Good evening reader. This line is a warning. This journal is concerning a movie I just viewed, American History X. This journal will analyze scenes from this movie, including scenes that were horribly violent, or repulsive. You may not want to read on. You have been warned.
I wanted to see American history X when I saw the trailer because
it looked like a very powerful, moving, dramatic film. I enjoy
films of that type very much. I had the opportunity to see this
film this evening (the 21st), and I jumped at it. And I was correct.
It was a dramatic, powerful, moving film. However, it was MUCH,
much more than that. This movie has moved me in ways I wouldn't
have imagined.
The movie was excellent, and horrid at the same time. It was
one of the best films I have ever seen, and yet there are so many
people I wouldn't recommend it to. This movie was, on the surface,
a film concerning the stupidity of white-supremacy. But it was
much more than that. It was a film about hatred. Plain and simple.
Any type of hatred. It was both beautiful and repulsive at the
same time. It is not a film for people who live and think "inside
the box." It makes you analyze your entire life, all your
motivations. Why do we do the things we do?? What makes us yell
obscenities at the other drivers on the road, no matter how ignorant
the things they do are? How prevelant is hatred in our society,
and how is it growing?
I began to go into a plot summary here, but I realized I can't do it near as accurately as the official page, (I just visited, it's very well done. Check it out here.)
There's an image that I can't get out of my head. The older
brother, Derek, is incarcerated for a murder. The image in my
head is the actual murder. I can't remember another image in my
mind that was that brutal. It made the movie real for me. After
careful deliberation, I have decided not to describe it. If you
know me personally, you can ask about it. I feel typed words cannot
do it justice.
I believe the one thing I will remember for years to come, that
I want to impart to you, reader, is hatred. Hatred spawns more
hatred, reader. When you are pissed, and do something cruel, does
that make you feel better?? Especially in the long run?? No, it
doesn't. It just makes you more angry. I believe that we should
all re-evaluate our daily actions, and realize how much we are
controlled by hate, especially inadvertantly.
In closing, hate is identical to stupidity. There is no other way of putting it. When you truly hate someone, for any reason, that is an ignorant action. I wish I could convey to you my feelings as I left the theatre. But I can't. I don't know whether it's attributable to exhaustion, or just my current state of emotion, but I'm having difficulty putting what I feel into words. (an odd situation for me.) I am going to stop for this evening, and hopefully when I reread this later I will be able to pick up my train of thought and convey it better.
Until our next installment, faithful reader,