GENRE I & RACE
IN THE FILM
CRASH
DEPARTMENT OF FILM AND CREATIVE WRITING
INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES B MODULE CODE: 09 24802 STUDENT ID: 1613440
MICHELE AARON
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
1. Introduction
This paper is a critical analysis of the American film Crash, directed by Paul Haggis which was performed for the first time in 2004. This essay will therefore deal with Gender I and Race, two of the approaches discussed in the subject Introduction to Film Studies B in the second semester. It will focus on genre iconography and racial stereotypes following the events developed in the film.
Crash has a wide cast of popular actors and actresses as the couple of rich and white performed by Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock,
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The dramatic irony is also a piece of iconography where the spectators know about a situation that the characters are unaware of. In drama films, dramatic irony is important because it helps the audience understand the plot or the emotional development of the character (Fotheringham, 2014). For instance, we as audience know that the Latino locksmith had nothing to do with the robbery of the Iranian store, so this allows us to empathize better with the character.
Fotheringham states that rites of passage are a massive iconography for this genre
“as the audience likes to see the characters go through several emotions and challenges that will stop them” (Fotheringham, 2014, p.11). In fact, the film shows us how Christine feels repudiation toward the policeman that abused her, but she ends up feeling gratitude because he saved her life. So, spectators can identify here a process of mature emotional development in relation to the beginning of the film.
However, from my point of view what classify the film Crash as a drama are fast scenes, full of violence and action; debilitation and lack of values; chaos and disintegration. Crash offers a new perspective on the city of Los Angeles by enhancing the differences of its inhabitants. The characters of Crash are caricatures with weak motivations, easy to handle. Thus, xenophobic and maniacal housewife embodied by Sandra Bullock, falls and, instead of dismissing her Latina maid for cleaning
Crash is a movie about race and stereotypes and its effects on the various people living in the Los Angeles area. The movie boost racial awareness and it requires close observation from the viewer. We see a variety of races including African American men and women, several Hispanics, a Middle Eastern family, and a few Asians. We see the ups and downs of each character and it helps us see where they are coming from, and potentially why they are racist against different people. It seems that we almost begin to feel sorry for the different characters regardless of what they are doing or how they are acting because of each of their circumstances.
The movie “Crash” - from director and producer Paul Haggis - pictures one day in the lives of various characters in Los Angeles, all of them from different social and racial backgrounds but nevertheless connected and intertwined throughout the story. The movie’s story is being told in a mostly chronological way, except that it puts one scene to the very beginning of the film and then cuts back to the day prior, indicated by the visual text “yesterday”. In this first sequence, detectives Graham Waters and his partner Ria have been rearended when they arrive at a crime scene, leading to a fight between Hispanic Ria and the accident responsible, furious Chinese Kim Lee, involving race-related insults towards each other. Breaking through the
Paul Haggis wrote, directed and produced the film Crash in 2004. The movie Crash interweaves several individuals in Los Angeles over a two-day period. The film shows how a variety of different ethnic characters crosses paths during this period, and
The movie, Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socio-economic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife who is constantly scared of "the other"; two African American thieves who steal their car, a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife, a non-racist police officer, a Latino lock maker, a Persian family and another African American detective in the search of his brother. The plot of the movie intersects all characters ' lives and their attitudes towards each other after 9/11, while making the audience question the validity of prejudices and racial stereotypes. In this brief essay, we are going to discuss how racism and stereotyping have the impact on the lives of some main characters in the movie, considering the development of the storyline and the impact of various incidents that change their perspective towards themselves and each other.
Crash is a movie that had several detailed events of sociological concepts. The movie Crash showed that everyone created has good intentions and good hearts but unfortunately they may grow up and learn the prejudices of the world. "Crash" is a movie that brings out racial stereotypes; as the movie is set in Los Angeles, a city with a diverse race of every nationality. The movie starts off with several people being involved in a car accident. We are then taken back to the day before the crash, where we are shown the lives of many of the characters, and the difficulties they may encounter during that day. An LAPD cop is trying to get medical help for his father, but he is having problems with an African American receptionist who won't give
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.
Most people are born with good hearts, but as they grow up they learn prejudices. “Crash” is a movie that brings out bigotry and racial stereotypes. The movie is set in Los Angeles, a city with a cultural mix of every nationality. The story begins when several people are involved in a multi-car accident. Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a police detective with a drugged out mother and a mischief younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the white district attorney and his wife, a racist cop and his younger partner, a successful Hollywood director and his wife, a Persian immigrant father, a Hispanic locksmith and his young
unflinching look at the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America. Diving headlong into the diverse melting pot of post-9/11 Los Angeles, this compelling urban drama tracks the volatile intersections of a multi-ethnic cast of characters' struggles to overcome their fears as they careen in and out of one another's lives. In the gray area between black and white, victim and aggressor, there are no easy answers. Funny, powerful, and always unpredictable, "Crash" boldly reminds us of the importance of tolerance as it ventures beyond color lines and uncovers the truth of our shared humanity (plot synopsis from film's official site).
The film Crash, written and directed by Paul Haggis, examines racial exchanges in several different ethnic groups living in Los Angeles. As the film move forward, we are able to view how each characters’ own racist experiences change their attitudes towards other races. Paul Haggis illustrates those change through the mood tone, setting, and even the music. By the end of the movie, the audience is left with a feeling of hope and an ambition to examine its own thought and actions towards others. Even though critics argue that the film Crash is stereotypically racist, the film encourages America to see past the misbelief we have of each other because empathy and self-examination is the starting place for change and the destruction of society is based on one’s choices.
Paul Haggis's film Crash (2004) explores the social and racial tensions that are prevalent in contemporary Los Angeles. Crash is comprised of a series of vignettes in which people lead parallel lives that briefly intersect throughout the film and converge through various car crashes in Los Angeles. Crash features an all-star cast, which includes Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Ryan Philippe, Than die Newton, Terence Howard, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, and Larenz Tate. Through various vignettes and scenarios, Crash explores sociological issues of race and ethnicity, gender, and stereotyping.
One must never judge or discriminate a person based on their physical attributes. Prejudice and discrimination directed against someone of a different race is known as racism. It is evident in the movie “Crash” directed by Paul Haggis, that people misconceive others due to judgement on their physical traits. Throughout the movie, the characters living in Los Angeles face the challenges of fitting in a town populated by people of different colours. The offenders are the “white” people whereas the victims are everyone else. The presence of racism is the main cause of every conflict that occurs in the movie.
The movie Crash shows the hostility between characters of different backgrounds, primarily through their interactions and dialect, to prove that everyone experiences discrimination and racism in their lives no matter their race, religion, sexual-orientation, age, etc. Director Paul Haggis focuses on language, behavior, and stereotypes to convey the different kinds of communication used between the diverse races and ethnicity groups that are shown throughout the film. The textbook, Understanding Human Communication, defines human communication as the process of creating meaning through symbolic interactions, but this process is much more intricate than this definition makes it out to be (Adler, 5). Through my own analysis of the plot and various storylines, I will discuss the concepts and principles of communication used to portray the injustice of racial stereotyping and persecution in today’s society.
Physical Characteristics and racial differences are distinguishing traits that keep people in our world apart from each other. Crash is a movie that showcases prejudice and racial stereotypes. The movie is set in Los Angeles which is a city with the cultural mix of almost every ethnicity. Crash is a perfect analogy of how the different people intersect with others in society. The movie crash shows differences between the lives of different people. It displays the interactions of several multiethnic groups such as African American, Caucasians, Asians, Latinos, and Arabs. All of the groups are striving to overcome their fears as they weave in and out of each other’s lives. They are all tied by an invisible chain of events, so the movie
All the main white characters in “Crash” are shown to be socially and economically stable, meanwhile many, minorities characters are shown to have some kind of financial struggle going on. Jean and Rick Cabot,
The movie, Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socio-economic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife who is constantly scared of "the other"; two African American thieves who steal their car, a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife, a non-racist police officer, a Latino lock maker, a Persian family and another African American detective in the search of his brother.