Living in a multi-ethnic society does not come in as easy. Often, we have heard or maybe encountered ourselves some prejudice with regards to people that has not the same color of our skin. In television and in movies, there are clashes in cultures. Unknown prejudice caused mainly by people’s refusal to accept reality as it is. This is why in the film by Paul Haggis Crash (2004) tackled the realities of what cross-cultural panorama of Los Angeles urban life looks like. More than the interwoven stories of multicultural people, it involves no direct good or bad people. These are people interconnected to each other in vestiges of crime, racism, corruption, obligation, indignation and chance over a two-day period (Sicinski, 2005). The storyline superimposed the complexity of their multifaceted lives entwined under the numerous social and psychological issues usually hidden inside the closet of the American consciousness.
One of the most vivid stories that revolve around the movie is about two cops, one senior and the other junior. The other jaded and abusive, the other one is a novice and willing to learn the ropes. These cops are played by Matt Dillon and Ryan Philippe respectively. One day, when they were assigned in their beat site, they pull over a black couple Cameron and Christine (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) because the SUV they’re driving vaguely fits the description of a carjacked vehicle that was reported. However, while undertaking “a sobriety test to television director Cameron… his tipsy wife, Christine decides to step out of the car and verbally assaults Ryan, provoking him to give her a too-thorough frisking while challenging Cameron to protest” (Schorn, 16 September 2005). In this scene, we see Sgt. Ryan had exercised his White man’s abusive powers because he thought that the Christine did not take him seriously. This made Sgt. Ryan eventually abuse her in front of her terrified husband. Viewers get the impression that the character of Matt Dillon is racist chauvinist pig. We immediately tag him as the villain.
More complications swiftly happened within 24 hours as archetypes of characters cross paths again in separate incidents of incredibly high tension. These archetype characters challenge both the prejudices that have formed between them and the assumptions we draw out from their different perspectives about race and culture as a whole. Later in the film, we are surprised to see that Christine (Thandie Newton) will encounter Sgt. Ryan (Matt Dillon), the racist cop who sexually molested her during a traffic stop the previous night. However, he was the officer on the scene who tries to pull her from the burning car.
Of course, she refused. “Anyone but you!” Christine screamed. We see the frustration in the face of Sgt. Ryan. He profusely apologized and explained that nobody was there to help but him. He informed that gasoline was dripping off her car. More or less, she has to get out of there before it explodes. Hesitantly, Christine agreed after Sgt. Ryan promised not to touch her anymore. Luckily, Christine was pulled out before the big explosion. Viewers are perplexed with the transformation of Sgt. Ryan as an anti-hero. Maybe, he was not bad after all. Christine realized later that her perceptions maybe wrong about the cop. Maybe they were just caught up in a bad situation the night before and Sgt. Ryan never really intended to harass her like that. Maybe when Christine and her husband were making love on the road, made Sgt. Ryan a little lusty that he had done a thing like that. There are a lot of “maybes” but it all ended well. Thus, we could not entirely tag a person as a racist just because he had done a mistake once.
To quote John F. Kennedy, he said that “every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated.” In our present time, racism is a topic well-tackled among discussions. We are aware that it is generally loathed by people and we heard calls of putting a stop to it. We have seen the fall of Apartheid, we have seen those protests voicing out equality, but people still commit racism unconsciously as they encounter each other in their daily lives. Is prejudice primarily a question of color? How do differences of language and culture play into our misunderstandings? What must be done to bridge understanding and permanently inculcate the ugly face of prejudice regarding our differences?
Ultimately, the film Crash (2004) does not present myths as an ultimate panacea to racism and prejudice. But certainly, it is a mirror of the archetypes that persist in American society. It is presenting a consciousness about the interconnectedness of people and the situations that made them come up with their own realizations. Thus, the film invites its viewers to come up with their own realizations about the contemporary cross-section of American society and provide a space about perspectives on how to deal with their own prejudices.
Works Cited
Haggis, Paul (Dir.). Crash, 2004.
Kennedy, John F. Quotations #3: Great Leaders. The Other Pages. 2007. Web.
Schorn, Peter. “Why can’t everyone just get along in this Los Angeles-based meditation on race?” (2005). IGN Entertainment, Inc. Web.
Sicinski, Michael. Crash, Film Review. Cineaste. New York, (2005), 30 (4): 51-54.