"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something." -Graham from the Motion Picture Crash (2005) This quote refers to the diversity in Los Angeles and how people put up personal barriers and are hesitant to trust others. Crash is a movie that really gets people to look at their own prejudices and to the roots of their morality by showing the hidden racism and prejudices that are very present in our society and even in ourselves today. If this movie were to be summarized in one sentence, one may say that no …show more content…
Anthony is an African-American man who detests white people after he received bad service at a coffee shop. His accomplice Peter, who is also African-American, is man who is more open-minded about prejudices and racial views. Cameron is an African-American producer and his attractive wife Christine and he are on their way home from a party when they are pulled over by Officer Ryan, who accuses them of sexual misdemeanors. Officer Ryan?s partner Officer Hansen just stands there in shock as Officer Ryan inappropriately searches Christine. Farhad is a middle-eastern shop owner who wants his lock fixed, he hires Daniel, a Hispanic locksmith who isn?t trusted by his customers because of his appearance. The reason behind the numerous storylines and variety of characters in the movie is the director trying to get his viewers to see the different walks of life in Los Angeles. By doing this the viewer is able to see how the characters perceive each other. This is vital to the movie because the main message of the movie is how we view others. In relation to the opening quote, I believe the referenced ?we? is speaking about the different people in Los Angeles and how they don?t only fear others but also themselves, and their fear comes from their stereotypes of others. Their greatest fear is the lack of trust they hold for other people. Since they fear the other people and are frightened by what they may do
Taking the bad in with the good, although you may be the perfect classification in order to be targeted in todays society. How you’re classified is based on things such as a persons race, intellect, social class, and appearance. A 2009 film, The Blind Side, written and directed by John Lee Hancock stars, Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, is based on a true story. This movie tells a story that truly depicts simple acts of kindness that has the capability to change a persons life.
The much applauded and critically acclaimed film, “Crash” (2004) directed by Paul Haggis is a film which appears to want the viewers to observe themselves and their world inversely. This film presents a truthful representation of race relations, racial discrimination, and social and cultural tensions in modern American society. It shows the stereotypes and racial myths that still occur today and continue to create racism. The film presents the intricacy of the relationships between diverse social groups and about the effects of discrimination on the everyday life experiences of a number of people. More specifically, the movie touches on three different types of discrimination. First and foremost, it deals with racism. Next, it depicts
Communication is important in our lives as it enables us to interact with one another, and allows us to form and build upon relationships with other people. However, when communication is not effective or colored by personal biases, it may lead to conflict. In the movie Crash, the characters are faced with a number of social issues, born from their inability to communicate with one another as well as their perceived notions of racial and cultural biases. Through the interactions between the characters this film allows us to understand how interpersonal communication affects individuals be it with strangers, friends, or family.
The scene begins with the older white male officer (Officer Ryan) ending a phone call with an African American woman named Shaniqua Johnson. His stereotyped and racist attitudes toward black individuals are first unveiled to the audience at this scene, after he receives upsetting news that she is unable to help his father receive better health care. He mentions, “I’m not surprised” when discovering her name and associating her with the Black community. After she ends the conversation, he returns to his police unit with his rookie white male
The Movie Crash is valuable in learning about social issues because it points out things that we may tend to ignore in everyday life. It also brings light to things that we may do, but not necessarily consciously realize. Another benefit of this movie portraying social issues like racism is that it helps us think about ourselves as a person and we can analyze ourselves in our way of thinking and our actions. Using a movie in class is also beneficial because it breaks up the traditional classroom activities. It helps student be a little more involved and interested in the topic. It also helps extend learning beyond just the textbook and classroom lectures and activities. Although using movies can make students more involved and interested
Los Angeles with its killers and blackmailers is fundamentally a city of doubt, where every
In life, you never know if you can see the person you may see on the sidewalk or even across the stress. But, in all realities, that person may have a connection to your life. They can be your future spouse, boss, or the murder who may kill your loved ones. In the movie Crash, everyone has connected to each other in a different or common way. The film takes place in Los Angeles, where minorities are dealing with racial tensions while living in the city. The film broadcasts live of many individuals from different socio-economic classes, which they have life-changing experiences during challenges with prejudices and stereotypes. The film shows interpersonal communication which is “The ability to process and gain information between two or many people” (William 20). The film follows the lives of many resides of different races, social class, careers. The group main character in these groups is John Ryan and Tom Hasen who are Caucasian LAPD police officers. Cameron and Christine Thayer who are a young African American couple. Peter and Anthony who are young adults African- American car thief’s. Farhad who’s an Prussian business owner. Daniel who’s an Latin American locksmith. Lastly, Shaniqua Johnson who an African American administrator.
Using Los Angeles’s flaws as a dystopian city, it shows that the setting can make a city weak and implicitly shows what would make it a better place. For example, the city is portrayed as being very dark and there are many vacant lots outside the crowded space, which makes it feel like a unsecure ghost town. L.A is looks like a wasteland, because there is no nature left. Mankind has conquered the wild and enclosed itself within its own concrete jungle. In every good city, there is a balance between nature and men, but this city has no nature at all. The animals are all replicas and there are human clones being built at a factory. This means that humans have to renew the nature that is lost. Also, the city is overpopulated, as the streets are extremely crowded which implies that its resources are running low or almost out. There is no way that it would be a sustainable environment for the city to thrive from. The proximity of so many people in one area could possibly spread disease or make living there very competitive (survival of the fittest contest). Throughout the story, many reference off world colonies. They seem to be a solution for the problems on earth; life is better in the off-world colonies. This insinuates that Los Angeles is bad place to be since most of the wealthier people live outside earth probably. This explains why most people appear to be in the working class (many bars) and the huge social class gaps in the city. The torrential rainfall that occurs every few days is a pretty bad sign that the area is probably inhospitable and the pollution is really bad. In one word, a good city would have a viable environment that has some nature in it, manages its pollution and control its
Crash is the intertwining stories of eight people who are black, Latino’s, Koreans, Iranians, criminals and cops, some rich, some poor who are all defined by some form of racism either being victims of it or guilty of it. Either way some rise above it, however hard that may be they do while others act on it whether it’s racism against oneself or against others. As far back as we can remember the world has been intolerant of other people who are different from themselves.
Over the course of two days, the lives of some Los Angeles citizens strategically clash infiltrating conflicting intersections of race, ethnicity, class, and gender driven by their apprehensive interactions. The film Crash portrays an exemplary depiction of contemporary society entangled in the cyclic, and often chaotic, entails of modern prejudice – a lingering by-product of big-city living. In an attempt to flesh out the complexity and breadth of modern prejudice as a consequence of fear and urban-living (urban-overload hypothesis); I will propose and elaborate connections to three social-psychological concepts: stereotypes, public compliance, and negative-state relief hypothesis as some of its perpetuating agents. Additionally, these concepts will be elaborated within scenic depictions of the film and connected to social-psychological research findings to provide depth.
Anthony and Peter are the two African American youth who are portrayed as typical reckless youth. They are shown stealing cars, joyriding, and running the streets with guns. Walker, Spohn, DeLone, 2011, state that the “data reveals that the overall violent victimization rate, which in years past was higher for African Americans than for whites”. (pg 446) “For example, in 2000 the violent victimization rates for youth ages 12 to 15 were 66.7 for African Americans and 58.7 for whites; in 2007 the rates were 46.1 for African Americans and 42.1 for whites.” (Walker, Spohn, DeLone, 2011, pg.
Discrimination and stereotyping are the main elements in the film Crash. The film starts off with a detective narrating how humans miss the sense of touch. He describes how humans seem to isolate themselves, but they reach a point where they crash into each other to feel something different
Many movies try to tackle huge issues that face society in hopes that the ideas presented will encourage society to change. In Crash directed by Paul Haggis, he tackles the idea of racism through cause and effect between multiple groups of people in the different races. The world has been racist and intolerant of people different from themselves. Millions of people have suffered due to the prejudice of people that couldn’t understand the change of differences among one another. Long time ago, in the United States people who were not straight white, that didn’t have blue eyes or blonde hair but had darker skin were classified as inferior to anyone else. Racism has been a problem since the very first day two men of different races met. Even now, racism is still considered a big issue in our society. The movie Crash shows good examples of how racism against oneself is caused by fear, misunderstanding, deals with the issue of stereotypes and the idea of innocence and has an element of kill or be killed with the imperfections of life.
The beginning of the film really focused on the geographical parts of Los Angeles. The areas that always seems to be crowded with tourists. These areas, Hollywood, Downtown, Chinatown, are
“It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.” This quote opens the movie, Crash, and is a statement made by Detective Waters, played by Don Cheadle, to his partner after their car was rear-ended. This statement is a central theme throughout the movie as the characters “crash” into one another and experience the other side of the “metal and glass” that separates them. Director Paul Haggis’s use of fluid transitions and revealing camera movements connect seemingly unrelated characters who get a glimpse into each others’