Justice in movie Crash
In the movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, John Stuart Mill's theories on Social Justice and Utility are depicted within the context of the 20th century. Haggis' representation of a multicultural society is one built on racism and inequality, which limits the social justice people can acquire. In this film prejudice and stereotyping are prevalent when discussing legal rights and moral rights. The social situation has profound impacts on the choices people make. This society's foundation is based on injustice, although in the end, justice is served through the concept of `justice of desert'.
Social Justice prevails in society where legal laws are practiced and respected. It is considered unjust to:
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In modern society it is a fundamental right not to be discriminated against based on race, ethnicity and gender. This situation deprived the storeowner of his personal liberty subjecting him to social injustice. The storeowner has not forfeited his legal rights by giving them up freely; he has been unjustly deprived of them.
Further, the storeowner has been robbed of his moral rights also. A moral right is something that goes beyond the law. If the law does not encompass someone's legal interests, it is considered a moral right. Any owner of a store has the ability to withhold a transaction based on their personal discretion. However, the transaction is only withheld because of his race this is an obvious intrusion of his moral rights.
Another example of someone's legal and moral rights being withheld deliberately based on race is Daniel's (Michael Pena) daily life. Daniel, who comes from an ethnic background, works overtime as a locksmith so his daughter and wife can live in a neighbourhood without guns and the sounds of bullets. Consistently throughout the movie we see his legal rights and moral rights considered invalid because of his race.
In Daniel's first appearance, he is fixing someone's lock. He quietly works away, while the wife of the house criticizes him. Yelling to her husband, that he is a gang member and that he is going to go and sell their keys to his `gang banger' friends
The Georgia Shopkeeper’s Defense statute bars the Plaintiff’s suit. The statute bars recovery for false imprisonment by merchants or their agents when all of its elements are met. The Shopkeeper’s Defense statute provides in order to preclude recover the following three elements must be present: (1) reasonable suspicion of shoplifting, (2) reasonable time of detention, and (3) reasonable manner of detention. Ga. Code Ann. § 51-7-60 (2015). The Plaintiff and Defendant have agreed that the Plaintiff’s behavior on September 29, 2015, was sufficient to cause a reasonable person to suspect her of shoplifting, and that the length of the Plaintiff’s detention was reasonable. Therefore, the only element in dispute is the reasonableness of the manner in which the Plaintiff was detained. As such, R-Mart should be protected under the statute and the Plaintiff could only recover for false imprisonment if the facts alleged in the complaint demonstrates the manner was unreasonable.
Both the family, and the Wal-Mart acknowledge that the family was detained. The Wal-Mart associates believed that they had the right to stop the family based on the assumption of shoplifting, although they should not have physically restrained the family from advancing out of the store, nor denied Debra McCann’s offer of verifying the family’s identity.
SOCIAL JUSTICE refers to the concept of a society in which justice is involved or achieved in every aspect in life. As part of individuality in the society they have to have social justice
In the film ‘Crash’ directed by Paul Haggis in 2004, several lives cross paths because of an adage, ‘it’s a small world’. The characters come from different backgrounds and social class, consequence, the underlying tone of race is presented in a facet which is a cause for concern. In today’s current tension infested race topic, stereotypes tend to push the notion that one’s perception of race, gender and class must be reality. The question becomes, where does an individual develop these notion and perception and does the blame belong to media and film. Looking at the movie ‘Crash’, it was nominated for over 100 awards and won 3 Oscars; impeccably depicted the intertwining of gender, race and social class that one would assume that the movie’s a depiction of reality. One may conclude that movies are responsible for the perpetual class and virtue given to the middle and upper classes only. Although Parenti’s belief that Hollywood films always attach virtue to the well-off middle and upper classes this is not always the class. Hollywood media and films are guilty of assigning privilege to some and strife to others, however the characters in the movie Crash, Brenden Fraser, Chris Bridges and Thandie Newton all form different economical classes display different types of class and virtue.
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
This characterization therefore serves to remind one of the consequences that arise if one continues to discriminate and disregard the merits of others simply based on their race. It is crucial to understand that discrimination by race is
When a minority is turned down because of the color of their skin, it is unconstitutional. But when a white person is turned down because they are white, it is called equal opportunity. There is no excuse for anyone to be judged by something as trivial as race. There should not be a double standard.
Daniel suffered individual discrimination from Farhad because Farhad perceived him as Latino, and thus thought he was deceitful and treated him accordingly. Later, when Farhad’s store was trashed because someone broke in through the faulty door, Farhad sought revenge on Daniel because he felt that he was responsible for the trashed store. As a result, Daniel became Farhad’s scapegoat for his frustration of having a ruined store because he did not listen to Daniel’s professional opinion.
In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
In this particular case, Mr. Maalick received very clear and convincing racial and religious discrimination from both his supervisor and from his co-workers. The employees of Treton blatantly violated the Civil Rights Act and the Equal. Employment. Opportunity Commission. These acts do not allow, under any circumstances, discrimination based on the idea of race, color, sex, religion or age (The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | National Archives, n.d.).
Social injustice can range from anything such as; immigrants being depicted in the U.S, to a women getting yelled out by a man because of her social position. Social injustice can be seen all over our society. However, with the exception of some situations being greater then others, it can be agreed that social conflict is everlasting and ever-changing in our society.
Social justice helps us in creating human interactions in society and social institutions. These institutions can provide us with what is good for the person and for our associations with others. This happens so long as our institutions are
Viola Desmond was a wealthy and well-educated black woman. Despite her efforts of achieving social mobility in her race, she still fall victim to discrimination. Desmond was violently removed from the Rosedale theatre in Nova Scotia for allergy infracting the Nova Scotia theatres, cinematographs and Amusement Act of 1915. This wide ranging act sought to provided penalties for those individuals who did not pay an amusement tax but nowhere did it mention race specifically. (Britch, 128) Since she insisted on sitting downstairs, she was one cent short on tax. (Brench, 128) When Desmond refused to relocate to the upper level that was reserved for blacks, she was forcibly removed from the theatre by a police offices causing injury to her knee and hip. Desmond proceeded to take legal action of the court this matter, hoping to obtain justice and create awareness of discrimination within her community. Instead, the courts were able to manipulate the law ** refused to view this case as an act of discrimination and continued to find Desmond guilty.
Social justice is the distribution of difference in society and is based on equality and its opportunity.
In the film Crash (2004), the director’s use of internal conflict reveals that the main idea of the film, which is that some people stereotype others based on their skin color or countries of origin without knowing them, which is dangerous because it can lead to violence and unrest. Haggis, the director, uses the film to suggest that people should not judge anyone just because of their skin color or countries because it may cause people to hate each other.