Transformative Films

Although I have not seen many films directed by Spike Lee, one of the films directed by him in which the main character undergoes a radical transformation is 25th Hour. The film is about a a mans last day of freedom before he serve a 7 year long prison sentence for distributing drugs. The film is notable for the drastic transformation that the main character undergoes. Initially we see him as racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, basically disrespecting everyone imaginable (including himself). Then throughout the course of the film he begins to learn who his true friends are and who he can count on, which is essentially no one since he is so disrespectful. He leans that it doesn't matter what you believe in or where you are from, in the end your actions and your own fate are the only things that truly matter. This is quite similar to the film American History X where the main character (also played by Edward Norton) realizes that he needs to rely on people he despises (African Americans) in order to survive his prison sentence. Both films contain a character that change throughout the course of the film and provide positive examples of people and their ability to transform.