American History X and Crash Movies

An Analysis of the American Experience in the movies American History X and Crash

Movies , like any creative effort , reflect the time and the place in which they are created . Both American History X and Crash clearly address the concept of the American Dream and the way that people choose to live their lives . While they share this concept , however , American History X is a much darker film that explores the many and varied forms of hate . Stereotypes , prejudices , and racism are so much a part of everyday life that children are

literally taught these things at the dinner table . Crash , on the other hand , shows a diverse collection of Americans trying to live their lives . Some of them are good and some are bad , but all are capable of change

The viewer ultimately takes away two things from these films . First the viewer learns that the American Dream , as it is popularly perceived is unachievable to most . Second , the viewer takes away the message that things are rarely what they seem . In the end , while neither film was a fun or nice ' film , both leave the viewer perhaps thinking a bit more about the American experience and how it is experienced by members of different races

American History X , Crash , and Racism

American History X is a film about prejudices and racism . According to Coury Turczyn , American History X is the visceral meditation on American bigotry (par . 6 . Although this family seems to be a nice normal ' suburban family , the children are being indoctrinated into the culture of hate by their father , who constantly denigrates members of other races . The film goes on to trace the actions of the members of this family in general , as well as the events that affect them . In particular , this film addresses the son who attempts to prevent his younger brother from becoming a neo-Nazi , just as he had been in the past

In contrast , Crash is not necessarily a film about racism . Rather , it is a film that uses racism as a backdrop as it examines how actions have a ripple effect that go beyond race relations . The movie brings together groups of seemingly unrelated individuals who , through their racially motivated actions , become associated through crimes of passion and violence . Unlike the individuals in the movie American History X however , the movie Crash permits the characters to find redemption through their actions

American History X

At the beginning of this film , Derek , Danny , and the rest of their family seem to be living the American Dream . They live in a nice house in the suburbs , with a beautiful mom , a firefighter dad , and two other siblings . In the evenings , they sit down together at the dinner table to eat and talk . However , it is in the middle of this apparent domestic bliss that problems lurk . The dinner conversation is really the pivotal place where the viewer can see the kind of intolerance that Derek and Danny are taught by their father , Dennis...