Back in 1989 I saw the definitive movie about the late 1980s operation of race in America, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. Yesterday I saw one of the first truly powerful post-9/11 movies about race in America, Crash. Here's the IMDb summary:
Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters: a black police detective with a drugged out mother and a car-thieving younger brother, the brother and his partner-in-crime who is constantly theorizing on society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the racist cop, an Iranian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, an Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more.At first glance, one may think that the movie has too much going on to convey effective stories and lessons about race, but it all comes together very nicely. Each character has nuances that prevent her/him from being typecast as Good or Bad. That in itself is a reason to check out this movie....