In 2004, director Paul Haggis created a film that would eventually become his huge directorial breakthrough and a racial symbol to all. Haggis knew that writing Crash would be a particularly large risk for him because of its strong racial content and violence, but he fought for its right to be a film and a conversation starter. For the most part, Crash was inspired by a real-life incident in which Haggis ' Porsche was carjacked outside of a video store in 1991. However, he waited a decade to begin writing because he "never thought that there was a movie in this." In an interview with Film4, Haggis reveals that 9/11, an important moment in New York and American history, entirely kicked-off his desire to create Crash, thus he took his ideas and …show more content…
To clarify, Haggis is a white man who claims to have little knowledge regarding the hardships that people of color face. Within the film, Haggis embraces blacks, Asians, Persians, Hispanics, and a privileged white couple, but worked day and night to make the interactions and troubles feel genuine. In addition to embracing the other ethnicities and religions, Haggis incorporated his only life into the film as well. In Crash, the protagonists Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) represent the carjackers who stole Haggis ' Porsche one night in 1991. To elaborate, Anthony and Peter bump into an affluent white couple, Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) and Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser), who depict Haggis and his wife. The story continues when the two protagonists carjack the Cabots ' car, which leads Jean Cabot to demand that the locks in her house be changed since the house keys were left in the vehicle. Haggis disclosed that he and his wife were paranoid enough to change the locks in their house at two o 'clock in the morning because their house keys were left in the Porsche. Lastly, after Paul Haggis took a closer look at this situation, he decided to continue writing Crash in a complex manner. Specifically, he chose to make everything connect; his life, the lives of his characters, and all of their …show more content…
One particular scene that stands out amongst the rest and deals solely with this racism is the scene where Cameron Thayer (Terrence Howard), who is a black television director, is told by a white producer that a character in his television show is not being 'black enough. ' Overwhelmed and quite frankly offended, Thayer tries to not snap at the producer and eventually speaks with the character to encourage him to 'regain his blackness. ' This scene was especially special to Haggis because he wanted to bring intensity without offending his audience, but he also wanted to make sure that they became aware that racism is prominent everywhere. Moreover, Haggis was especially inspired to incorporate this scene because it is something that, although he has not personally dealt with, he has heard about happening throughout the media industry. In his interview with Film4, Haggis recounts a time where he had been in the studio and two white producers were attempting to make a racist joke at a black director. Lastly, expanding on the topic of the black community within the film, Haggis believes that he took a particularly huge risk by including both this scene and the scene where Anthony and Peter discuss
One of the main topics of both stories involves racial tension within a community, focusing specifically on the tension between white and black Americans. Many of the people that Anna Smith interviewed had something to say about the race of Rodney King or how the white cops controlled the power of the city. With racial tensions boiling in the ghettos of Los Angeles between the white policemen and the black communities, violence became all too common in the community. By the 2000’s, the time setting for Crash, violence from the police became less prominent, but still evident.
Therefore, overall, Kant’s ethical theory provides a detailed and complete analysis of the car fire scene of Crash because it directly correlates with the beliefs of the character. And, in this instance, an analysis by Kant is not affected by the racial stereotypes of the overall film, so it is able to impartially, judge the morality of the scene.
All through time, the world has been racist and intolerant of people different from themselves. Countless millions have suffered due to the bigotry of people that couldn't understand change or differences among one another. There was a time when any soul that wasn't blue eyed and blonde haired in Germany, anyone with darker skin where immediately classed as inferior and not human. Even now, when you are not aware, racism is still a considerable problem. But sometimes it isn't one person being racist against another, but rather one person being racist against them self. The movie crash shows good examples of how racism against oneself, caused by fear and misunderstanding, is just as malevolent and evil as racism against another person. Fear is what makes people act racist. Farhad is one of many examples in the movie of a person who recognizes his own race and paralyzes himself through his own fear. Farhad believes that since he is Persian he is immediately being persecuted against and cheated. He flips out at the gun shop when the owner was insulting him which just furthers his fear of Americans. After the events on 9/11, which are referenced a lot in the movie, Farhad thinks that anyone who is Middle Eastern isn't welcome in America. Even after the gun shop owner was rude; his shop was destroyed by racist people who hated him. It is this same fear of being cheated because of his race that makes him very untrusting to people he doesn't know. He calls a lock smith to come fix his door because it won't lock. He immediately thinks that Daniel is trying to cheat him and steal money from him just because of his past endeavors.
Do the Right Thing is about each character’s decision to do right or not, and what happens when one person’s decision collides with that of another. This film does not take sides; it provides an objective view of a black Brooklyn neighborhood in the 1980s and the events of a hot, summer day. But these characters aren 't just about prejudices. The director uses several different methods in order to portray different ideologies concerning race. He is able to do this through character development, setting design, cinematography, clothing, and props. It is truly remarkable to watch how all of those shadings come into play by the time the film reaches its breathless conclusion. Good intentions go wrong among the characters. Decisions are often
Racial supremacy can be shown by not acknowledging what is said by people of other races, and by provoking violence. The film portrayed white supremacy over blacks when Buggin’ Out commented to Sal that there were no pictures of black heroes on the wall of fame in
W. Griffith wanted to show that blacks were inferior to the white population. African Americans were considered, uneducated, monsters, and violent. Throughout the film whites were trying their hardest to keep African Americans from gaining too much power, or any power at all. D. W. Griffith wanted to convey the message that it was a mistake to give black people freedom, and African Americans were not smart enough to handle power or freedom. In certain scenes, director D. W. Griffith showed blackface actors acting violent, drunk, and smoking. Throughout the film there were lynchings to put black people back where they belonged. If there were any black actors throughout the movie, they were either servants or slaves. In a scene with African Americans being servants, there are smiles on their faces, and what seems to be happiness while being servants. White people started to get the message that African Americans were happy to be subservient to whites. D. W. Griffith was telling this story through the eyes of a white man, he wanted whites to believe that slavery was wonderful for African Americans, and that they always wanted to work for whites. There was not a very positive relationship between African Americans and whites throughout the movie. Although a law was passed for interracial marriage, it was still not accepted by either
Throughout the entire film race is one of the most prominent themes. The film shows that racism is not one sided as the characters themselves are Caucasian, black, Persian, Iranian, and Hispanic. The film shows that race assumptions not something that is just in existence, but rather society builds up these prejudices and ideas. This can be seen when the district attorney wanting to advance his political career think he can just honor a black man or woman. He suggests a firefighter who his secretary then informs him is actually Iraqi. He responds by saying, “Well he looks black.” Even before knowing someone’s true race and identity society can put up walls. The cops also pull over the couple because the one believes they are biracial and he believes that is wrong. In actuality both people are black one just happens to be of a lighter complexion. Race and racism the film shows limits one’s ability to experience new individuals and
Crash is an Oscar winning, American drama from 2004 written, directed and produced by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial tensions and the effect it has on people showing their daily lives in Los Angeles, California post 9/11. The film asks hard hitting questions about racism and shows harsh realities that are normally avoided. Has an in your face approach, very raw and heart heavy. Shows reality that is normally avoided. Crash actually evolved from a real life incident where Haggis had his porsche stolen outside of a video store in 1991 in Los Angeles. There are a variety of races in this movie, hispanics, blacks, whites, asians and a particular persian family. Instead of
Often racial injustice goes unnoticed. Television tries to influence the mind of their viewers that blacks and whites get along by putting them on the screen to act as if interracial relationships has been accepted or existent. “At the movies these days, questions about racial injustice have been amicably resolved (Harper,1995). Demott stresses that the entertainment industry put forth much effort to persuade their audience that African Americans and Caucasians are interacting and forming friendships with one another that is ideal enough for them to die for one another. In the text, Demott states “A moment later he charges the black with being a racist--with not liking whites as much as the white man likes blacks--and the two talk frankly about their racial prejudices. Near the end of the film, the men have grown so close that each volunteer to die for the other” (Harper,1995). Film after film exposes a deeper connection amongst different races. In the text, Demott states “Day after day the nation 's corporate ministries of culture churn out images of racial harmony” (Harper, 1995). Time and time again movies and television shows bring forth characters to prove to the world that racial injustice has passed on and justice is now received. Though on-screen moments are noticed by many people in the world it does not mean that a writer/ director has done their
"Crash" is a movie that exposes different kinds of social and multicultural differences, giving us a quick example of how these conducts affect our society. Two of the behaviors observed, are Prejudice and Stereotyping. Identified as the causes of where all the events eradicate.
In the world of sociology and the studies of human interaction, the term intersectionality has been defined as, “the idea that various biological, social, and cultural categories – including gender, race, class, and ethnicity – interact and contribute towards systematic social inequality” (“Definition of Intersectionality – Sociology”). However, as Dr. White defined the term on the Spring 2014 Final Writing Assignment sheet, these categories that make up one’s identity can “intersect or interact in ways that can either advantage or disadvantage the person’s well-being and development” (White). In regards to the text, David M. Newman’s Identities & Inequalities: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality, Newman progressively explores the concept of intersectionality throughout the entirety of the text, but he does not ever actually define the term itself. Although an exact, clear-cut definition of the term “intersectionality” has not been officially established, the concept of the term is fairly simple to understand. Every person has different social identities that they carry to their name. Intersectionality is simply an analysis of how those different identities play off of each other and how they affect the person they are describing.
The movie Crash was directed by Paul Haggis is a powerful film that displays how race is still a sociological problem that affects one 's life. It also focuses on how we should not stereotype people based on their color because one may come out wrong in the end. Stereotyping is a major issue that is still happening in today 's society and seems to only be getting worse. This movie is a great way to see the daily life and struggle of other races and see how racism can happen to anyone, not just African Americans which seems to only be seen in the news and such.
Tension between the African Americans and Caucasians have been present in America since slavery. In the movie Crash (2004), race and culture are major themes that can be seen in the lives of the characters in the film. One character in particular, Cameron, a prestigious color vision director, displays the friction between two cultures. He belongs to the educated, upper class of the Los Angeles area. He is also an African American, yet he seems to have no ties with that class. He has a light-skinned wife, attends award shows, and it appears that his acquaintances are predominately white. When he and his wife, Christine, get pulled over by a racist cop, he experiences emotions of powerlessness and helplessness that he never knew he would experience due to his upbringing and place in society. Cameron goes through a radical transformation where he comes to grips with his background and how he fits into these two clashing cultures.
The movie Crash is in the streets of Los Angeles. If you notice all of the characters seem to play the victim and accuser in different racial situations. There is a story behind each character over a two day period. There is the detective who is prejudice against his own race whose younger brother is a criminal. There is Jean who is prejudice against black people after getting robbed. John is the cop who is racist against all black people and sexually assaults Christine in front of her husband. This movies show’s so many of the social psychological principles through the story of each individual.
This quote refers to the diversity in Los Angeles and how people put up personal barriers and are hesitant to trust others. Crash is a movie that really gets people to look at their own prejudices and to the roots of their morality by showing the hidden racism and prejudices that are very present in our society and even in ourselves today.