Crash
The movie release Crash magnifies the evidently real moral dilemma of racism. However, unlike previous works that highlight racism as a one-sided issue,--oppressive whites against vulnerable blacks--Crash presents this both personal and societal struggle as one that invades every layer of society, no matter how rich, poor, white, or black one is. Resultantly, the film seems to point to an overall human fear or distrust of the unknown which is evident among all people--black, white, Latino, Middle Eastern, or whatever race one might be. It focuses on the tragic reality that everyone struggles with stereotypes, false judgements, and even racist tendencies and furthermore highlights the reality that everyone can fall victim to this trait. It is in sympathizing with the victims of these stereotypes throughout the film that the viewer becomes aware of the conflicts that arise from racist tendencies and is challenged to rethink his/her own preconceived judgements regarding race. This evident conflict between the stereotypes placed on the characters compared to the real qualities of these individuals is abudant throughout the film and tends to shape the plot.
The film follows several seemingly random characters as their lives "crash" into one another's, each one being affected by this over exemplified concept of racism. For instance, two young blacks complain about the growing distrust of whites towards African Americans after what they thought to be an experience of racial discrimination. However, the irony emerges as we soon find out that these two young blacks make their living by carjacking wealthy whites. Two of these wealthy victims include the characters Rick and Jean, an attorney who focuses only on how his public racial image will be affected after the incident and his wife who criticises the double morality that seems to govern U.S society with respect to race relations while she hypocritically
points out that the Hispanic changing her locks will most likely sell the key "to his homies." The child of this same Hispanic locksmith is nearly shot to death by an over sensitive Middle Eastern store owner whose store was destroyed merely because he was "Arab." Furthermore, racism governs actions as a police officer sexually abuses an African American woman who was driving with her husband, a man who all his life has avoided his black identity. Finally, the idea is driven home when Hanson, until this point a seemingly not racist figure, "protects himself" from an actually innocent black teen by shooting and killing him, maintaining the message that everyone unavoidabely makes preconceived judgements.
Just as the film itself leaves the racial conflicts unresolved as it ends with a scene similar to its opening,--a car crash and the resultant racial tensions--the viewer, as well, is left with no tangible answers regarding the moral dilemma of racism, at least in regards to the possibility of solving it. However, the film makes it evident that this societal moral dilemma is part of a human condition, and, as a result, or so it seems, is unavoidable. Therefore, after viewing this film, one definately does not attempt to solve the conflict of racism by oneself, but instead, within onself--that is, one is challenged to focus inward on the internal struggle of stereotypical tendencies found within oneself. For instance, for me the film exemplified the degrading and often times tragic effects of ethnic stereotypes. In sympathizing with the characters of the film, I seemingly sided with the idea that the cause of these characters' problems was these racial issues, and I therefore was inspired to remove any racist tendencies within myself in order to avoid the negative outcomes on others like those in the film. It seems that our judgements and our resultant actions based on these judgements affect the lives of those around us whether we are aware of this or not. Therefore, in order to avoid negative effects capable of hurting those around us, it is imporant that we attempt to monitor our judgements and make sure that they are accurately based. This, according to the film, seems to be the morally correct way to at least limit the degrading affects of ethnic stereotypes in the world around us.
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