Introduction
Paul Haggis’ film “Crash” is a deliberate attempt to examine racism following the lives of people from different ethnic groups, like Los Angeles, which collide one fateful day. Haggis portrays the racial tension, as it stands in the modern day Los Angeles, by seemingly suggesting that every individual is racially prejudiced.
The film is a revelation that the denizens of the city spend most of their time expressing hatred and fear as well as misunderstanding each other. The director bases the movie on stereotypes and assumptions that people from different ethnic entities hold on others who seem different from them.
The character Antony, played by Chris ‘Ludacris’, portrays one of the different facets of racism. As the film unfolds, Antony is paranoid about the perception of blacks in the society, a case that forces him to construct explanations for every encounter he has, to suggest that blacks are deliberately targeted and discriminated against by other ethnic groups.
Antony’s Perspective
According to Antony, the blacks suffer much discrimination by the whites. Blacks are often discriminated against which makes the character Antony in the movie ‘Crash’ suspicious of other races and especially the whites. This emphasis comes through the manner in which the whites treat the blacks in the movie.
Antony says that the fact the blacks constitute the minority group, they ought to fear the whites and not the opposite as it stands out in the movie. Antony is compelled into being a criminal because of the discrimination that he experiences as a black.
Even when others bestow respect upon a black man, the whites must hold him with suspicion as emphasized in the film. As a way of getting back to the racists, the blacks as emphasized through the character Antony develop a way of emulating the other races by developing racism.
Black people in many cities face brutality in the hands of the authorities especially the police. In the movie ‘Crash’, the white police officer Ryan harasses a black woman. Antony’s counterpart Peter dies after being shot by a white police officer in a controversial turn of events. As a response to this, the blacks as evidenced through Antony result into racism as a defense mechanism.
Further, the film provides sufficient evidence that no matter how well a black person behaves they have to face racism in one way or the other. Antony chooses to be racist because of fitting in a society where everyone else discriminates the blacks and more so the police who seem to push forth the racist ideologies against the blacks.
He becomes a criminal to secure the chance to engage the police. Antony feels that there is absolutely no reason as to why he should tolerate other ethnic groups who enjoy oppressing and brutalizing the blacks.
According to Antony as played by Ludacris in the movie ‘Crash’, there stands many stereotypes developed by other ethnic groups to discriminate the blacks and make them feel inferior. For instance, while in a restaurant, Antony and his friend Peter fail to receive a cup of coffee served by a white waiter who simply seems much absorbed into the stereotype that blacks do not tip (Crash).
Antony complains about the stereotypes as put in place purposely to oppress and belittle the black people. For instance, the other races mostly the whites, view the black man as a potential criminal just to get the chance to harass and oppress him.
Considering how the movie enhances and makes some racial stereotypes seem too real, one can argued that the movie is a deliberate attempt to justify such stereotypes empirically. For instance, the portrayal of black characters such as Antony as criminals and dangerous people seems to enhance racial stereotypes against the black people.
The portrayal of Antony as overtly ranting even for nothing brings out the stereotype of “the quintessential angry Black nationalist without a cause” (Crash). This brings out the aspect of the Black community as ones dominated by the Whites.
Opposing View
As argued by most who seem opposed to Antony’s perspective, most blacks are living up to the stereotypes, which they create themselves to justify their racial intolerance.
Despite the film presenting everyone as equally racist, Haggis uses the character Antony as played by Ludacris to express the notion that, inasmuch as conditions influence other races in revealing their racist nature, most blacks are simply racists because of their ungratified fears and suspicions that they hold towards the other communities.
For instance Antony says,” You see any white people in there waiting an hour and thirty-two minutes for a plate of spaghetti? Huh? In addition, how many cups of coffee did we get? (Crash). This results into them becoming racists without any reason.
The evidence comes through the manner that Antony suspects other people simply because the difference existing between him and them complaining that they are the ones who hold prejudices against black people. His justifications seem bare since he expresses his ignorance as a representative of the black community.
For instance, he claims that buses have wide windows to expose the black people who mostly drive them (Crash), depicting a baseless argument since the bus drivers come from any ethnic group.
Conclusion
The film ‘Crash’, as evidenced through the character Antony, attempts to personalize the issue of racism by attempting to verify that everyone, in one way or another portrays racism. The character Antony, played by ‘Ludacris’, assumes a strategic creation by Paul haggis to represent the black’s reaction and contribution towards racism as well as explaining the cause of some racial stereotypes.
Works Cited
Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Lions Gate, 2004. Film.