Reading Autobiography Of A Recovering Skinhead and American History X are two popular portrayals of white nationalism. From both, you learn about a fictional, yet realistic way that Edward Norton's character became a white nationalist, and a true story of how Frank was lured. I think that even though it seems logical for the most part of how someone would become a white nationalist it is helpful to see wher
e they came from and what influenced their decisions. Frank's story especially was very helpful because most of the time you see the end result, a white nationalist, and don't think about what made them become that way. The detail of his background gave a lot of pretext that you normally don't get and is very helpful in understanding how the hatred he had for himself and others (his mom for choosing sex, to put in nicely, over him, etc.), the neglect he was faced with, and the impressionable age he was at which ultimately made him feed into the ideology of white supremacy. In an interview he stated about parents, "that’s where you learn all of your morals and your humanity if you have any," which shows what he views his parents failed to do without having to actually say it. You hear so often that people are a product of their environment, but seem to forget this when you see a white nationalist because most are too busy writing them off as crazy or extreme. Though from the title you think oh this is going to be just about his white nationalist days, but there is way more to it. The neglect he felt from his family led him to never really feel loved and there is a large theme of love and wanting to be accepted throughout the book, which is summed up in the final few sentences where he mentions that he went to his sons school and he states, "someday, when he's a lot older, I'm going to tell my son the whole story of the thirty-one-year trip I took to surprise him at school. That afternoon, though, all my boy needed to hear was the only thing I wanted to say. "I love you"." That was what he wanted to hear for so long and never did, and didn't want his kids to think why did their dad choose death over them. Though that isn't the main focus of the story I came away with that and it really helps tie everything together as a good story, even though this is a real mans life and not a story. Also, you see how all consuming white supremacy is and how at times there is no way to escape dealing with people that they despise, at least for the characters when they were in jail. I can't imagine having so much hatred all the time, I would be so exhausted if I had to be that way. F
rank has said, “American History X isn’t my story. It’s every skinhead’s story to some extent… it was every other kid who ever got sucked up into the white supremacy movement.” Though they overlooked certain aspects of the experience Derek had, like lasting repercussions of being raped, they did a really good job of depicting white nationalists accurately, since white nationalists seem to love it and I have heard nothing negative about the depiction. Though the movie reaffirms all white nationalist ideology the movie shows aspects of how it affects the family, which you don't see a ton in Franks story since the family was already extremely dysfunctional. I think that it was really nice to see how white supremacy functions in a family that isn't fully involved in the movement and how that affects their relationships, interactions and power dynamics. I know for me I never really thought about how being a white nationalist would affect a family or about white nationalists having families that may not have the same views. In terms of music and it's connection to the book and film was used as a social medium. In the book Frank talks about going to compounds for the weekend and learning about Identity theology, how to shoot and then going to concerts (also for recruitment reasons). These concerts created solidarity, reaffirmed their beliefs and were a place to drink at his young age, which most kids think is pretty cool on it's own. Also, they listened to music when partying and drinking, which he did often because it helped to escape reality. In American History X there isn't a ton of white nationalist music, but when they did have some it was in the party scene when Derek is telling Cameron that he needs to leave his brother alone and they are out of the movement. This is also a scene that is used for social reasons and creates the solidarity that they need in a multicultural city.
e they came from and what influenced their decisions. Frank's story especially was very helpful because most of the time you see the end result, a white nationalist, and don't think about what made them become that way. The detail of his background gave a lot of pretext that you normally don't get and is very helpful in understanding how the hatred he had for himself and others (his mom for choosing sex, to put in nicely, over him, etc.), the neglect he was faced with, and the impressionable age he was at which ultimately made him feed into the ideology of white supremacy. In an interview he stated about parents, "that’s where you learn all of your morals and your humanity if you have any," which shows what he views his parents failed to do without having to actually say it. You hear so often that people are a product of their environment, but seem to forget this when you see a white nationalist because most are too busy writing them off as crazy or extreme. Though from the title you think oh this is going to be just about his white nationalist days, but there is way more to it. The neglect he felt from his family led him to never really feel loved and there is a large theme of love and wanting to be accepted throughout the book, which is summed up in the final few sentences where he mentions that he went to his sons school and he states, "someday, when he's a lot older, I'm going to tell my son the whole story of the thirty-one-year trip I took to surprise him at school. That afternoon, though, all my boy needed to hear was the only thing I wanted to say. "I love you"." That was what he wanted to hear for so long and never did, and didn't want his kids to think why did their dad choose death over them. Though that isn't the main focus of the story I came away with that and it really helps tie everything together as a good story, even though this is a real mans life and not a story. Also, you see how all consuming white supremacy is and how at times there is no way to escape dealing with people that they despise, at least for the characters when they were in jail. I can't imagine having so much hatred all the time, I would be so exhausted if I had to be that way. F
rank has said, “American History X isn’t my story. It’s every skinhead’s story to some extent… it was every other kid who ever got sucked up into the white supremacy movement.” Though they overlooked certain aspects of the experience Derek had, like lasting repercussions of being raped, they did a really good job of depicting white nationalists accurately, since white nationalists seem to love it and I have heard nothing negative about the depiction. Though the movie reaffirms all white nationalist ideology the movie shows aspects of how it affects the family, which you don't see a ton in Franks story since the family was already extremely dysfunctional. I think that it was really nice to see how white supremacy functions in a family that isn't fully involved in the movement and how that affects their relationships, interactions and power dynamics. I know for me I never really thought about how being a white nationalist would affect a family or about white nationalists having families that may not have the same views. In terms of music and it's connection to the book and film was used as a social medium. In the book Frank talks about going to compounds for the weekend and learning about Identity theology, how to shoot and then going to concerts (also for recruitment reasons). These concerts created solidarity, reaffirmed their beliefs and were a place to drink at his young age, which most kids think is pretty cool on it's own. Also, they listened to music when partying and drinking, which he did often because it helped to escape reality. In American History X there isn't a ton of white nationalist music, but when they did have some it was in the party scene when Derek is telling Cameron that he needs to leave his brother alone and they are out of the movement. This is also a scene that is used for social reasons and creates the solidarity that they need in a multicultural city. 
No comments:
Post a Comment