This past week, we also watched the Oscar-nominated film Crash during our media studies class (Written & Directed by fellow Canadian Paul Haggis). We have been looking at the representation of race in the media for this past week.
The movie's tagline is: "You think you know who you are. You have no idea." Are we all racists? Do we all have prejudice in ourselves? These are the questions which are explored in the film.
When we crash into one another, we conflict with one another; but out of that crisis can come an opportunity to learn about someone who is different than us.
What are your thoughts on this movie? Is it a fair reflection of reality? What did it say to you about how we relate to one another? Do you think racism is a system which we all participate in? Did you resonate with any of the charactars in the film?
Check out this clip from Oprah with the cast of Crash. Also, explore these reviews.
10 comments:
This movie was an excellent choice to show in class Steve! (I am not just saying this because I suggested it!) The idea that everyone has pre-conceived notions about others was rampant throughout the film. I think this is true on levels other than race as well, though race was the main theme in the movie. Certain social classes have had a stigma created around them. For example, those below the poverty line: many people have said that people who are poor are lazy, and can't take care of themselves. More often than not, it was usually bad decision-making or a screw-up in earlier life that led to hard-ships. Other problems may include a number of life occurrences that hit harder for them than for others. As a society, we over-generalize, so that our minds can keep things compartmentalized. It sounds harsh, but our minds, though complex, aren't geared towards having a separate section for each person we meet, that encompasses every little detail about that person's life. We hear bits and pieces, and form our own conclusions, which can get us into trouble. This is where stereotypes come in. It is a simple way for our mind to understand someone. Stereotype has become a one of those words that was originally meant well, and turned into something negative. Today, a stereotype is "all girls cry" or "guys aren't tough if they cry." Time and again these statements are proven false, but somewhere, at some point in time, this was true for someone. I am not saying that stereotypes, as we know them today, are true. What I am saying is some people have found a basis in truth for some of them; either from their own experience, or from those closest to them. This film was excellent is showing how much of our way of thinking is influenced by these stereotypes. Every action, every statement reveals something about how we actually feel, or think. It's scary to know that our lives can be so easily influenced by what we are fed through the messages communicated to us by others.
More babbling two cents later!
Hi Lucas,
I hope you've made it back home. It was great to meet you this past weekend.
Steve
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your posting - and for your perceptive comments.
I'm glad that you picked up on the other issues prevalent in Crash. Yes, there is definitely prejudice that comes from socio-economic marginality. Issues of slavery, the mistreatment of women, worker vs. employer etc. are all explored in the film. I hope the movie helps to awaken people to the biases we have; and possibly aid in overcoming these - and seeing someone who is different to us in a new light.
As we discussed in class, there is a distinction between 'type' and 'stereotype' - the difference being the crystallization of the borders we have constructed/have had constructed for us. In order to make sense of the world, we create distinctions, but it's when we refuse to augment those distinctions that things go really bad!
Thanks.
Steve
this was my first time seeing the movie. i liked it solely because it made me think. i had pen and paper ready throughout for key phrases and good quotes. and i liked what i found. "in la we never touch, we're just separated by metal and glass until we crash." (paraphrased). but still that was at the very beginning and it definately made me focus in more.
i do think it's a fair reflection of reality. everything that happened in the film could take place in 'real life,' thus it's a reflection of reality. although i'd like to remain naive and say that nothing of the sort happens in our world, but it does. i've witnessed/experienced it first hand.
to me, the movie is portraying the message that we all coexist, but it's not until we're forced do we acknowledge the others' coexistence. like everyday we see the same person at work. we never socialize with them until we absolutely have to, ie we bump (crash) into them.
i do believe that to one extent or another we are all involved in some degree of racism.
racism
-form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between races.
i believe in all reality all of us do have a biased tendancy to our own race. it's always so much easier to see the differences in people different from us. so i do believe that it's possible to subconciously be racist.
i guess i kind of resonate with the Persian daughter in the film. she didn't do anything wrong. so that's me, the innocent by-stander. lol. but anyways, i really don't know. i liked her the best. and also the whole latino family. b/c they were just focused on their family and making things right. or at least that's what i saw.
good stuff, steve!
Jenn,
I think you hit the nail on the head! That's exactly the problem in our hyper-modern world - We all coexist in these complex relationships, but navigate through the busy streets (whether virtual or real) of our lives barely making any REAL contact with other people. When we go to school, go to work, go to church (?), relax at home, go out for coffee with friends - we put on a mask of connectiveness, but are really unwilling to have those masks be identified as masks.
Whether this is played out in racial bigotry; or creating borders around cliques - we are all guilty at some point or another of not living in a way that intentionally takes into consideration 'the other.'
I think this is why intentional community is such a hard thing to do. It demands that we step out of our comfort zones and cross cultural/personality/economic/racial borders.
Steve
Crash was a very interesting movie, the reality is that it caught me off guard. It's the first time that i have seen it and it blew me away. I had alot to think of after that. Racism? Prejudism? It's a reality. The movie tide many things to the world that we are living in today. I've realize that because our race, our culture,our appearance is different from each other it creates an invisible wall that separates us. I would say that there is a fear to the unknown, to explore and recieve what is different from each other. While i was growing up my parents decided to move from Puerto Rico to the USA. So my parents clearly expericenced racism and prejudism in different forms. As children we couldn't recognize or understand why our parents had the constant need to defend and prove themselves to others, till we started to experience it ourselves. So i do believe that the movie is like a mirror that reflects the world, and even the things that our hidden for us.
Lourdes Murillo
Hi Scott,
Nice post. Do you think racism and prejudice manifest themselves in the smaller microcosm of the local town? If so, how?
How should we respond as youthworkers to this in a country town as opposed to an urban center?
Steve
Hi Lourdes,
Anyone who lives bi-culturally has to deal with being an 'outsider' and trying to fit in.
Unfortunately, when someone is different, the group which the new person is trying to break into has to be willing to change. Sadly, many groups protect their borders and isolate the new individual.
This is the challenge of many immigrants (not that being PR makes you an immigrant, but on a cultural level this seems true.)
To wrestle through these challenges could help all of us to sympathize with kids in our afterschool programs who are experience such prejudice.
Thanks for the posting,
Steve
I really enjoyed the movie Crash. Every character was three dimensional and had their own story. Yet it was very interesting to see how they all affected each other with the choices they made.
I think the film was indeed a fair reflection of reality. You could say that it's not very probable that so many people could be connected through so many seemingly random situations, but it's definitely not impossible.
I think it certainly shows a level of prejudice in all it's characters, but at the same time shows that in the end it comes down to our prior experiences and the situation that we are faced with at any particular time.
I think we all participate in racism in some way. It may not come out in an 'I hate you' sense but there are definitely assumptions and conclusions that we initially draw based on a person's ethnic background. That is just something that I think we have to allow time to heal. There has definitely been progress in America over the last few years but there is still a long road ahead.
There really wasn't a character that I could say I resonate with hands down. But if I had to pick one it would have to be the kid that got shot in the end. He didn't see everything as being racist as his friend did. He thought things were all bad and that there was hope in a better life.
This wa s a great movie the only part fro me that would have made it better would have the fact of not having to take notes. it was a look in to the eyes of different people and how they all tied in together. it was crazy how people that would be never near each other end up with each other.
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