Today i was flipping through the channels on television when i came across the movie "American History X." I remebered seeing the movie a couple years ago and remembered it was a great movie so i decided to catch the rest of it. The movie was about half way through. For people who have not seen the movie the story goes like this. A young, white, American man (Derek) gets involved in a neo-nazi movement. Derek also brings his younger brother (still in highschool) into the group. Derek ends up in prison. While in jail Derek becomes friends with a black man who gives him some good advice and begins to turn Derek's veiws. He stops hanging out with the other skinheads in the jail. Because he doesnt sit with the skinheads in the lunch room they get angry and jump him. This is a major turning point for Derek because he knows he doesnt want to live the life of a neo-nazi any more. He soon gets out of prison and goes home to share his aquired knowledge to his brother. They go through a dramatic scene tearing down all the swastikas and nazi posters off the wall in their room. I wont give away the ending for anybody who hasnt seen the film but it is very powerful.
While watchin this movie i thought a lot about Mr. Oconnor's chart of fortune and misfortune. The main character begins up in the fortune portion of the chart. Some events happen that lead to him becoming a nazi, this is where the chart falls quickly and Derek ends up in jail. The interesting part about this movie is right when the chart is going up fast, right before the story is over there is a huge fall on the chart. The drastic fall at the end of the story is not what people are used to seeing in movies or other stories but it creates a very powerful message. A message i am still trying to figure out.
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