Sunday Matinee #123 American History X
Can a Nazi reform? Yes. At least, in the movies...
John 13:31-35 | EnterTheBible.org
Fifth Sunday of Easter | 05.18.2025
Context: Jesus has washed the feet of his disciples, showing that the teacher is no greater than the servant. He begins what is often called his Farewell Discourse: sayings, teachings, and commandments about how to live after he is killed. Much of this discourse can be summed up with these words:
34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
American History X | 1998
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: White supremacist and up-and-coming Nazi leader Derek Vinyard (Edward Nortin in an Oscar-nominated role) is sent to prison for viciously murdering two Black men in a horrific hate crime (don’t seek the scene online if you don’t think you can stomach it). There, he is forced to work the laundry room with Lamont (Guy Torry), a Black man whose human face begins to blur his blind hatred. Over the years in prison together, they form a bond and Derek rethinks his racist views. On the day of his release, Derek runs into Lamont one final time.
Lamont: 'Sup, man? You getting outta here? Well, c'mon man! What the fuck you waiting on?
Derek Vinyard: Yeah, you know, I got this funny feeling.
Lamont: Oh yeah? What's that?
Derek: I'm thinking the only reason I'm getting outta here in one piece is you.
Lamont: C'mon man! Get the fuck outta here, man! You think I'm gonna put my neck on the line for some crazy-ass peckerwood?
Derek: Yeah, right. Stupid.
A beat of silence passes. Derek grins. Lamont looks away.
Derek: That's what I thought. I owe you, man.
Lamont: Man, you owe me shit, all right?
Derek: Yes, I do.
Derek offers his hand. Lamont takes embraces it with his.
Derek: You'll be outta here in no time.
Lamont: C'mon man, it's a piece of cake, all right? You just take it easy on the brothers, all righht? The brothers!
Commentary:
While this passage from the Gospel of John appears in the Revised Common Lectionary — the 3-year cycle of scripture that many churches use to go through the Bible — the worship service when people are most likely to hear this text read and preached on isn’t on a Sunday but a Thursday night. Waitasec, have I been missing Thursdays now, too?! No, I mean Maundy Thursday, a day of Holy Week when churches often remember the Last Supper from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in the Gospel of John. This new commandment is an immediate follow-up to that moment.
In my experience, churches tend to have lower attendance at Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship services than Sundays (especially Easter), so to have this “new commandment” come along on a Sunday for many churches is welcome. And why not? It’s stellar teaching. There are a few places where we could say Jesus sums up his teaching in one or two sentences. Certainly, this is one of them, yes?
Pretend he’s a first-year college student. Doesn’t this make a lovely thesis statement?
Or a TED Talk motivational speaker. Doesn’t this make a lovely YouTube video title?
Or a tattoo on your arm. Doesn’t this make a lovely everyday mantra?
I’m not being silly so much as offering that this new commandment, to love one another as Jesus loves us, can truly be seen everywhere in everyday situations if we’re open to it. If you don’t have someone in your life for whom it’s challenging to love as Jesus loves, you might not be human (better watch the Oscar-winning short film I Am Not a Robot to confirm). Can you see opportunities to love all around you? If so, do you take part in them? What keeps us back from love? Sometimes it’s hate, other times apathy, and still other times fear. Despite all of these, the new commandment stands. Jesus speaks it loud and clear; we are welcome to listen. Shall we?
I don’t know if you found the breakfast you ate to be a little “up-and-coming” after reading my contextual introduction to American History X as I described Derek as an “up-and-coming Nazi leader.” I certainly found myself feeling that way writing it!
Derek’s former high school principal, Dr. Sweeney (Avery Brooks) has assigned his brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), to write a new history paper with a much healthier thesis statement than one cribbed from Mein Kampf. Meanwhile, Derek was essentially a TED Talk motivational speaker to young Nazi wanna-bes who hang on his every word and look up to him for going to prison for the cause after brutally murdering Black men. His gigantic swastika chest tattoo sends a message loud and clear: “Not welcome!”
Despite his hateful past, and even through the terror of his voluntary manslaughter conviction, Derek wakes up to his indoctrination. From his father to a local white supremacist to tasting others respecting you for spouting hate, he had been brainwashed and now sees that he’s been brainwashing Danny. He wants out, he wants Danny out, and taking steps toward both is exactly what he does when he’s out of prison. Lamont is instrumental in his new understanding of himself and the world around him. In that regard, Lamont put a lot on the line to do this, sacrificing his cred to turn Derek from a Nazi to his brother. I wish the movie showed it more, but we get what we get.
Derek followed a commandment to indoctrinate one another into racism, bigotry, and hate. Jesus gave a commandment to love one another as he loves us all. Most of us will never be as actively hate-filled as a character like Derek. And, each of us is made better by actively living Jesus’s commandment. What do you do when tempted to hate? Would Jesus ever say it’s too late for a hateful person to change?
I saw this in the theater in the fall of 1998. It was for a paper, perhaps the first paper, for my Introduction to Film Studies class. I felt so cool going to the movies for college! A few other movies from that first year of Film Studies in-theaters assignments include America Beauty, The Insider, Fight Club, and Being John Malkovich. Sometimes we’d get assigned vintage movies, including Hitchcock, showing at the nearby Oak Street Cinema. It’s not surprising that I have a soft spot in my heart for many movies from 1998-2002.
American History X has a challenging, well, history. One of its longstanding critiques is whether Derek’s change of heart is truly earned, and if what was depicted on-screen is more Hollywood oversimplification than hopeful reality. Roger Ebert made reference to this well in his 3-star review addresses this quite well: "
One crucially underdeveloped area is Derek’s prison experience… There is no effective spokesman for what we might still hopefully describe as American ideals. Well, maybe Derek wouldn’t find one in his circles… Still, I must be clear: This is a good and powerful film. If I am dissatisfied, it is because it contains the promise of being more than it is.
You’ll have to turn to a slew of academic essays by smarter folks to deep dive on that one. For me, I get that critique. But then I watch a film like the documentary Accidental Courtesy about Black musician and motivational speaker Daryl Davis befriending white supremacists and I wonder. Have you seen this? It brings more questions than answers, but wow, it’s powerful. You can also watch one of Daryl’s TED Talk here.
Glad you were here today. God’s peace and good movies to you!