American History X
Summary
American History Xhas one of the most iconic downer ending in moving-picture show history , and yet , had they move with the original ending , it not only would have been darker , but it would have been the wrong pick . American History Xfollows a nonlinear story about the downfall and redemption of Derek Vinyard ( Edward Norton ) , a neo - Nazi whose embrace of livid supremacy ultimately lands him in prison house . After his captivity causes him to have a change of warmheartedness , he tries to prevent his younger brother Danny ( Edward Furlong ) , who has joined the same pack Derek did , from pass away down the same path .
Theending ofAmerican story Xis tragic because while Derek succeeds in convert Danny to desert the notion in white supremacy , Derek ’s demons issue forth back to bite him in the worst way imaginable . The day after the Vinyard boys give it up for good , Danny is drink down by an African - American classmate because of an fracas the previous day , which all went back to Derek ’s days as a neo - German Nazi . While the motion picture terminate with Derek ’s devastation over Danny ’s death , it was to begin with supposed to terminate with Derek then looking in the mirror and shaving his head , signifying that Derek had every purpose of returning to his white supremacist gang .
American History X’s Original Ending Would Have Been Too Bleak
It Would Have Implied Derek Was Trapped
Having Derek go back to white supremacy at the end ofAmerican History Xwould make it seem like he was doomed to live a life of hate , which would have come in off as base - bouncy after all the progress he made . When Derek last realized the misplay of his way , he had usher that he was smart enough to see the flaws in blanched supremacist ideology . Therefore , it would n’t have been fair for him to go correctly back to that very ideology that played a Brobdingnagian part in ruining his lifebefore his brother was off after have a go at it what he acknowledge .
As controversial as it may be , American History X is a potent film about a non-white topic . Here are some fact about how this film was made .
That ’s not to say that an close like that would not have made common sense . However , just because an ending is believable does not mean it ’s the right-hand elbow room to go . Danny ’s tragical expiry prompt Derek to render to his white supremacist work party would have been a harshly realistic conclusion sinceAmerican History Xdelved into how raceway - related trauma can campaign someone into that way of life . But Derek already had to see through brutally harsh means that his late actions were wrong . While he did n’t deserve to mislay Danny , he did n’t deserve to be stuck in a cycle of hate either .
The Original Ending Would Undo Everything American History X Was Trying To Say
American History X’s Point Was That Racism Ruins Lives
American History Ximpressively humanize a racist through Derek ’s downfall via his rise as a blanched supremacist . While it shows how someone can become anti-Semite in an graspable lighting , it also bear witness why that lifestyle is so ego - destructive . The ascendant of Derek ’s hate stemmed from both his begetter ’s influence and his father ’s death . Every flashback indicate that Derek only deteriorated as he embraced the hatred , from a wide-eyed basketball game to Derek viciously dispatch a man in one ofAmerican History X ’s most horrific scene .
To emphasize the point further , Derek went through a traumatizing metre in prison house to show him why he was wrong while also teaching him that get off from that modus vivendi would only prove to be safe . Also , even after what he had done , the point wasDerek was not a miss cause . That there was still Bob Hope for him to conduct a better life . For Derek to fall to his previous lifestyle after travel through the measure he did to unlearn that very modus vivendi did n’t engage with whatAmerican History Xwas trying to say .
Edward Norton opens up about an embarrassing fact regarding how his American History X basketball dunk scenery was really filmed for the moving-picture show .
Why American History X’s Actual Ending Works Better
The Ambiguity Helps The Movie’s Message Stick The Landing
American History X ’s ending was never presuppose to be about Derek . Instead , it was supposed to be about the cycle of hate . Danny ’s death was a reflexion of how that level of hostility , no matter where it comes from , is a disease that benefits no one and hurts everyone . Adding to that , living that life isultimately pointlessbecause it wo n’t accomplish anything in the end . Danny ’s end did nothing but suffer Derek , just like Derek killing one of the guys who tried to steal his caralso did nothing but injure Derek . And what was the commons between those two events ? They were motivated by hatred .
By not revealing what Derek ’s next move was after Danny ’s slaying , American History Xfocuses more on the degree it was sample to make and less on what Derek ’s fate was after all that materialise . Derek ’s next determination was n’t what was of import when it was over . In the death , what was important wasAmerican chronicle Xsending the content in the most heartbreaking agency possible thathatred is never the way .
