"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature..." was a part of the first inaugural speech by the then US President Abraham Lincoln; also quoted in the feature film American History X towards the end.
The films story spindles into a powerful drama with the black-nigger and white-supremacists political ideology. The good thing about the film is despite having a very modest story line, has very powerful implications. Also quite surprisingly the film didn't have any happy/moral ending nor does it favour any of the views in particular.
Much like India the US has long history of racism and slavery. The civil war started with the bombardment of the Fort Sumtor by the South states or the Confederate (slave) states in support of nationalism of slavery, on the other hand the North supported the abolitionism. The war had serious consequences but it did ultimately lead to abolition of slavery, and paving a path for US to become the sole super power of the world.
In the film, the main protagonist becomes a part of a neo-nazi street gang, a group formed due to fear of the dominance of the black in the neighbourhood. In a rage incident he is convicted of voluntary-manslaughter and put into prison. In a series of happenings as an inmate, he gets disillusioned by his gang members and finds out the racism is a pointless and a flawed concept.
It is interesting to note that during the antebellum period the northern states, dominated by the Republican parties, wanted to abolish slavery and even considered it as a social evil, but as Frederick Douglass said "The cry of Free Man was raised, not for the extension of liberty to the black man, but for the protection of the liberty of the white" resonating the fact that white-labour could face a danger once slavery would be legal system in the North. Now in the story, set in 90s, the white-supremacy ideology is primarily backed by the resent in local population due to the social and economical provisions provided to the blacks since the time of the Lincoln for their social up-lift-ment, which was now, according to the local neighbourhood, eating up all the white's space.
Towards the end Edward Norton, playing the protagonist superbly renders the transformation from the crazy short tempered skinhead into a remorseful and a deeply understanding being. A must watch.
The films story spindles into a powerful drama with the black-nigger and white-supremacists political ideology. The good thing about the film is despite having a very modest story line, has very powerful implications. Also quite surprisingly the film didn't have any happy/moral ending nor does it favour any of the views in particular.
Much like India the US has long history of racism and slavery. The civil war started with the bombardment of the Fort Sumtor by the South states or the Confederate (slave) states in support of nationalism of slavery, on the other hand the North supported the abolitionism. The war had serious consequences but it did ultimately lead to abolition of slavery, and paving a path for US to become the sole super power of the world.
In the film, the main protagonist becomes a part of a neo-nazi street gang, a group formed due to fear of the dominance of the black in the neighbourhood. In a rage incident he is convicted of voluntary-manslaughter and put into prison. In a series of happenings as an inmate, he gets disillusioned by his gang members and finds out the racism is a pointless and a flawed concept.
It is interesting to note that during the antebellum period the northern states, dominated by the Republican parties, wanted to abolish slavery and even considered it as a social evil, but as Frederick Douglass said "The cry of Free Man was raised, not for the extension of liberty to the black man, but for the protection of the liberty of the white" resonating the fact that white-labour could face a danger once slavery would be legal system in the North. Now in the story, set in 90s, the white-supremacy ideology is primarily backed by the resent in local population due to the social and economical provisions provided to the blacks since the time of the Lincoln for their social up-lift-ment, which was now, according to the local neighbourhood, eating up all the white's space.
Towards the end Edward Norton, playing the protagonist superbly renders the transformation from the crazy short tempered skinhead into a remorseful and a deeply understanding being. A must watch.
