GE 101
4-30-2012

Film Review- Crash

In Los Angeles, a multi-ethic city, people cannot interact with other people belonging to different ethnic groups. They are paranoid of being victims of racial discrimination or being abused, stereotyping is in everybody’s lifestyle. The movie has pretty much every racial stereotype you can think of - Hispanic housekeeper, thuggish black people, racist white people, Chinese people and illegal immigrants. CRASH is well-acted and well-directed, but also betrayed by its scripts. Haggis has built the plot on the series of often implausible coincidences that look more suitable to misanthropic black comedies than dramas that aspire to tell important truths about real life. In just over 24 hours, Crash brings together people from all walks of life. Two philosophizing black men steal the expensive SUV belonging to the white, L.A. District Attorney and his wife. A similar vehicle belonging to a wealthy black television director and his wife is later pulled over by a racist cop and his partner. Soon many of these people get mixed up with a Latino locksmith a Persian storekeeper and two ethnically diverse, dating police detectives. The multiple plot lines intersect in all sorts of interesting ways. Everyone is linked together, not by a single linear chain but by an intricate web. In the process, we get to see more of who these people really are underneath our assumptions based on their color. Some of these characters redeem themselves while others may suffer terrible fates. Crash is not a movie that focuses on one particular set of characters or plot line. Each character and story is told equally throughout the film. Rather, the focus of Crash is the single societal issue of race. Racism and racial prejudice comes in many forms and situations, and the film attempts to capture a good sample of what people may have to deal with.