American History X is a movie with a genre of realism. It depicts neo-Nazi beliefs and their sick actions. The movie is basically about a new Nazi, Derek Vineyard, who is convicted of killing two African Americans. His hate for black people began to develop when his father was shot and killed by a drug dealer while he was on the job as a fireman. After Derek serves out his prison sentence, he has new beliefs and regrets his former actions from his past. He sees his brother, Danny, headed in the same direction as he was and he wants to save him from making the same mistakes.
Although we did not talk about foreshadowing as an element in films this term, it is a key element is American History X. The ending of the movie is the shooting and killing of Danny Vineyard. This event was foreshadowed a few scenes earlier as well as a scene much earlier in the movie. Earlier in the movie, a few black kids were beating up a scrawny white kid in the bathroom for ratting them out for cheating. Danny, who was in the bathroom the whole time walks out of the bathroom stall. He stares at one of the black kids, Little Henry, and blows smoke in his face. Two shots succeed that: First, a close up of Henry's dark eyes, staring into Danny's; second, a close up of Danny's eyes staring right back into Henry's eyes. Both people's eyes filled with hate and disgust with each other. The school bell rings to break the silence. Henry and his boys walk out of the bathroom with Henry saying, "You lucky I gotta go to class next time ," meaning he will do something later. Later in the movie, a couple of scenes before Danny's death, a car full of African Americans drive by the Vineyard house with Henry riding in the passenger seat. The car slows down and the driver extends his arm as if holding a gun and squeezes his hand into a fist as if shooting multiple while saying, "POW! POW!" This foreshadows the fact that something bad is coming for Danny.