American History X (1998)

Edward Norton: Derek

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Quotes 

• Bob Sweeney : There was a moment, when I used to blame everything and everyone for all the pain and suffering and vile things that happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Used to blame everybody. Blamed White people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn't get no answers 'cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions.

  Derek Vinyard : Like what?

  Bob Sweeney : Has anything you've done made your life better?

• [Derek is leaving prison] 

  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 Vinyard : 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 Vinyard : Yeah, right. Stupid.

  [a moment of silence passes and Lamont looks away] 

  Derek Vinyard : That's what I thought. I owe you, man.

  Lamont : Man, you owe me shit, a'ight?

  Derek Vinyard : Yes, I do.

  [Derek offers his hand and Lamont takes it] 

  Derek Vinyard : You'll be outta here in no time.

  Lamont : C'mon man, it's a piece of cake, a'ight? You just take it easy on the brothers, a'ight? The *brothers*!

• Cameron : This is stupid. Go cool off, get laid, do something, come back when you're ready to talk.

  Derek Vinyard : Yeah, but it really doesn't matter if I do, does it? Because you got a whole crop already lined up, you fuckin' chicken hawk!

  Cameron : Excuse me?

  Derek Vinyard : You prey on people Cam. I lost three years of my life for your fuckin' phony cause, but I'm onto you now, you fuckin' snake.

  Cameron : Hey, watch it Derek, be careful. Remember where you are. This isn't some fuckin' country club where you can waltz in and outta here!

  Derek Vinyard : Shut up! Shut the fuck up! I came here for one reason, to tell you that I'm out. Out! And Danny's out, too. And if you come near my family again, I'm gonna fucking kill you.

  Cameron : Well excuse me, but fuck you Derek. You can't come in here barking threats at me. Look, you can do whatever you want, but Danny's a good kid. He's not some whiny pussy like you. He needs my help and I'm gonna give it to him.

  Derek Vinyard : If you come near Danny again, I will feed you your fucking heart, Cameron.

  Cameron : I won't have to. He'll come to me. I'm more important to him now than you'll ever be.

• [On Derek's change in prison] 

  Danny Vinyard : I'm sorry, Derek. I'm sorry that happened to you.

  Derek Vinyard : I'm not. I'm lucky. I feel lucky because it's wrong, Danny. It's wrong and it was eating me up, it was going to kill me. And I kept asking myself all the time, how did I buy into this shit? It was because I was pissed off, and nothing I ever did ever took that feeling away. I killed two guys, Danny, I killed them. And it didn't make me feel any different. It just got me more lost and I'm tired of being pissed off, Danny. I'm just tired of it.

• Reporter : [Rasmussen shows a video of a crying Derek with his mother talking to a reporter after his father's death]  Look I know this is tough. But how do you feel right now?

  Derek Vinyard : How do you think I feel? I think it's typical.

  Reporter : Typical how?

  Derek Vinyard : Well, this country is becoming a haven for criminals so what do you expect? You know, decent hard-working Americans like my dad are getting rubbed out by social parasites.

  Reporter : Parasites?

  Derek Vinyard : Blacks, Browns, Yellow whatever.

  Reporter : I don't understand you're saying that you think maybe your father's murder was race related?

  Derek Vinyard : Yeah it's race related! Every problem in this country is race related not just crime. It's like... immigration, AIDS, welfare those are problems in them. The Black community, the Hispanic community, the Asian community, they're not White problems.

  Reporter : Derek, are those really issues that deal with poverty?

  Derek Vinyard : No. You know, no. They're not products of the environment either that's crap. Minorities don't give two shits about this country, they've come here to exploit it, not to embrace it.

  Reporter : What does this...

  Derek Vinyard : I mean millions of white European Americans came here and flourished you know within a generation so what the fuck is the matter with these people going around shooting a... fireman?

  [cries] 

  Reporter : What does this have to do with the murder of your father?

  Derek Vinyard : Because my father was murdered doing his job! Putting out a fire in fucking Nigger neighborhood. He shouldn't be giving a shit about. He got shot by a fucking drug dealer who probably still collects a welfare check!

• Murray : What are you doing Derek? This is your family.

  Derek Vinyard : Right, my family. My family so you know what? I don't give two shits about you or anybody else or what you think. You're not a part of it and you never will be.

  Murray : That has nothing to do with it!

  Derek Vinyard : Oh it doesn't? You don't think I see what you're trying to do here? You think I'm gonna sit here and smile while some fuckin' kike tries to fuck my mother? It's never gonna happen Murray, fuckin' forget it, not on my watch, not while I'm in this family. I will fuckin' cut your Shylock nose off and stick it up your ass before I let that happen. Coming in here and poisoning my family's dinner with your Jewish, nigger-loving, hippie bullshit. Fuck you! Fuck you! Yeah, walk out, asshole, fuckin' Kabbalah reading motherfucker. Get the fuck out of my house.

• Derek Vinyard : See this?

  [Pulls down shirt to reveal a huge swastika tattoo on his chest] 

  Derek Vinyard : That means "Not welcome".

• Cameron : You made the fat kid a little nervous. He thinks the joint messed with your mind.

  Derek Vinyard : It did.

• Lamont : [From workprint director's cut]  Nah nah nah, you were a little more harder then that. you uh, probably robbed some old lady huh? Nah, you probably fucked your sister huh?

  Derek Vinyard : Kay, how about this? How about I killed two fucking niggers who tried to jack my car? If I had my way, I wouldn't spend five minutes next to your fucking nigger ass. I'm going to see you folding clothes and dreaming about what I would do to you if I found you on the street at night. Just fold your fucking underwear, keep your mouth shut and we'll pass the time fine.

  Lamont : [laughs]  Bad ass cracker with an attitude huh?

• Derek Vinyard : Every night, thousands of these parasites stream across the border like some fuckin' piñata exploded.

  [the skinheads laugh] 

  Derek Vinyard : Don't laugh! There's nothin' funny goin' on here!

  [the skinheads immediately quiet down] 

• Derek Vinyard : Nigger, you just fucked with the wrong bull! You should've learned your lesson on the fuckin' basketball court! But you fuckin' monkey's never get the message. My father gave me that truck motherfucker! You ever shoot at fireman? You come here and shoot at my family? I'm gonna teach you a real lesson now motherfucker. Put your fuckin' mouth on the curb.

  Lawrence : Come on man...

  Derek Vinyard : I said put your mouth on the curb!

  [Lawrence bites onto the curb] 

  Danny Vinyard : Derek, no!

  Derek Vinyard : That's it! Now say good night.

  [Derek stomps Lawrence's head into the curb] 

• Derek Vinyard : Alright listen up, we need to open our eyes. There's over two million illegal immigrants bending down in this state tonight. This state spend three billion dollars last year on services, on people who had no right to be here in the first place. Three billion dollars. 400 million just to lock up a bunch of illegal immigrant criminals who only got in this country because the fucking INS decided it's not worth the effort to screen for convicted felons.

• Curtis : [offscreen, to another skinhead]  Hey man, want a toke?

  Derek Vinyard : Curtis, what are you doing? Weed is for niggers. You put that away right now. Have a little self respect.

• Derek Vinyard : [Narrating while removing his shirt to reveal his swastika tattoo]  All the wrong people knew who I was anyways, so I figured I'm just gonna put up a flag and hope a friend sees it.

• Derek Vinyard : One in every three black males is in some phase of the correctional system. Is that a coincidence or do these people have, you know, like a racial commitment to crime?

• Derek Vinyard : We're so hung up on this notion that we have some obligation to help the struggling black man, you know. Cut him some slack until he can overcome these historical injustices. It's crap. I mean, Christ, Lincoln freed the slaves, like, what? 130 years ago. How long does it take to get your act together?

• Lamont : Yeah, you got a woman, man. Let me give you some advice, all right? When she comes to visit you... whatever you do, no matter what... don't let her leave there in a fight, man. Don't let her walk out with a bad attitude... 'cause if you do, you spend the next week wondering if she's getting her fuck on with somebody else, you know what I'm saying? So when she come to see you, it's nothing but sweet talk. Send her away floating, all right? 'Cause it's not like the real world where you can fight, 'cause you can make up and have that make-up sex. Know what I'm saying? That angry sex. That sex with an attitude. You lay on your back and let her take out that aggression on you. All guys know that, man. That's that good sex. That's that pow, pow, pow. Let her get on top, and she'll punish you first. You been a bad boy, huh? You been a bad boy, and I'm gonna punish you. I'm gonna put it on you. Don't you ever... let... me... catch... you... looking at... another... woman. Yeah, yeah. I may forgive you if you bring it. I think I can. I... l forgive. I forgive. Right there. You're hitting it. My spot. That's it. Right. Yes. I for... l forgive you. I forgive you. l for... l for... I for... l forgive you! I love you!

  [Lamont and Derek crack up laughing. It cuts to them some time later talking to each other in a very friendly way] 

  Derek Vinyard : How do you figure the Lakers to ever be a bigger dynasty than the Celtics? The Lakers are a flare-up, a fluke.

  Lamont : Are you crazy? One good coach for four years.

  Derek Vinyard : The Celtics are a dynasty!

  Lamont : Come on, man. The Celtics, right? The ugliest team in the history of sports. A dynasty of ugly motherfuckers, man. Look at Kevin McHale.

  Derek Vinyard : James Worthy? That guy has a head like, like a melon.

  Lamont : He had ladies.

  Derek Vinyard : I can't even talk to you. I don't know what you're saying.

• [Danny walks in on Derek and Stacey having sex] 

  Danny Vinyard : [whispering]  Der. Derek.

  Stacey : [Stacy sees Danny in the room]  Jesus, Danny! Fuckin' perv.

  Derek Vinyard : Jesus, Danny. What the fuck are you thinking?

  Danny Vinyard : Derek, there's a black guy out there breaking into your car.

  Derek Vinyard : How many Danny? How many?

  [Derek quickly pulls on white boxers and black combat boots] 

  Danny Vinyard : One I think.

  Derek Vinyard : Is he strapped?

  Danny Vinyard : Huh?

  Derek Vinyard : Does he have a fucking gun Danny?

  Danny Vinyard : Man, I don't fucking know!

  [Derek pulls out a gun from his dresser drawer] 

  Stacey : Oh, my God! Derek, what are you doing?

  Derek Vinyard : Not right now honey.

• Huge Aryan : [as Derek is being held against the shower wall by the Huge Aryan's gang]  You wanna be a nigger, sweet boy?

  Derek Vinyard : Fuck you!

  Huge Aryan : We're gonna treat you like one!

• Derek Vinyard : [Derek sees the Aryan Mitch doing a drug deal with a Hispanic inmate]  What the fuck is that? What's that all about?

  Huge Aryan : That's just politics, man. Favors, you know?

  Derek Vinyard : He's doing favors for that fucking spic?

  Huge Aryan : Mitch has just got a little something extra... on the side with them boys, you know?

  Derek Vinyard : You're kidding, right?

  Huge Aryan : No.

  Derek Vinyard : That's bullshit, man. Somebody should say something to him. What the fuck is he thinking?

  Huge Aryan : Mitch is the only reason you're not a corpse right now. Remember that.

  Derek Vinyard : You know what? I don't fucking give a shit. I can take care of myself. He shouldn't be doing that. I'm getting sick of it, man. There's a lot of fucking hard talk around here and not a lot of follow-through.

  Huge Aryan : [spits on the side]  I think you better chill out on the preaching bullshit. We're getting a little tired of that shit around here. Ease up on it.