A white cop decides pull over a black couple on their way home from a party because he suspects that they were “up to something.� The wife complains about the stop being racially motivated. Because she complains, the white cop makes them both stand on the curb while he frisks them. He fondles the wife while the husband watches, powerless to stop him. A white woman grabs her white husband’s arm and pulls him away from the two black men who are approaching them on the street. The black men follow the white couple to their car and carjack them. These are just two situations in the realm of human interactions, in which people encounter each other, their differences and react based on their prejudices. Crash not only explores these interactions, it also explores how each one of us can easily do the right thing or the wrong thing at any moment. It is a movie that will make you think about racism and your own prejudices. After you watch this movie - I recommend watching it with someone so you can discuss it afterwards - watch the behind the scenes feature. Listen to what the director, screenwriter, and producer have to say about this film. Did you get it? Did you understand what they were trying to say in this film?
Crash attempts explore the subject of racism and portray it honestly. It does so by weaving together several different story lines. They are all compelling stories, but the one that I liked the best was the one that involved the locksmith. The locksmith is a Latino man. When he first appears, he is fixing the locks for the woman who was carjacked. His tattoos peek out beneath his t-shirt. The woman notices them and complains to her husband. She automatically assumes he is a gang member and wants the locks changed again before the locksmith can sell their keys to his gang member friends. When the locksmith finishes the job, he puts the keys on the counter. The keys sit there on the counter, framed in a close up. Will he sell a copy or is the woman being prejudiced? You are left to wonder. In each of the subsequent scenes that he appears, you wonder if he will sell those keys.
When I watched this movie, it reminded me of a discussion I once had with a co-worker of mine about racial stereotypes in movies. He claimed that in movies where the bad buy is black and the white guy is the hero, there are no racial stereotypes. He said that I was reading too much into it by suggesting that there are any. He went on to tell me that racism doesn’t exist as it did when I was growing up. He seemed to imply that racism didn’t exist at all and that I was holding on to ideas that were no longer relevant. He couldn’t see that the stereotypes existed in the movie, but they were there. Are you a racist if you see it? He seemed to be implying that. Racism still exists, but people pretend that it doesn’t. It is in our daily lives, in movies, television, music…it exists everywhere. The problem now is that it is more insidious. It lingers just below the surface. It exists in a gesture or a glance, in things that can be easily ignored or rationalized by most people. There may not be laws that segregate us anymore. Our thoughts and behavior do it for us.
I saw this movie with my mom last Mother's Day, and it resonates with me still. The thing I liked most about this movie was how it dealt with layers of people. No one was all good or all bad. The one young, white cop was portrayed as very tolerant and open-minded. But even he had prejudices he did not wish to admit (even to himself).
To answer your question in your last paragraph, I think that racism is very much alive in movies, TV, and the U.S. It is not acceptable, so we try to deny it. But it's there. That's why this movie was so powerful. It's showing us a mirror of what's inside of each of us...and we don't want to see that. We don't want to admit it.
I never wondered if the locksmith would sell the keys. I always felt he was a "good guy." But that just illustrates the genius of this film and underscores its power--we each see people and events differently; colored by our own thoughts and experiences.
Posted by: Jill at January 23, 2006 3:18 PMi finally broke down and watched 'Crash' and...i was board. i was also angered, saddened, and outraged. but mostly i was board.
it WAS interesting how all of the characters were connected and how frighteningly real some of them were. i was married to the 'bad' white cop (well, he wasn't a cop, but his personality was about as warm and fuzzy). but, the story moved too slow for me and it seemed like the movie could have ended about a 1/2 hour before it really did.
another reason i got board with the movie was the monotone music used throughout. it may have held my attention more if each character or set of characters had some 'theme' music. unfortunately, the music all sounded the same - and was not very good.
so, it was interesting, but i had a hard time paying attention to the whole movie.
Posted by: Cathie at January 31, 2006 1:14 AM