After finishing Tony Kaye's film American History X - who do you think is the "good guy" - who is the "bad guy" - who is the "victim" - and who has learned the greatest lesson?
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27 comments:
While I do believe that the good and bad guys seem to switch throughout the movie, ultimately I find that Derek Vinyard is the good guy and the victim. I find the bad guy(s) to be the black boys. I find Derek to be the good guy and victim because even though he was once the racist leader of the Neo Nazi youth, he changed for the better. Prison made him see just how wrong he was. He was believing in a cause that was ignorant. In the end, he ends up changing himself and then even changing Danny. The black guys didn't seem to grasp the concept of stopping the hate. They broke into Derek's house, and then they killed Danny. Derek is the victim because he had changed for the better and realized the ignorance of his past life, but once he preached to Danny about becoming an enlightened better person, the blacks murdered Danny. Derek had become an understanding empathetic man, and then the one thing he loved so much was taken away from him. Him changing his Nazi ways didn't do any good for him. He still lost danny. But on the other side, his Nazi ways in his past life caused Danny to be murdered. The good guys and the bad guys can be changed depending on the way you look at everything.
I think that the begining of the movie the black boys and Derik seem to be the bad guys. But by the end od the movie Derik is the one that is seemed to be the good guy because he decied not to be a neo nazi any more to better his life. The black boys are the ones that seem to be the bad guys because the black boy is the one that shot Danny so it makes it seem like hes a bad person. I think that the victum is Darik because he changed his life around for the better and decided that he wanted nothing to do with the neo nazies anymore. I think that Darik learned the greatest lesson because he learned that its not worth hating other people. He learned that it was the wrong thing to do. He helped Danny to learn the good things in life because he dosnt want Danny to end up like him.
I loved Olaa's comment. Loved it. But I still believe (though Derek was my second choice) that Danny was the true protagonist of the film. Danny was the innocent character in most of the situations--neither inciting nor stopping the violence from occurring. In the end Danny was the one who suffered because of what his older brother did and believed. I can't blame Danny for going along with his brother because to him and Derek, the skinhead group was right and the only belief he had ever known. It took true courage for Danny and Derek to stand up to the skinheads once they had been 'awakened' by Derek's experiences in the prison. The black boys are not the good guys, but I don't find them the antagonists either--the skinheads are the antagonists. The gang members were being treated cruelly by the skinheads during the basketball game and were acting back with violence just like the little kids in the classroom experiment. Danny was generally an innocent bystander. He didn't fight anyone and he didn't kill anyone--he looked up to his older brother's beliefs because he wanted to make him proud. His beliefs may have been stupid, but for two young guys they made sense. Yet it was Danny who had to die for his brother's actions as a noble skinhead. Danny, the hero, died innocent while his brother suffered for his crimes.
American History X is one of those movies that makes you think of right and wrong, so it seems like everybody is a good guy or a bad guy at one point or another. Ultimately, I think the good guys are Danny and Sweeney (for trying to make a positive difference in Derek and Danny's lives), and the villans are Cameron, Derek, and the black crip's older brother. Don't get me wrong, Derek a good guy after learning his lesson in prison, but it was his shenanigans that turned Danny to the Skinhead way of life. Not to say that it was entirely Derek's doing, but I believe every little brother looks up to and wants to be like his older brother at least once in his life, and that older brothers need to set a better example. Following that theme, Cameron is perhaps the biggest bad guy of all, despite being a fairly minor character. He manipulated Derek, who in turn influenced Danny. It is mentioned that Cameron and Derek started up Venice Beach's Skinheads, and it's implied that Derek found some sort of a father or leader figure in Cameron. Cameron manipulates Danny and other youths, as well as several adults (as seen at the rally)to walk down a dark path. And finally there's the older brother of the black boy from the boys room. Much like Derek, the crip is a negative role model to his younger brother, who kills Danny in an effort to win his brother's approval. The victims of the film are Danny, who died without hate, according to his essay, the boy who shot him, and Danny's teenage friends who go to Cameron's party with him, who see Cameron as a leader and Derek as a hero. They have all been mislead by predjudiced adults in their lives.
why thank you Amanda
I believe that in the movie American History X the bad guys in the movie are the gangs (all of the people in the gangs in the movie)the reason the gang memebers are bad is because in order to be in any of those gangs you have to kill or you have to hate which the greatest lesson in life is so not dwell on all the bad things in life, they are what make you stronger.
Also, i believe that the good guy in this movie was Derek. The reason i think he was the good guy was because he was the one trying to leave the Skinhead gang and bring Danny with him so that Danny wouldn't have to live through what he had to live through.
Furthermore i believe that Danny was the vitum in this traumatic situation, he was only following his brother because he had no father figure in his life, the only father he had was also into hating the minority groups. He just followed the poeple in his life that he looked up to, for example Derak, Danny only knew the things that Derak did, he believed that whatever Derek did was right.
Finally i think that Danny learned the greatest lesson of all, he was a follower of the Skinheads and of Derek, he didn't think for himself, but when he finally did he learned that "hate is baggage" it not worth it to hate others because your just wasting your time doing that, without hate Danny could have furthered his life as a good person, helping people and making something of himself.
I belive that the good guy is Derek Vinyard because he changed his ways when he was in prison and he was trying to do what was best for his family. He got out of the gang and was trying to convince his brother to do the same. Sure in the past he had killed 3 men but he changed in the time during the movie for the better. I believe that the bad guy is the kid who shot Danny Vinyard in the bathroom because he was very violent and he was in the crips. He jumped a kid in the bathroom that had told on him for cheating on a test. He did this because he..just like Danny was trying to be like his older brother and he was trying to prove himself worthy as a gang member in the crips. The vitim is Danny because he got killed over nothing really, he was just trying to look up to his older brother and trying to be just like him and in the attempt of doing so was murdered over blowing smoke in the crips face. He had changed out of his Nazi ways in the end, showing that he was going to listen to his brother and leave the gang and let his hair grow back out and just be a normal kid. I believe that Danny learned the greater lesson because he was trying to hard to be like his brother and that wound up getting him killed in a urinal...it shows that you should be yourself and take after your own beliefs and not someone elses.
In my opinion Danny was the victim in this movie. Throughout the movie, we can see that Danny was doing everything to impress his brother, from the beginning he was looking up to Derick as his role model, and so that is how it stayed through to the end. Unfortunately, Danny was the one who was shot by one of the gang members. I think that Danny was just ignorant of what he was doing mostly because he thought everything that Derick did was the right thing to do, but in fact it wasn't and he had to pay the price with his own life.
The protagonist in this film is Sweeney mainly because he was trying to help out in the situation. I thought that he was the only one who wanted to do the right thing all along. It is possible that Derick and Danny were the "good guys" but they weren't like that throughout the entire movie. So, the bad guys are the members of the gangs. I think that the true "bad guy" is Cameron who was the leader of the group. I consider him the bad guy because he kept on feeding the guys with his beliefs, he wanted the guys to do the dirty work for him, while he watched what was happening to their minds and lives.
The greatest lesson was learned by Derick as seen in the end, this is because he had went to jail, gone through three years of what was hell, got help from Sweeney, and then tried to help his brother to change just like he thought he did, but in the end nothing had changed, because once he got out the gang members came after Danny, by taking revenge for what Derick had once done.
I think that the bad guys are the blacks and the skinheads and all the other gangs. All the gangwars n hate just makes america look bad. In the end the victims are all the people that get sucked up and those u die because of gang violence. People think being in gangs is cool and fun but its really not, alot of innocent people die because of gang violence. So Derek and Danny are both victims cause they both got sucked into being skinheads. Danny by Derek and Derek by there father. I think the good guy at the end is Derek, he learns his leasons and looks past all the ignorance
I believe that Derek is both the good guy and the bad guy. He is the reason for all the problems in the movie. All of Danny's problems are a result of derek's influence on him. All of the family problems are from derek being in jail and not working. And all of Derek's problems come from his hate and the way that he treats people that aren't white. I say he is also the victum because he has gone through some hard times. His father was murdered by the people that he already had negggative feelings towards. Maybe if Mr. Vinyard wasn't murdered Derek wouldn't have such hostile emotions toward black people.
I think that the good guy was the mom even though she wasn't really a main character in the story. She was one of the ones who didn't switch sides like most of the other people in the movie. The bad guy can be Derek because he was the movement gathering people and bringing them together to hate. He took what his father told him and spread it to other people and made others believe him and join the white power group. The victim is Danny because most younger siblings follow in the footsteps of their older siblings. Unfortunately for Danny, his brother went down the wrong path and because Danny followed his brother, he ended up getting killed in the end of the movie.
I think that throughout the movie there is no true "good guys". I think this because the cycle of hate continues rolling and seems to not stop. Everything basiclly begins with Derek's father being killed and from then on revenge plays a major role. It is the white vs. black. A white member cares for those who are on his side and decides to do things to show his respect and pride of who he really is. Derek was part of the white group and he wanted to show his power and pride. As a result he didn't care whether he would end up in jail or not because the pride that he possessed was greater. In this film the "hate cycle" ends when the black kill Danny and Derek learns the lesson not to continue the cycle. So in the end, the "good guy" is Derek because from all the things that he went through, he was able to learn from his mistakes and not repeat them. The "bad guys" are the black becuase the movie leaves off with a black boy killing Danny which shows that the blacks have not learned a lesson. This shows that white are capable of learning a lesson and change their ways, though blacks can't. They continue on with the cycle. As a result of this, the victim is Danny. Throughout the film he didn't really do anything that was as horrible as some of the others' actions though he was the one who had to pay for their actions in the end. I think that Derek learned the greatest lesson, though he learned this lesson a little too late.
In "American History X" the good guy, the bad guy, the victim, and the person who learned a lesson in the movie. He is the good guy because after his time in prison he came out a different person; nicer to his family, getting out of the skinheads, and being more polite to others of different faces. He is the bad guy because he influnced others to committ crimes, was sent to prison for murder, got his brother involved with the skin heads, and was immorally rude to anyone and everyone that he did not approve of. Another "bad guy" is Cameron. He took these children in and taught them everything negative that they could think, say, and do. Derek was a victim because he was one of the children that was influenced by Cameron and he lose his brother. His brother Danny is a victim as well as the boy who murdered him because they were only put into those situations so that they could impress their brothers. Without their brothers being the way that they were, those boys wouldn't have gotten involved. They just wanted to be accepted and loved. There were two people who learned a lesson in this movie. Danny had a complete change of heart at the end of the movie, he wrote a spectacular paper on how his brother's journey had caused him to not be prejudice and feel discrimination towards others. With the orignial ending, we would have seen Derek learn that no matter what, hate does remain. If he was truly over being a skinhead he wouldn't have changed back into one after the death of his brother. But even without this ending he does learn a lesson that people of different backgrounds can coexist peacefully, which he discovered while in prison.
In my opinion, throughout "American History X" Derek is the good guy, bad guy, and the victim. In the beginning of the movie he was the bad guy because he was very wrong in his ways of being a skinhead and he even killed someone through curbing. I feel that no matter how mad you are at someone, nobody deserves to die from curbing and Derek was 110% wrong in doing that and therefore he was the bad guy. However towards the end of the movie he became the good guy. He quit his skinhead ways and he encouraged his little brother, Danny, to do the same. He was also very caring for his mother and sister. At the end of the film, he was the victim because his little brother got murdered. Even though Danny and the other kids had bad feelings for each other in the start of the movie, there are other ways to resolve your problems with people and violence is not the answer. As you can see, Derek is the good guy, bad guy, and the victim.
the victim would be Danny since he was the focal character in the movie. everyone and everything was centered on influencing him. The good guy would probably be the rehab Derek. He was portrayed as the good guy since he wanted to get away from the skinheads. the bad guy would be either Skinhead Derek or the skinhead group. I wouldn't call the black kid at the end the bad guy since danny provoked him at the beginning. They were shown doing bad things defined by society. The person who learned the greatest lesson would maybe be the audience who watched this. it's to teach the audience about skinheads and racism and how somethings happen because of what you believe.
The bad guys in the movie were Cameron and Derek's dad. Some people previously said that the skinheads were the bad guys, but though they might have a lot of hatred inside them, most of them didn't act out as violently as Derek did. And the only reason Derek got involved in the skinhead group was because his hatred, intiated by his father's racist comments about Sweeney, was fueled by Cameron's "motivational" speeches that encouraged Derek to hate. Derek learned to hate from his dad and Cameron, therefore they are the bad guys. Even though he killed two guys, I wouldn't consider him to be the bad guy because they WERE trying to steal his truck, so technically, they can be bad guys too. Besides, Derek learned his lesson in prison and became a truly good guy. Until Danny was killed.
Danny is definitely the greatest victim in the movie because he was punished for no reason; he only looked up to his brother and wanted to be like him, he never actually did anything bad or good. The greatest lesson was learned by Derek though because of what he went through in prison, and then after losing Danny, his best friend. However, I like the original ending of the movie better, in which case, the second lesson Derek learns is that it's okay to hate- because even though he had turned his life around after prison, his brother was still killed by a black kid. It all depends on how you view each character, they can all be considered "bad" or "good" at one point or another.
After watching the movie American History X, I had to think alot about this question. I think alot of the characters have the ability because of their actions to be considered for all three of these kinds of people. I think that Lamont is the good guy in this movie. This is because Lamont knew that Derek was a Skin Head and even though he was black and knew he was most likely hated by him, he still talked to him everyday, and eventually got Derek to talk back. Lamont never gave up on Derek and I feel that he was the reason that Derek came out learning his lesson about hate and a changed person. I think that the bad guy in American History X would be the people in the gangs. In order to be in gangs, you usually have to hurt people or do something bad to just get in. once your in it, I think you normally have to do bad things all the time in order to protect yourself and the people in your gang. You also learn to hate when your in gangs which is horrible baggage if your trying to live a normal life, which most of these people weren't. The vicitim in this movie, i would have to say is Danny. Danny looked up to Derek so much and i feel that the only reason Danny was a Skin Head was because that was what his brother was. In most of the situations in this movie, Danny was the good guy or if they were doing something bad, he was just following his brother, becuase that was who his role model was. I feel that Derek learned the biggest lesson because of his brother being shot in the end. This was also because in the ending that i saw, he stopped being a Skin Head which i feel made him be the character that changed the most.
In the movie American History X there was no good guy. I say this becuase how can anyone have been the "good guy" when all of them at some point had a hand in violence. Derek killed two people, Danny was part of the skinheads, and even Dr. Sweeney had a violent past as he told Derek. And for that matter I can't say that there was a "bad guy" either. Derek may have killed two people but I find it hard to call him a bad guy when he clearly learned from his miistakes at the end of the film. I'm sure no one would consider Sweeney the bad guy when he didnt' have perfect past either. However, there was a victim, Danny. I believe that Danny was a victim because his behaviors were the direct cause of influences in his life such as Seth, Cameron, and Derek. I don't believe he chose the path he was on but rather it was chosen for him by Derek leaving no escape when he was then taken off to prison; ultimately ending in his death.
The victim in AHX is definitly Danny. He gave up the most in order to fit into the circumstances that were posed to him. Whether Danny wanted to hate or not he had no choice; he wanted to be like his brother, Derek, and had an influence by Derek's friend to hate. This was evident when Danny was told to say into the camera all the nasty feelings "he" had towards non-white. In the end it costed him his life, just as he had gotten past the image of hate and saw people more equally it was taken from him. Derek is the individual who learned the hardest lesson. All of the families problems, including his, were in direct relation to his actions. Derek's actoins landed him in prison for three years, cost his family years of suffering, and his brothers life. In the end Derek learned the greatest lesson. To me, anyone who hated like the black people and the skinheads were the bad guys in AHx because they promoted hate.
After watching American History X i feel as though the good guy and the bad guys in the film seem to switch throughout the film. In the begining Derek Vinyard and his group off people are looked at because they feel as though they are superior and anyone and everything is under them. They treat people badly and try to make people see that what they are a part of is what is right. Yet the black men in the movie can also be looked at as the bad guys in the film because instead of ignoring the other boys they retaliated and ended up being just as bad as Dereks group. In both situations one group is the good guys and the bad guys. Although i do feel that Derek Vinyard was the one who learned the greatest lesson in the film. After everything he did to people because of what he believed in and because of what people made believe changing for the better in the end shows he learned his lesson. Throughout his time in prison the only person who helped him pull through was a black man,and after prison he realized that they are all equal and he shouldn't hate them because of the color of there skin. Derek tryed to show his brother and others that what he believed now was the right way to believe and even though some turned down his new beliefs he himself still learned his lesson
After watching the movie American History X I believe that the good guys and the bad guys seem to switch throughout the movie. In my opinion I believe that Derek Vinyard is the good guy and also the victim in the movie. I find the "bad guys" to be the black (gang member) guys. I believe that Derek is the good guy and also the victim because even though he was once the racist leader of the Neo Nazi group, he is able to change for the better. Prison made him see just how wrong he was, and that ulimatley he was not doing anything good for himself. He believed in a cause that was ignorant. At the ed of the movie we see a huge transformation, he ends up changing himself and then he even changes his younger brother Danny (who looked up to Derek as a God and wanted to follow in his footsteps). The black guys didn't seem to understand the concept of stopping the hatred that was going on. During the movie we see them brake into Derek's house, and then they kill Danny at the end. I believe Derek is the victim because he had changed for the better throughout the movie and realized thats nothing good had come of his past life. As soon ad Derek gets out of prison he goes on and tries to preach to Danny about becoming a better person, so that he would not make the same mistakes that he himself had made. The black gang members murdered Danny. Derek had now become a more understanding empathetic man. Unfortunately the one thing he loved and cared about so much was taken away from him. B Derek changing his Nazi ways he did not do any good for himself. He still lost his younger brother Danny. Although, his Nazi ways in his past life in my opinion caused Danny to be killed. The good guys and the bad guys can be changed throughout the movie depending on the certain perspective you take.
well i believe that the victim is Danny because he is caught in between wanting to be like his brother and the african americans wanting to get back at Derek. I think the bad guys are derek and the african americans because if everyone could just like eachother no one would be able to hur one another and no one would get hurt
I think the good and bad guy roles switch during the movie. At the beginning it is Derek, but in the end it is the kid who killed Danny. Derek turns into the good guy, because he is able to change his ways, and helps his younger brother see past the racism. Prison made him realize his mistake, and that race didn't make people any different.
The victim in the movie is first, Danny, because he is the one who is murdered as the result of hate and racism. I also think that Derek is the victim, because he looses his brother, the person he was closest to. Also in the original movie, he looses his new views and goes back to his skinhead ways, making him even more the victim.
While watching American History X, personally, I thought that the “good guy” was Dr. Sweeny. He, throughout the movie, was there to help Danny and never gave up on him. He was the guy that went to Derek’s side to inspire him to help out his brother. He was the man that put forth the effort when no one else did. The “bad guy” in the movie can be interchangeable between Seth and Derek. Although Derek was the guy who ran the whole group of men, he changed when he went to prison and Seth never did. Derek’s actions might have been worse but Seth never really grew out of what Derek taught him, even after Derek came back and told him what he learned. The “victim” in this movie would have to be Danny in several ways. He was the victim because he was influenced by his brother and everyone around him that being in this hate group was okay and it was right for him to feel negative towards another race. Then, at the very end of the movie, became an actual victim when he was shot. All of these men made the movie that much more interesting because of the sharp contrasts with their personalities.
After viewing the Film American History X there are many characters that could possible be the victumk,the bad guy, the good guy and the person wholeanred the greatest lesson. The person who was the the good guy would have to be the Principal. He understood the family and never gave up on them. even when Vinyard was in jail he still went to go visit him in jail. also he made sure that Danny wasnt going to go in the direction that his brother was going. he looked pass the fact that this family hates anyone not white protistant and helped them. the person in the movie that is the bad guy is Bob Sweeney. he fed these young kids with radical ideas that caused them to be hate machines. this man turned lost boys into what society hates. people may think that Derek or Danny are the bad guys but they were good at one point and the way a person leanrs bad is to be taught how to be bad. So if your bad to people and ur turn people to become bad, ultimitly your the worst person ever. The victum in the movie isnt just one person its a group. the Group that im refering to is the skin heads in the movie. they are victums of a cult that can cause death and hatred. these boys were vonerable to the movement and sweeney took advantage of this. the person that had learned the greatest lesson was Derek. He leanrd that it just isnt worth it to hate. After he befriends a man in jail he has a new outlook on life. he decideds that he needs to stop hateing and that its runing his life and the lives of this family.
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