Reaction Paper on the Movie ‘Crash’ Essay

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The Crash movie belongs to a group of movies that has been thriving in recent years. In the movie, Americans from diverse settings are brought together by societal values that force them to recognize their unique identities. Though these movies are not as realistic as they appear, they tend to portray the vivid picture of how different races relate and co-exist.

It has been observed that racism and stereotyping do not exist anymore. I do not agree with this view point. This is largely due to the fact that the degree of racism in recent years may not be as intense as it was in the past. However, this notion does not disqualify the practice of racism even in America. It is possible that people belonging to other ethnic groups are not treated in the same way as it were in the past. However, the practice of racism and stereotyping can still be executed in different ways. In the past, black people were treated as slaves.

Currently, there are jobs or positions they cannot be given. The practice of stereotyping is also common in America as depicted in the description on how black people generally behave. When the whites posit that black people are liars and thieves, it may be out of racism. In one of the scenes, a grumpy Iranian retailer was insulted by a proprietor of a gun store who referred to him as Osama.

There are at least three reasons which I suppose have contributed to stereotypes, racism and sexism. One of the reasons is prejudice. Secondly, discrimination has been instrumental while the third reason is attached to different belief systems and values. Those who have practiced various beliefs and values do think that racism should be a way of life. Prejudice contributed to racism in such way that white people have negative attitude towards the blacks.

In fact, prejudice is the negative attitude towards another person based on personal comparison in which an individual’s preference is taken as the point of reference. It is clear that discrimination was used to separate one sex from the other when one gender is seen as superior than the other (Kendall, 2012). Women were discriminated by being isolated from important events. In the movie, it was not hard to figure out who was being supported by Mr. Haggis.

The film is also characterized by language barriers. These barriers have played significant roles in communication. The actors who played various parts in the film experienced communication barriers. For instance, what could be expressed by one actor could not be easily understood by another.

The characters were seemingly pretending to understand each other. There are some ways that could be used to overcome these language barriers. For example, it would be necessary to appreciate each person regardless of individual background. In addition, the mode of communication used should be uniform and understandable to all the characters.

There are two scenes that have impacted me a lot. Firstly, the scene in which the owner of a gun store insulted a bad-tempered Iranian shopkeeper calling him Osama was indeed disgusting. What happened later was quite astonishing. They pulled guns, stole cars, put the lives of children in danger, cars flip over and exchanged angry and hurtful words. These acts were executed within a very short time. The scene was one of many scenes that had expressed racism and stereotypes in a drastic way.

The second scene that had an impact is the one in which characters demonstrated themselves in two different personalities in the film. For instance, the racist white police officer turned out to be physically brave and dedicated to his ailing father. This police had a perceptive white partner who liked engaging in undesirable racial practice. There was a young black man who turned out to be a carjacker after witnessing rampant racism.

Consequently, a rich and easygoing black man pulled out a gun and started screaming as if he was innocent.
It is not appropriate to ask someone about his or her ethnic background. This is because such a question and approach is basically the foundation of racism. The question can result into ethnic clashes among people of different backgrounds who are staying together. Ethnic clashes interfere with cohesion and disintegrate any form of unity.

If a person asks such a question and realizes that the other person is of different background, there is possibility of creating some hatred. Many people are not interested with one’s ethnic background. They are more concerned with what can assist in bringing about cohesion than ethnic division. Hence, these vices seem to be losing place in modern world.

In conclusion, it is not possible to prove that racism, stereotyping and sexism do not exist. What is important is not whether they exist in modern world but to find ways and solutions to counter them. People should not practice racism or discriminate others just because they are from different ethnic or gender backgrounds.

Reference

Kendall, D. (2012). Sociology in Our Times. Belmont: Wardsworth, Cengage Learning.

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