Danny was perhaps the most vulnerable male character in the film. He was a typical teenager, faced with the constant task of establishing who he really was. He was classified as Derek's brother, forced to live in the shadow of a "hero" and martyr. He had a lot to live up to and subconsciously knew that he was incapable of ever affecting people the way that Derek had. Danny's unsureness and need to emulate Derek, only made it easier for him to succumb to Cameron's devious ideas.
Seth is also a character who underneath his aggressive demeanor, is just a human trying to find a place where he belongs. Seth is obviously self-conscious, due to the fact that he is an extremely obese man. He is constantly scrutinized about his weight and defends himself with crude remarks. He is a very avid member of the skinhead group, showing no remorse in his white supremist attitude and vicious behavior. It is plausible that his outward aggressive behavior emerged from repressed feelings of animosity towards himself. He doesn't want to accept the fact that his weight is an issue, so he takes it out on those who cannot defend themselves, as evident in the scene of the convenience store raid.
So is it possible that the extremely aggro-masculine characters in the movie, are actually the ones that are the most susceptible to vulnerability?
Wow, guys- these comments are really making me think! I actually thought of something right after class that, while watching the film, I found very fascinating. I was a bit confused as to how Derek so abruptly shied away from his racist ideals...But when I thought twice about it, I realized that black inmate Lamont had a LOT to do with Derek's epiphany. Not only did I find it ironic that Derek had to work with an African American in prison, but I also found it remarkable that the two became fast friends and their relationship proved to be key in Derek's paradigm shift. It was when Lamont explained to Derek the reason why he was incarcerated that Derek truly realized the unjustness in American society, the earnestness of racism. Lamont was charged with robbery and “assault” on an officer (when, in reality, the stolen television merely fell on the officer’s foot) and sentenced to six years in prison. Derek, on the other hand, was sentenced to only three years for the first-degree murder of two African Americans.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think about it, it seems impossible to change a fierce neo-Nazi’s views on blacks- especially if that neo-Nazi is Derek, the most prominent skinhead of his time, the martyr of the group. When the rest of the skinheads learned of Derek’s separation from the skinheads, they were shocked and infuriated. This is because they were not imprisoned as Derek was, and they did not get the chance to meet Lamont. I really think that it was Derek learning of Lamont’s crime that jerked him so quickly into realizing the unfairness of racism. It was the realization that our justice system blatantly favored whites over blacks and unfairly punished them for crimes that they may have not even committed that really changed Derek.
At first, I didn’t think it seemed realistic for a person to change his most fervent beliefs so abruptly. But when I really thought about Lamont and his impact on Derek, I quickly realized that all it takes is an epiphany for such drastic changes to take place in the thought process of a human. It seems, in this case, that the real-life interaction (in contrast to the media/ Nazi symbols/ abstract ideology Derek had been exposed to as a skinhead) with an African American allowed Derek to realize that blacks, after all, are humans who do not deserve such violent discrimination.
PS- I didn't know how to post that comment without commenting on Brianna's post..Sorry! haha
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