Crash: A Movie Review Of The Movie Crash

The film I chose to write about is the 2004 Academy Award winning film Crash. The film, set in L.A. follows a diverse group of characters whose lives intersect over a thirty-six hour period. The film lays bare America’s dirty laundry and paints a more complicated picture of the multi-cultural society we live. It tackles themes such as racism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, sexism and income disparity. What I like about this film is that it covers the issue of prejudice from multiple perspectives. Each character’s bias is exposed in their interactions with different characters. While it does not offer a sanguine depiction of American society, it’s provides a unique opportunity for educators wishing to explore the issues of race, class and gender. It provides multiple entry points for discussions on a variety of issues.
Because of the mature subject matter of the film, it might not be appropriate for younger viewers. Even at the high school level it would require parental consent. One way to alleviate the concerns of parents might be to stream the video through a site like “Clear Play”, which offers consumers legally edited versions of major Hollywood releases. Clear Play edits out profanity, nudity and extreme violence.
Any discussions about such

Decision trees are great collaborative learning tool (see appendix) for simulating the decision making process for students. Used in conjunction with “Crash”, students could revisit a scene from the film and explore the range of choices available to a specific character. This is a great way to build student’s perspective taking skills, especially if the students are asked to analyze the situation from a particular cultural lens. For example, how might a police encounter be perceived through the lens of gender or an African-American