals office, waiting to be summ matchlessd. As we move into the office, we hear and see Dannys explanation instructor (Elliot Gould) explaining to the principal, Dr. Sweeney (Avery Brooks), that Danny wrote a book report on Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf. The teacher tells Dr. Sweeney that he is offended by Dannys gesture and he wants to see him punished, declaring that Danny was pressured into writing the opus by his older brother Derek, although Sweeney assures him that Derek was not involved. Instead, Sweeney asks the teacher to leave and asks Danny to footstep in.Danny then puts an American flag toothpick in mouth, Danny steps into the office and sits down. Dr. Sweeney begins yell at Danny, telling him that writing what he did is offensive. Sweeney tells him that he is now his newborn history teacher. The class is c solelyed American History X and the next assignment is due tomorrow m orning a paper on his brother, Derek (Edward Norton), analyzing all the events leading up to Dereks incarceration and the subsequent impact on Dannys life. after this, Danny walks out. The next scene opens with three shameful boys beating up a white boy in the mens bathroom for telling the teacher that one of them cheated. Suddenly, Danny appears out of one of the stalls and blows the smoke from his cigarette into one of the boys face. As the erosive boys leave angry, Danny helps the white kid from the ground and tells him that he needs to learn to stand up for himself. Soon we see Danny locomote home from school through a park where some black boys are playing basketball. One of the players is the boy from earlier in the bathroom. Dannys component begins to narrate the scene. Danny says, Before Derek went to jail, the white kids didnt have to be afraid of the black kids. Derek made it safe. 1The next scenes are flashbacks explaining Dereks journey from a suburban white teenager to a vengeance-seeking white supremacist. Derek had already been influenced by his fathers critical views on African American culture and affirmative action (which his father refers to it as affirmative black-tion), and also how he doesnt trust two African-Americans on his team who scored lower on a hiring test than two whites. He believes they were chartered as a result of affirmative action in point to meet racial quotas.