Cultural Contract Theory In The Movie Crash

Crash is a film that takes the perspective of multiple people’s lives of different ethnicities and lifestyles in Los Angeles. The film shows the racial tension between the select few people all within 2 days and how it’s a constant cycle every day. The films depictions of racial conflicts display many examples of communication theories. The Cultural Contract theory is one example of the many theories show in the film. I will explain how the Cultural contract is depicted in the scene where Cameron finished directing a scene for a commercial and he is asked to retake the scene by his manager. In Crash, there is a scene where Cameron just finishes filming the final cut for his commercial. When Cameron walks of the set to grab a refreshment his manager, Fred, approaches him and asks him to retake the scene. Cameron asks why and Fred responds by asking if Jamal, whom is one of the

In this process people negotiate identities to come an agreement which “specifies the rules and conditions for mutual identity management.” According to Ronald, the agreement the interactants come to is called a contract. When people communicate with one another and hear something they do not agree with they don’t easily accept what they were exposed to whether that idea was morally right or wrong. In the Cultural Contract theory, this situation then becomes a negation and the conversers have two choices. The choices in a negotiation are to choose “assimilate or accommodate” the idea, or negotiate the relationship anew by signing another contract (1). The Cultural Contract Theory is based on three factors about the processes and overall negotiations of identities. These factors are “identities require affirmation, identities are constantly being exchanged, and identities are contractual (1).” The three factors help us understand “each of us comes to understand the self by knowing what the self is not