Crash (2004)
112 minutes - Drama
Crash is a movie directed bt Paul Haggis and was released in 2004. It consists of different intertwined stories of people who are dealing with racial problems that are thrown at them in society. One of the stories are of a black man who has a caucasian wife that recently got carjacked by two black men, and claims that it's not racism. The two black men are theives that use their skin colour as their excuses to carjack. There is also a police officer who is racist towards non-whites, and his partner who is careful about what he says and tries to stop his partner's racial remarks; a black couple who get harassed by the racial officer; a hispanic with her black boyfriend who
Crash was a beautifully written movie because it targeted one of the major social issues that the world possesses; racism. Even though that some of the scenes shown in the movie were harsh, it showed us as the audience that, that is reality and that is what some people go through. In the scene where thie caucasian woman was yelling at her husband due to her safety concerns because of the guy who is changing the locksmith, it shows that stereotypes are present within society, and because of these stereotypes every one in that category gets generalized. We then come to know that the Hispanic guy isn't who everyone thought he would be; in a gang, doing drugs etc. He is a father that is just trying to make a living for his daughter that is waiting for him at home. Sometimes people aren't who they seem to be, and because of our assumptions we are caught off guard.
On the contrary, when generalizations are made, people start to believe them and even categorize themselves. The two black carjackers used their ethnicity as an excuse to get what they wanted. They claim that just because they are "black" people assume that they are off to no good, but hypocritically they are up to no good, adding onto society's vision of African-American men.
This movie really knew how to tap into people's emotions and get them to understand racism a bit more, and even though it was blatant, it's good for the audience to see the real world and not just what is seen on tv.
has a mother that is addicted to drugs and his brother as the carjack; an Asian man who is smuggling girls and women; a Persian store owner who gets robbed and believes it's the hispanic man who has a daughter that he
loves with all his heart and wishes the best for her.
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