Crash : Thomas Theorem And Cognitive Dissonance Essay
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“Crash”: Thomas Theorem and Cognitive Dissonance
The movie “Crash”, by Director and Writer Paul Haggis, follows 8 ethnically diverse families/ individuals facing the struggle of modern day racism and stereotypes created and faced in modern Los Angeles, California. These individuals take the roles of individuals living their daily lives within Los Angeles, California while facing stereotypes. The cast portrays: 2 caucasian white male police officers, an African American director and his wife, a white district attorney and his wife, a Persian immigrant family, and a Hispanic father whose occupation is a locksmith. The scene chosen from this film involves the police officers (Officer Ryan and Officer Hanson) pulling over the African American Director (Cameron Thayer) and his wife (Christine Thayer) at a traffic stop. This scene establishes two different types of theoretic sociological concepts of Thomas Theorem and cognitive dissonance. 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