Does The Film Crash And The Self-Indulgence Of White America?
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Crash
Released in 2004, Crash is a crime drama film by renowned director Paul Haggis. While the most important scenes are set on the streets of Los Angeles, the story is not about car accidents, but of the intertwining of many lives due to social prejudice. People from different racial backgrounds—Caucasian, African-American, Mexican, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Chinese, all struggle to live the lives they desire for themselves and their loved ones in a city where they are inclined to refer to each other as strangers. Crash illustrates how racism exists in a society that promises adherence to justice and equality. In spite of the law frowning upon discrimination, people are yet to accept the fact that two races cannot coexist in harmony.…show more content… "Crash and the Self-Indulgence of White America." Black Commentator, 2006. Web. 29 Oct 2014.
With reference to the movie Crash, Jensen and Wosnitzer maintain that “everyone is prejudiced (cited in Crash and the Self-Indulgence of White America”).” Hence, it is not only the blacks that suffer the angsts of being misjudged without valid proofs. Jean, for instance, is inclined to think that she may be in danger when she passes by people who are not white due to her status in the society. At the start, she appears to be a typical white racist. Towards the end, the movie reveals of her friendship a Mexican made, inferring that she is not a racist after all.
Kinefuchi, Etsuko and Orbe, Mark. “Situating Oneself in Racialized World: Understanding Student Reactions to Crash through Standpoint Theory and Context-Positionality Frame.” Journal of International and Intercultural Communication 1 (2008): 70-90.…show more content… Using different methods to determine how the samples situate themselves in terms of racism, Kinefuchi and Orbe show how the movie serves as an effective tool for increasing awareness on the social tensions emanating from the hatred between races. They add that “historically, film has played a significant role in how the U.S. public has come to understand racial prejudice, discrimination, and racism (135).” Crash is just one of the many films that reveal how the race impacts the way by which a person is treated by the world.
Pospisil, Tomas. “Frictions in the City: Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing vs. Paul Haggis's Crash.” Moravian Journal of Literature and Film 1.1 (Fall 2009): 101-111. Print.
The article offers the audience a vivid picture of multicultural coexistence in urban settings by comparing Crash with Do the Right Thing (1989). By including situations that people experience in real life, both movies provide proof that “physical violence is as omnipresent as verbal slurs. It does not happen at exceptional moments under exceptional circumstances, it happens all the time (104).” Not being served well at the diner is not new for many African Americans. Anthony, however, retaliates by attacking the district attorney and his