ipl-logo

What Are The Stereotypes In The Movie American History X

574 Words3 Pages

In the movie”American History X” viewers are watch and reflect upon a society where black and white people do not coexist. The movie follows the life of a family encountering life changing situations, allowing us to see both positive and negative perspectives throughout the movie. Beginning with a shocking opening scene with one of the main characters, Danny Vinyard spots two African-Americans hi-jacking his brother’s car. As he runs to tell his older brother, Derek, the neon-Nazi gets a gun and shoots the men attempting the theft. The police arrive and and Derek is arrested and sentenced to three years in prison where he acquires a different outlook on life. He sees the contrast of the powerful whites in prison with his seemingly inferior black acquaintance, Guy Torry. While Derek is in prison, the younger brother Danny inherits his rebellious attitude, destining himself to follow in his older brother’s footsteps. As …show more content…

2. While in jail, Derek met an African-American named Guy Torry who he befriended. As they got along and bonded through conversation, Derek began paying more attention and keeping an open mind toward the African-Americans in prison, and even disrespected the seemingly powerful white men in jail. He began standing up for the blacks and denouncing the whites who abused their superiority and opportunities due to their race.

3. When Derek was released from jail, he had an enlightened and reformed ideology. He tried convincing his brother to follow in his footsteps of becoming a new instead of making the same mistakes he did. In an attempt to ensure his brother would be the man Derek couldn’t be, he made numerous efforts to convince him of the equality amongst races and why they would be seen as equal and on the same level as their race, as opposed to the common inferior perception they were initially

Show More
Related
1023 Words | 5 Pages

The teacher asks whether or not black students still care about racial justice and the boy responds by saying, “In the fifties we still had something to prove so we had a reason to fight”. The teacher asks, “you don’t think black students are competing now?”. His response: “No.” Maybe the filmmakers took this exchange out of context or maybe the student was trying to say something else, but it saddened me to think that there might be children who already feel a sense of defeat. The recent media campaigns surrounding police violence against black individuals, something that has been going on for decades just without media coverage, is showing the public that there is far more that needs to be done in order to make America equal for all races.

Read More
233 Words | 1 Pages

Native American portrayal cinema typically portray many stereotypes, such as being one with the Earth, alcoholic and dressed in headdresses. However, not all movies and their portrayal of Native American are the same, for instance the movie The Outlaw Jonesy Wales portrays Native American in a different context. In the movie one of the main character is a Native American chief who is not bound by these common stereotypes. Instead he acts just like any person would act and does not put emphasis on what race he comes from. Although it is still very obvious what race he is, but it is not over the top trying to make the audience believe what race he is by portraying as the Hollywood Indian.

Read More
1101 Words | 5 Pages

Although race relations in the United States between whites and African Americans have significantly improved since the abolishment of Jim Crow laws, director Spike Lee’s socially conscious satire, Bamboozled shows that discrimination has only evolved. Released in 2000, the film sought to edify the African American population about the racist and stereotypical treatments blacks endured during the Jim Crow era when they were used to entertain the white masses. Moreover, it also shows how that culture is still propagated today, with African American film makers just as guilty. From the time the first African set foot in the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, race relations have always been whites’ superiority over blacks.

Read More
769 Words | 4 Pages

Stereotypes in media have been around since the earliest cartoons were drawn. The media gives supposedly identifying traits with images of the stingy Jewish man, the single Hispanic woman cleaning homes to raise her three children, and the “butch” lesbian falling for the beautiful blonde who just happens to glance at her every day in the hallway. These portrayals make up general knowledge about minorities for a lot of people, but their accuracy is questionable at best. While production companies have been making strides towards the better, insufficient representation in the media tends to portray minorities as their negative stereotypes rather than as people.

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

For example: his mother suffering a mental disease, the loss of his father, incarceration, conversion to Muslim and union to the Nation of Islam. These moments are the before and after in the life of this activist, however in an attempt to remain faithful to the biography of Malcolm X, slang was used during a great part the film. It would have been better if the author had used a more formal language in order to help the audience to understand the dialogue. Moreover, the argument of the director suggests that the complete black population in the United States of America was being discriminated, and that white American society in general addressed them harshly. When what happened was that, a small group of high class promoted such policies and other groups that favored the ideology of Malcolm X seeked to be part of his

Read More
701 Words | 3 Pages

The movie Philadelphia follows the story of Andrew Beckett, a young lawyer suffering from the disease HIV. Fearing it would compromise his career; Beckett hides his homosexuality and HIV status but is later found out, when his colleagues notice the illness’s telltale lesions. Fired shortly afterwards, Beckett decides to sue for discrimination, teaming up with Joe Miller, the only lawyer willing to help. Through a rigorous court case, the two end up winning and set a precedent setting case for homosexuality in the work place When Beckett first started his pursuit of equality, he was met with many hardships, most if not all stemming from prejudice. This prejudice came due his contracted disease which carried many stereotypes at the time.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

He sees African American youths finding the points of confinement put on them by a supremacist society at the exact instant when they are finding their capacities. The narrator talks about his association with his more youthful sibling, Sonny. That relationship has traveled

Read More
1180 Words | 5 Pages

Towards the beginning of this movie, many blacks were looking at the white men with hatred for raping and nearly killing a ten year old black girl. The men transformed the innocent little girl’s life forever. The men were instantly

Read More
418 Words | 2 Pages

In Sociology, stereotypes are described as "pictures in our heads" that we do not acquire through personal experience. I believe that stereotypes are a mental tool that enforces racial segregation and self-hate. As well justification for dehumanizing minorities. Such as Black women are "Mammy", "Welfare Mothers", "Uneducated", " Inferior", and "Poor". White women are "Pure", "Desirable", "Affluent" and "Superior".

Read More
572 Words | 3 Pages

Derek finds some of his fellow white supremacist members in prison and takes him in with their group. He then realizes that the group is not following by the norms he follows outside of prison. His group inside is doing business interactions from a different racial group which in Derek’s eyes that is a huge problem. He calls that out within the group and he is raped in prison by his own people. He then

Read More
290 Words | 2 Pages

In the movie, Hacksaw Ridge, the medic, Desmond Doss, is shown to be very confident. In one scene he is talking about a girl and is very confident saying he would get her, and had no doubts at all. Being confident is important, because it helps you stand up for what you believe in and you won 't back down as easily. I admired how much the medic stands up for himself and didn 't let anybody get to his head, and how confident he was and didn 't let anybody ever stomp all over him. The medic, was the only one to not pick up a rifle in the beginning of the movie, he didn 't let that stop him from standing up for what he believed in, even if others didn 't agree.

Read More
1431 Words | 6 Pages

‘A Time to Kill’ is a movie that depicts the racial tensions between the white and black Americans in the past. The movie revolves around the life of Jake Brigance, a lawyer, and Carl Lee Hailey, as he struggles with the law and racism after seeking justice for his raped 10-year old daughter. As Carl Lee approaches Brigance for help with his case, they both face the challenge of blurring the lines between the white and black Americans and helping Carl Lee escape the long arms of the law. In the movie, racism, negligence of one side of the story, and objectivity are applied.

Read More
524 Words | 3 Pages

Family morals and ideals influenced the judgment of African Americans during the time. In the second half of Invisible Man, IM has gone through an immense transformation. At this point, IM embraces on the full meaning of his grandfather’s words (Ellison, 16) and he used these principles left out for him becoming a change man. In addition to the ethics of blood related relatives, ideals extended further to the community and friends. The Brotherhood in Invisible Man is an excellent example of this.

Read More
671 Words | 3 Pages

Black Boy, however, explores racism not only as an odious belief held by odious people, but also as an insidious problem knit into the very fabric of society as a whole. Growing up, Richard tried to leave behind his violent lifestyle—even when his new friends wanted him to fight. “I knew that my life was revolving about a world that I had to encounter and fight when I grew up” (Wright 125). It’s

Read More

More about What Are The Stereotypes In The Movie American History X

Related Topics

Open Document