''Pariah'' is a 1998 American dramatic film written and directed by Randolph Kret and starring Damon Jones, Dave Oren Ward, and

Angela Jones Angela Jones (born December 23, 1968) is an American actress. Biography Jones was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and then raised in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, where she graduated in 1986. She is a graduate of Point Park College in Pittsburgh. ...

Synopsis

The gang-rape by a group of

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

of an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman, Sam (Elexa Williams), triggers her suicide. Her caucasian boyfriend Steve (

Damon Jones Damon Darron Jones (born August 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A combo guard, he played college baske ...

) finds little recourse other than to plot revenge, and decides to infiltrate the gang. As a member he gains insight into the factors behind the neo-Nazi movement, but he is eventually confronted with the choice of committing a murder to prove his loyalty or reveal his cover.

Cast

Production

Randolph Kret wrote and directed the film which is based on an incident from the life of a friend. The Scott Grusin film score includes songs by

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

hardcore bands

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitaris ...

Social Unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty m ...

and the

Wives A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...

Reception and review

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

wrote that " Godard said that one way to criticize a movie is to make another movie. ''Pariah'', a raw and unblinking look at the skinhead subculture, is a movie I'd like to show to those admirers of ''

Fight Club ''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is d ...

'' who have assured me of their movie's greatness." Ebert gave the film three out of four stars. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the film "a volatile, edgy picture of strong visceral impact."''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' called it a "well-meaning but ridiculous revenge drama". Bill Gibron of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 3/5 stars and wrote that while the film is realistic, it may not entertain viewers. In a negative review, Michael Atkinson of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' wrote, "Kret clearly has his heart in the right place: Hate Is Bad. If only being right were all you needed." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has a rating of 47% from seventeen reviews. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer A. O. Scott commented that the theme of an "ordinary, tolerant white person going undercover into a world of extreme race-hatred" was a promising one and adds that the movie opens with a

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warning that "racism is a sickness unto death". He compares Pariah to the 1988 Constantin Costa-Gavras film '' Betrayed'' starring

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...

and

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing Jake ...

which had a similar plot. He also wrote, "Racist extremism is a problem. We need movies that address it. Chances are you already agree with these propositions. All ''Pariah'' succeeds in doing is screaming them at you, at maximum volume, over and over and over."

Release

The Randolph Kret written and directed film was screened at the 1998

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...

before a limited theater release.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on July 11, 2006.

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, 10000330-pariah 1998 films 1998 drama films American drama films American independent films Films about dysfunctional families Films about race and ethnicity Films about racism Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles American gang films Films about neo-Nazism Skinhead films 1990s gang films 1998 directorial debut films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films