serve a three-year prison sentence for it.
The main character in this story, Derek Vinyard, becomes a reformed character after his spell in
prison as he realises that there are reasons to hate Jews, Muslims, blacks and Mexicans but there
are also reasons to hate his own race - the young, white male. He realises that the colour of
somebodys skin should not determine that person's personality.
The narrative elements within the film convince the audience of the 'reality', through four key
elements:
Setting:
Suburban area of Venice Beach in the United States. The story is set in a place like Venice
Beach because it is a part of the country where there are many different ethnic communities
(jews, muslims, mexicans) where all different types of people are striving to come together to
form a successful society.
Characters:
The main character in the story is Derek Vinyard who is a leader of a skinhead group of young
white males operating in the Venice Beach area. This gang of youths believe that there is no place
in their society for other ethnic communities.
Derek is a skinhead white male with a tattooed body consisting of nazi-like logo's and
interpretations. The prominent nazi logo tattooed on Derek's chest gives the audience a clear view
of the thoughts of this male and the type of person that he is.
Conflict:
There is conflict between ethnic communities living within Venice Beach as there is a group of
white male 'skinheads' and various gangs of afro-americans and jews operating in the same area.
The most powerful representation of this conflict is set in a scene where the skinhead gang take
on a rival black gang in a basketball match. We see the division of different races within society
as there is a fierce rivalry and the audience understands that both groups have the potential to use
strong violence against one another.
Resolution:
While Derek is in prison, he understands to look past racial or ethnic differences and that there is
more to his life than his gang of skinheads. We see Derek's time in prison in different segments in
black-and-white flashback form, and the segments help the audience understand why Derek has
undergone this coming-of-age. Derek makes friends with many different ethnic backgrounded
individuals and so when it's his time to be released, he wants to transform his own life and his
misguided younger brothers.
The flashbacks to Derek's time in prison attempt to involve the audience in how Derek has
understood that he must change his life as there is more to it than conflict involved with this group
of skinhead males.
