Film Analysis: AMERICAN HISTORY X

Name: Jaz Butuyan

Year/Section/Course: 2E
MT

Socialization or Deviance Theories

Deviance and Social Diversity

Premise / argument of selected

theory

How racial and ethnic hostility

motivates hate crimes

Concept(s) in socialization deviance

Stigma

Discussion: How did the film illuminate and reinforce the sociological theories
(i.e. socialization, deviance) discussed in class?
In the film, Danny Vinyard begins his words permeating into the humid Venice
Beach air, I hate anyone that isnt white Protestant,, drawing explicit amens from his
overweight Nazi friend whose mitt of a hand captures his speech with a video recorder.
Filled with countless examples of concepts of social psychology, this film encompasses
so broad a view of the gripping talons of American racism that its tale of conversion will
certainly serve as a vision of hope in the present time.
The setting in Venice Beach, burgeoning with increasingly diverse cultures and
simmering in the summer heat, proves a fertile ground for the formation of groups of
angry, frustrated, insecure, ethnocentric white males. The changing face of the
community has many of them nervous about their place in society. Dont just be some
punk, be part of something incites the charismatic white supremacist Derrick Vinyard.
This invitation proves quite attractive for the gathered crowd, who soon find comfort and
meaning in their new social identity. This identity enables them to focus their
ethnocentric energies into a cohesive unit of organized rage and aggression. Their
united goal of the preservation and advancement of the white race is cloaked under the
guise of saving American society from the social diseases that threaten its existence.
In a strong showing of social dominance orientation, the young white supremacists feel
obligated to subvert other social groups who they deem inferior and dangerous to the
survival of the white race as the dominant recipient of the fruits of the American dream.
This stems from their confidence that their white Protestant upbringing is the backbone
of the countrys morale and is superior to that of the thousands of parasites that stream
across the border or the African-Americans who have a racial commitment to crime.
This example of social dominance theory exhibits at its very core extreme ideals of
ethnocentricity.
American History X dramatically portrays that stronghold that hate can have on society,
on groups, on families, and on individuals. Although pockets of racism exist and are
passed down through generations, the film proves through its examination of social
psychological elements that we do not have to fall prey to our surroundings and cater to
the whims and desires of the social beings around us. It is possible to break the mold of
our ancestors and create a new legacy.