The Movie ' Crash '

This movie Directed by Paul Haggis who also directed Academy Award Winning "Million Dollar Baby" and had also won an Academy Award for this movie as well puts a twisted story in this film. This movie is trying to symbolize what goes on in the world today in regards to racism and stereotypes. He tries to make a point on how societies view themselves and others in the world based on there ethnicities. This movie intertwines several different people's lives, all different races, with different types of beliefs. Such ethnicities include Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Middle Eastern. This movie includes conflicts on both sides of the picture from cops and criminals as well

Racism involves both prejudice and discrimination founded in social opinions of hereditary differences between individuals. Crash has many examples of racial stereotyping and prejudice. For example, one of the many times racism was portrayed during the movie was in the scene between Graham, a black officer and his Hispanic police partner, Rita. The two seem to have a relationship outside of work in addition to being partners at work. At one point they are in bed together and the phone rings. Graham answers it and tells his mom that he call her back later because he is preoccupied with a white woman. Rita, of course, gets mad at this because she is not Caucasian, she is Puerto Rican. Graham assures her the only reason he said he was with a white woman was because it would make is mom more irritated than if he would have said he was with a Hispanic woman. Graham first disrespects the validity of Rita’s identity, assumes that Hispanics are above Caucasians, and then actually appears to be uniformed of her origins at all. This is just one of many prime examples throughout the film. Although this example is much less violent and rude than other scenes throughout the film, nevertheless, it is as offensive as the other

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.

Racism, and ethnocentrism can be a significant factor in determining if an individual can maintain a healthy interpersonal relationship. Both racism and ethnocentrism can be barriers that affect competent cross- cultural communication. Crash (Schulman & Haggis, 2004) is a film that has characters of very different natures. The characters may be involved in conflicts due to the differences in genders, cultures and races. As these strangers in the film crash into each other, you may notice that racism and ethnocentrism can really affect the way the characters are able to build a strong and healthy interpersonal relationship. In Crash (Schulman & Haggis, 2004) the character Officer Ryan is constantly in conflict with others due to racism and ethnocentrism. He has been an officer and with the force for 17 years. However, he seems to be extremely racist when he encounters African Americans. Officer Ryan is a typical looking American male, the movie portrayed him to be “tall, dark and handsome.” However, he is also out-spoken and seemingly arrogant. Ryan seems to have that “better than the rest” attitude, it is evident through the way he portrays himself in the movie. If he overcomes these barriers he would be able to establish some positive relationships. Officer Ryan also seems to have accumulated anger and false assumption about those around him. For example, when he pulled over Director Cam and his wife Christine, he was angry with their racial difference and made false

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

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.

Matt Dillon’s character, John Ryan seems to show characteristics typical of this hypothesis. Officer Ryan displays a close connection with his father and the roots of racism is showed later in the movie. It was assumed that Ryan was a product of his environment that absorbed racist views from his father regarding his attitude towards black people. Ryan’s father happens not to be racist after all. Ryan’s attitude towards black people stems from his own experiences as a Los Angeles police officer.

“Crash” is referring to the general consequences of racism. The term crash indicates that we are bound to have conflicts with each other because we ignore that racism is happening. Often times racism is pushed under the rug unless it results in violence or death among minorities. The acknowledgement of racism and discrimination is getting considerably prevalent due to the fact that there is a blind eye to this issue. The term “crash” is being used when describing racial inequalities because people do not want to acknowledge that racism or discrimination is happening thus people become upset about the ignored situation and express their concerns through violence and protests. For example this accurately describes the race riots among the African American communities, they feel they are being ignored which is causing violent outbreaks. A quote by Rick in the movie Crash stated that “what we need is a picture of me pinning a medal on a black man”. Rick is trying to prove to the Los Angeles community that he is not racially biased and to prove that he wants to show him pinning a medal on a african american. Although he claims that he is not racially biased, he knows that it is still an issue with color. Overall the movie, shows that no matter a person race, religion, ethnicity or gender we ultimately need each other when confronted with the loss of a life.

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 film examines systemic and institutional racism in the police station when Hansen talks to his superior officer about switching partners; his superior, Lieutenant Dixon, is a black officer and says that reporting Officer Tom Hansen as a racist could cost all of them their jobs, especially in the LAPD. Dixon suggests transferring to a one-man car and mockingly suggests Hansen explain his request by claiming to have “uncontrollable flatulence” rather than say his partner is racist. We also see instances of where racism is not race against race, it also portrays race against gender and race against class as two major forms of racism conflict in the movie.

Discrimination, racism, classism, prejudice and more plague today’s society. These horrible issues do not affect one race, sexes, class, ethnicity, or age group; these issues affect all races, both genders, all ethnicities, and all age groups. For this film analysis, I have chosen to discuss the racism portrayed throughout a three-time Oscar award winning movie called Crash.

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.

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

Crash is the movie that was released in 2004. This movie begins by saying “it is the sense of touch…we miss so much that we crash into each other, so we can feel something.” These two words touch and feel had huge meaningful in this movie. The word touch was used to show the connection and feel which conjures a sense of motion. The touch in this movie brings a lot of issues which provides the movie main theme. Before I explore the theme, I will tell my readers what are the themes. The themes are; traditional gender roles, Gender roles, Hope, Faith, and love, Finding the light while we are facing the shadow, and the social construct vs nature characters.

The movie Crash is an interesting look at a variety of perspectives regarding the interaction and socialization of several different groups of people and how sometimes their intentions can be misconstrued. In the movie, Officer Hansen proves to be a specially interesting character. Hansen is a white male who seems to have grown up in a fairly typical environment and doesn't stand out from the normative views of an individual coming from his social grouping. Unlike his partner Officer Ryan, Officer Hansen tries his best to set aside his differences with out groups and choose to treat everyone equally from the beginning and one of the main opening conflicts in the film is geared towards Officer Hansen feeling that his partner is taking