Critical Essay about "American History X" and "Apt Pupil"

Robert W. Welkos' article entitled "A Thin Line Between...FEAR and HATE" give a short summary and analyses about two neo-Nazi movies that came out in 1998, "American History X" and "Apt Pupil." He begins his article about comparing these movies to older movies about racism such as "Mississippi Burning" and "Rosewood" and discusses how those movies only mentioned racism in the south, whereas the two newer movies show how racism can be found in "suburban neighborhoods." "American History X" and "Apt Pupil" are compared by Welkos by saying,

"In much the same way that 'Apt Pupil' charts one youth's linear descent into evil and corruption, 'American History X' presents a circular journey that ends with the young man's redemption."

After Welkos gives a quick summary of both movies, the controversy of "American History X's" director's battle to remove his name from the movie is discussed in depth. Through interviews with director Tony Kaye, Welkos discovered the reason Kaye turned his back on the film was that he believed New Line Cinema changed his vision of the movie saying he wanted to use the dialogue to "move[s] things forward, but not in a preachy way, which, unfortunately, a lot of 'American History X' does now." In summary, Welkos gets the point across that how the movie proves that "racism is bad" was the major battle between the sides.

Welkos mentions that New Line Cinema teamed up with a human rights organization, Amnesty International, in order to help market this controversial film, and Amnesty representative Paula Ramsey states that "American History X" gets the major lesson across saying, "Therein lies the lesson: Everyone suffers from hate crimes."

I believe that this lesson is the most important part of the movie, and "American History X" definitely does the job.

Click on the link to read Welkos' full essay from the Los Angeles Times, which is found on the "American History X" web page. There's also another link to the movie Trailer on You Tube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY8s5sooMsI&mode=related&search=