Prejudice In The Film 'Crash'

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‘To collide violently with an obstacle or another vehicle’, The title ‘Crash’ describes both parts of this definition which relates to the large amount of frequent car crashes occurring in LA and the collision of different races in the multi-cultural city. Society has directed us to categorise people into different ranks. Paul Haggis presents these ideas throughout scenes of the film, expressing this by the idea of prejudice in the film and the conflict of the different races and cultures. Particularly these ideas are portrayed through a scene in ‘Crash’ of Farhad’s altercation with Daniel and Lara where Paul Haggis uses a variety of visual language features and symbols to develop, presenting these ideas to the audience encouraging them to…show more content…
The first shot that is shown is of the point of view of Farhad’s looking at his rearview mirror of his car, showing in the reflection Daniel’s van driving around the corner, Paul Haggis does this as he wants to express to the audience how Farhad should reflect on his actions towards Daniel and the consequences that would come in the future, before he proceeds. The shots of mirrors or windows appear before or after the character is faced with a big decision. This camera shot is used to portray this meaning linking to the idea of collision between vehicles or characters of different races. As Daniel's van draws closer the shot moves between a close up of Fahad's face and the mirror, showing that he is deep in thought, really considering if he should proceed. This gives the audience a chance to think about what is occurring in the scene. As the scene plays on a further shot shows Farhad getting out of his car, the camera angle is low being tilted upwards to him, this technique gives the effect that he is being looked up to and could intend to be a subjective shot. This angle gives the effect that he is superior to anyone else which is expressed further as he is the one with the power from the gun. As Farhad walks towards Daniel, close up and…show more content…
These include symbols of christmas decorations, clearly conveying that it’s christmas time to the audience and the irony that comes with the situation taking place between the two characters. Christmas decorations are continuously presented throughout this scene as well as many others in the film, items like these indicate a time of happiness and good fortune for one another which is a deliberate contrary as all these unjust things are occurring including this intense altercation between Farhad, Daniel and Lara that the director has explored.The audience are able to understand that the issue of racial discrimination and everyone wanting be seen as equal in society, has caused the collisions of races which is a constant serious controversy intensifying our ability to think differently about the issue and question our own judgements on racism in our daily lives and ultimately the wider world. One of these items includes a small statue decoration of an angel praying, this is shown in the background on a display, when Lara runs towards the window. Angels are known as protectors and guardians for people, this meaning is presented in other previous and later scenes in the film, in the scene where Daniel arrives home one night and finding Lara hiding under her bed, he gives her his imaginary invisible cloak insuring her protection
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