WHITE MALE HEROISM IN THE PATRIOT, GLADIATOR, AND AMERICAN HISTORY X

Recently Karen Schneider has argued that in the second half of the 1990s, the genre of "action-thrillers" changed. Whereas in the 1980s the white male hero of such films was pretty much a loner, now he strives to restore "the traditional-white, bourgeois, patriarchal family" (1). The violence that traditionally figures in this genre also takes on a new function: it "puts families at risk only to bring about their salvation" (2). Yet Schneider comments, too, that sometimes the hero's efforts fall short: "[a] complete family does not always result" (2). Furthermore, she notes, several of these films verge on ideological contradiction. Because they go extraordinary lengths to reaffirm the family, they wind up suggesting that it has become much harder to justify and save.

Three recent films tend to bear out Schneider's argument about today's action-thrillers. Each features a white male protagonist trying through violence to re-establish and guide a family torn apart by violence. Moreover, each suggests that reconstructing the patriarchal family can be quite difficult. Yet the three films treat the di

Derek's inability to protect his brother, despite Derek's own moral growth, also complicates the role of black-white friendships in the film. In what first seems yet another example of the narrative pattern that DeMott criticizes, Derek's change of heart in prison results partly from his personal relations with two black people. One, his fellow worker in the prison laundry, erodes Derek's bigotry through charming banter. The other, Derek's former high school teacher Sweeney, provides sympathetic counsel after Derek is raped by white prisoners (whose penetrating assault on him is an ironic reversal of Derek's force-feeding of his sister). In a sense, Sweeney becomes Derek's third father figure, after Derek's biological father and the racist leader Cameron. Presumably, with Sweeney's guidance, Derek will be able to act in turn as a father to Danny. Yet Danny's murder short-circuits this plan, emphasizing that both Sweeney and Derek have done little to stop the racial turmoil in their community.

Ultimately, Maximus kills Commodius in gladiatorial combat and reunites with his family. Through this violent ending, then, the film can be said to conclude by re-establishing the two aspects of manhood it has previously depicted as undermined by violence. Maximus proves himself to be masculine by physically subduing his enemy and by regaining his leading role in his family. Yet this second event doesn't take place on earth. Not only do Maximus' wife and son remain deceased; he himself has been mortally wounded. His dream of reunion is either merely that, a dream, or at best a scenario fulfilled in the afterlife. Hence, for us as viewers the question arises, "Why must Maximus die?" One possible answer is that the image of his previously ideal family would be tarnished if, now that they are dead, he is free to marry someone else. Whatever the screenwriters' reasoning, the film ends by presenting conspicuously mixed signals. The conclusion implies that the patriarchal family remains worth pursuing, but that it may no longer be an achievable ideal, especially if "ornamental" masculinity is becoming men's principal mode of existence.

Or rather, the mixed signals seem primarily about white men. While Maximus dies, and thus rejoins his family only in fantasy or in heaven, the black gladiator he has been friends with remains alive and heads back to Africa to reunite with his own kin. True, we don't know whether this man, Juba, actually accomplishes his goal. But when we last see him, he is smiling with determination, and so we can feel at least guardedly optimistic about his chances. Perhaps the filmmakers even want us to associate Djimon Hounsou, the actor playing this character, with his earlier role in Amistad. There, he played Cinque, a slave who eventually did manage to get back home to Africa. Even if we do not make this association, we can see that the black gladiator's desire for a family reunion is more feasible than the white gladiator's. After all, the film has killed Maximus off. We can see this ending as implying that the white male hero's day is over, and the future--at least, the cinematic future--belongs to the black male hero. More generally, perhaps the filmmakers are suggesting that the Western European cultural heritage represented by Rome is now being eclipsed by the cultures of Africa as well as of other continents. Whatever the filmmakers' intent, the ending complicates somewhat the vision of interracial friendships scorned by DeMott.

American History X may not be easily classified as an "action thriller" as The Patriot and Gladiator are. Yet this film does feature action as well as thrills. Moreover, like the other two films, it depicts a white man using violence to restore a family shattered by violence. But an important difference arises. While both The Patriot and Gladiator at least partly justify the hero's violence by associating it with the renewal of his family, American History

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Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)