At first glance, it did not seem like a movie I’d be interested in. Neo-Nazis, racism, the language was full of racial slurs. Somehow though, it intrigued me and I didn’t change the channel. I’m glad that I didn’t because this turned out to be a somewhat decent movie. I’m not saying it will be everybody’s cup of tea, there are going to be some who won’t make it past the language and subject matter, but I am actually glad that I watched it. This is a lot more than a racist movie glorifying gang antics.
It begins with the release from jail of Derek and is told from the viewpoint of his little brother, Danny, in the form of flashbacks.
Derek had been the kingpin of the local Neo-Nazi group, spouting ’’truths’’ and inspiring others to follow him in various acts against any in the local populace who are not white Protestant. On his release though, he seems different. Quieter, more mature. Instead of being proud that his little brother is following in his footsteps, he seems perturbed by it.
Danny is confused. While his big brother has been in jail, he has been welcomed into the group by its overseer, a man named Cam. Cam takes young men, disgruntled with their lot, and brainwashes them basically into hate. Hate for anyone who he does not feel is worthy. He is like a father figure to them, and they want to please him.
It is only after Derek’s return, that we find Cam is more sham. His tales of prison life centre on a 2 month stay which ended when he tattle-taled to get a deal for early release.
Derek’s time in jail is an awakening. At first he cleaves with a Neo-Nazi group in the jail, yet finds his beliefs challenged when he sees one of them openly dealing with the leader of a Hispanic sect. At the same time, he is forced to work with a cheery young black man who manages to show him a human side of the black race.
We see that Derek is in jail for three years for manslaughter of a black youth who he deliberately killed, and the young black guy he works with is in for 6 years for stealing a tv set from a store and dropping it on a police officers foot during the arrest.
When Derek attempts to distance himself from the one group in jail, they attack him in the shower and rape him. When he is back at work, his young black friend rebukes him for being stupid enough to try to go it alone, and warns him that it is only because of the groups protection, that he has not had any hassles in the system thus far.
There are some parts of this movie that I found funny although they are in effect quite distasteful. Seth, a big doofus who is part of the gang on the outside, is driving down the road in his pick up truck with a tape blaring and singing along. The lyrics are very inflammatory, but I found myself laughing at how stupid he looked and sounded. Thinking also of some friends that I’ve had over the years, who have shared the very same outlook on life and people.
Sadly, as we see in flashbacks, hate is taught from an early age. In fact sometimes, we do not even realise the messages we send to our young people in complaints voiced by many, everyday. Once the seed has been planted, it begins to grow and that is when it begins to twist peoples lives. It is easy to blame another race or culture for iniquities in our own life, far easier to push the blame on somebody else than to take responsibility for it ourselves.
It shows the futility of gang life, and how death may not always come to those who actually take part, but may catch innocent bystanders in the crossfire or those who have been incited into some minor action without considering the consequences. In Danny’s case, this is an essay he had turned in for homework, goaded by Cam. Cam rants that the blacks can write about Martin Luther King, the hispanics about César Chavez yet the white man cannot write about Hitler without it being racist, and he espouses this inequality to Danny who is having to redo the assignment because the black history teacher refused to accept it.
Ultimately, the original essay plays a part in the film’s finale, the twist in the tale. It is a sad ending and quite grotesque. Sadly though, this film epitomizes all that is good and bad in America today. It is an honest look at a sad fact of life for many people, especially teens and young adults, who get involved in gangs. It shows how feelings can be manipulated to incite violence against others. It shows how some peoples inability to control their own life and destiny creates a need for them to justify that inability by laying the blame on someone else.
This movie will probably be watched by Neo-Nazis who will cheer at its portrayal of their beliefs, not realising that the movie is not reiterating them at all. It’s language may be offensive to others who might find themselves watching this at some point. However, for all this, I felt this was a pretty decent movie. Maybe not an award winner, but it was decently paced, the acting was good and the story was fairly interesting.
It might be a movie for parents of teens to watch with their teen, in particular those who may be espousing the same rhetoric, in order to show what happens when all you do is fill your life with hate.
With all that is going on in the world today, and with all the violence that teens see on tv and in the media, we have to do something for those troubled kids who see gang life as something wonderful and whose experiences with death become real because of their affiliations. I don’t have any answers as to how we can accomplish this once children reach that point. We have to intercede before they become alienated from us as family, friends, or neighbours. We have to teach them THEIR value in the world and teach them RESPECT for others. We need to make them understand that life is not a game, that death is a finality from which there is no coming back. That their life is important, as is the next persons, and that hate is a self-destructive emotion.
We have to reclaim these kids before somebody else gets to them ... and they end up either dead or in jail.