In the movie “Crash” race and culture affected many lives. These cultural hang ups affect us as well in our daily lives. Most people have this ideal of what a person is or what they might do by either race, age, or gender. As for Mr. and Mrs. Thayer there seem to be some deep-rooted issues. In the situation where they faced officer John Ryan, as he violated their rights, there could have been many scenarios. Did this officer think maybe Mrs. Thayer was a white woman being sexual with a black man in the car? Those are some strong words she used when she did say “He thought a white woman was blowing a black man. Yes, she is light skin, but to think of herself as white, she made her husband feel even worse. I also think Mrs. Thayer in a way also made her husband feel like the stereotype of a “black man”. When she said those words in their bedroom. Yes, sir, yes ma’am. Of course, out …show more content…
of anger, but, yet and still he felt degraded. I think that depending on who you are as a person it will reflect on your reaction. In the Thayer’s case. Mr. Thayer seemed to have this mindset that violence doesn’t solve anything. In his mind cooperating, will keep both alive He has an image to keep up with and would avoid anything before having his image smear in the newspaper. In my mind, it’s so painful to see that this officer is being so demining and as a person of color the last thing you want to do is escalate the situation. In recent events, we have had many killings of our young black and Hispanics. What, if anything, could they have done differently? Nothing because in the eyes of a racist officer, you are guilty by the color of your skin. On the other hand, Mrs. Thayer expect her husband to fight for her honor, not allow this “white” officer make her feel like she was some type of property In society, some cultures have a standard of what a man should do for his wife. I think that having been racially deprived helps to understand why Mr. Thayer did what he did. He had to swallow his pride and made him feel less of a man in his eyes and his wife. Mrs. Thayer cried in pain because she felt how humiliating it was for her as well as her husband, but her anger also came from the past, the same anger that came from the officer’s past. I think she grew up wealthy and never had dealt with these issues. I really think it was a culture shock for her, being raised differently than her husband. Whether the officer recognizes it or not, the racial mentality didn’t just show up out of anger, but somewhere in his mind he felt it, but maybe ashamed to admit it. The officer seems to have this anger against African American. He took his anger out on Mrs. Thayer, but why? Many people think that because you do something for someone, that someone is somehow indebted to you. His father being sick should have never brought out the racist in him, if he never had it. He also felt his father provided “black” people opportunities and then was shut down by the African American lady from the insurance company. Now as far as Mr. Thayer’s career, he was also nonverbal about certain situations. In the movie, there is a part where a young African American actor is said to have to re-do a scene. Why? Because this actor did not say his lines as a “black person would talk”. Even now though you hear those comments as well. I have heard people say “oh why does he talk like he’s white? The ignorance of what a person should sound like because of their race, or culture. Yet again Cameron did not make any waves regarding this discrimination act towards the young black actor. So again, Cameron conform, even though you can see the pain, hurt and anger in his eyes. In life, there will always be a situation so uncomfortable that it will make your heart drop.
In the scene where Mrs. Thayer had the car accident. Who would have thought it would be the same officer to arrive at the scene? The same officer who nearly took all her dignity away, was there full heartily ready to save her life. He went in that burning car without hesitation. He recognized who she was and still without a doubt in his heart he saved her from that burning car. His racial mindset was somehow put to the side, and his instinct of a decent human being came forth into play. Maybe he did act in a racist way because of the situation his dad was going through, but is that a good enough reason? Mrs. Thayer did not trust his judgment at the time of the burning car. You or anyone else in her shoes would have felt as if this would have been the end of life. In the end, I think the whole situation left her quite confused. Not knowing who this officer was by his actions, but feeling merciless. Her reaction was to feel grateful for his kindness that amazed her in a
way. In the scene where Mr. Thayer’s Navigator is carjacked by the two young black guys, I thought someone was going to get killed. I asked myself “How can this situation end with Mr. Thayer saving Anthony’s life.” Anthony by no means I think was going to harm Cameron. In life, the youth where I come from don’t get much of a second chance. Would Mr. Thayer have done the same if the young men would’ve been white? Cameron knew that if he let police officers know about Anthony, most likely Anthony would have been shot. Cameron finally had a break down. He did not want to cooperate any longer. He was tired of it all. After all, it was his Navigator, and yet still there he was again. Apologizing for something he had no control of. Why? He’s whole life he avoided confrontation. Even his wife at one point said that he did not quite live the life of a black men. Maybe because he tended to blend in? Maybe. Regardless he was ready to stand up for himself, his wife, Anthony, all black oppressed individuals. Even if it meant him taking a bullet for his actions. My thought will be hopefully be non-judgmental. Racial profiling in 2017 is still a problem. Especially after the September 11attacks. In a recent article http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/paying-price-human-cost-racial-profiling/effects-racial-profiling. Racial profiling like in the example of Mr. Thayer, plants some deep rooted psychological issues. The issues stated and I quote “As noted by criminologist Scott Wortley: “To argue that racial profiling is harmless, that it only hurts those who break the law, is to totally ignore the psychological and social damage that can result from always being considered one of the “usual suspects.”[32] This feeling was well summarized by one of the participants in the inquiry: "Some may feel this practice is justifiable because there are a lot of bad people out there and it is relatively easy/convenient to group certain clusters together based on statistics and probability factors, etc. Each person wants to be viewed and treated as an individual. Think about the harm that is being done to those who find themselves within a cluster they do not belong in. Who can begin to appreciate the level of frustration within these individuals and the future cost to society to disenfranchise these innocent citizens?” (R.R.) Racial issues have always caused conversations with people to become very heated, even ending in aggressive behavior. Some of the ways that these issues can start to be avoided is to • Put policies in place to limit the impact of bias • Transform the conversation between police and the community The race or ethnicity of an individual shall not be the sole factor in determining the existence of probable cause to place in custody or arrest an individual or in constituting a reasonable and articulable suspicion that an offense has been or is being committed so as to justify the detention of an individual or the investigatory stop of a motor vehicle. This is from an article Keesee, Tracie L. “Three Ways to Reduce Implicit Bias in Policing.” Greater Good. N.p., 02 July 2015. Web. 11 May 2017. In conclusion, society has change the way things are done through policies and laws, but people still carry with them these stereo type perceptions of certain groups, cultures, races, and religion. It will take more than just making certain ways of treating people a law. We need to be more open to changes and be willing to put ourselves out there. We, as a society, where we have hundreds of different ideas, opinions, traditions, should be exploring and enjoying the differences. Instead we judge, assume, and criticize when we see something new to us. Are we willing to learn? I think so, but it must start with you. We need to look at our self and see what we are lacking. To see that we are imperfect. Mr. and Mrs. Thayer will in my mind overcome their differences. I think the ordeal that they went through opened them up to these feelings that might’ve been kept inside, but displayed through their actions in everyday life. Sometime people feel that the best way to deal with negative issues is to suppress them. Not a great idea. These issues will eventually show up somehow, some way. She needs to see that as man, that last thing he needs is to be put down by his own wife. He must see that she needs that security from him “But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy
The police officer is a fundamental illustration of how stereotypes are created by discrimination and fear when he was described as “nervous because of the neighbour-hood, who is suspicious because of the car and because he has been trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans as a potential thief” The main character expects to be helped by the police officer but instead he is seen as a thief because he is unshaved, he wears expensive clothes and drives a Mercedes Benz. All those things together got him in trouble. Because of that he gets shot trying to show his identity. His mistake was that instead reaching for his wallet it was to put his hands up when the police officer told him that. The police officer was sure he is a “typical street thief” and thought he was reaching for a gun and shot him, which ended the character’s life. He was just wanting to prove who he really
The opening scene of the film Crash, sets the stage for microaggressions with a microassault. Microassaults are blatant verbal, nonverbal, or environmental attack intended to convey discriminatory and biased sentiments (Sue, 2016). Individuals will engage in these overt behaviors when there is some degree of anonymity, they are in the presence of others who share similar beliefs, or they lose control of themselves (Sue, 2016). In the opening scene, Maria is involved in a car accident where she is rear-ended by a woman of Asian descent (Kim Lee). The police instruct Maria to remain in her vehicle while the officer interviews the other driver, but Maria ignores instructions and engages in a verbal altercation with the other driver.
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
But what if you are a White female in a family that is very much against interracial marriage and you are in love with a Black man, or vice versa, if you are a Black woman in love with a White man who’s family is very secluded to the fact that interracial couples are becoming accepted amongst the 21st century. This exact conflict is represented in the movie Little White Lie. In the movie, Lacey’s mom, Peggy, had an affair and got pregnant by a black man. Peggy states “The fact is if the man with whom I had the affair hadn 't been Black none of this would have come out.” Meaning in the days when the affair has happened, 1968, it was considered so wrong to be in an interracial relationship that the only reason it was a big deal for Peggy to be having an affair was not because of the affair itself but because the affair was with a Black man. Today this belief of segregation among marriage or White and Black still exists, it’s just is not as strong. Some families are realizing that love is love and skin color does not matter as long as the relationship is
In the 2004 film Crash, directed and written by Paul Haggis along with fellow screenplay writer Bobby Moresco (“Crash: Full Cast & Crew”), the entire storyline of the film is heavily influenced by intersectionality and skewed perceptions of other social groups within society. The character that I am choosing to focus on specifically is the character Anthony, played by Christopher Bridges (also known as Ludacris). Anthony’s ...
Officer Ryan is a white bigoted police officer who has a clear hatred of African Americans. The scene depicts Office Ryan pulling over a vehicle, because it looks like one that was reported stolen. However, after running the plates, he knows the vehicle is not stolen, but using his Legitimate Power, he pulls the vehicle over anyway. Like most power, legitimate power is based upon perception and reality, and the ability to influence others based on their status, and the right to comply. However, once the stop is initiated, he then engages in Coercive Power, and sexually assaults the female passenger, Christine Thayer, as her husband, Cameron Thayer, watches helplessly. Ryan hatred of blacks is so intense that he does even care that he has just committed a crime in front of his partner, a partner who knows that he has just crossed the line. Officer Ryan has no respect for blacks, and used racial profiling as a means of pulling over and harassing the couple. When a person with authority uses their position to force someone to comply with what they want, by using acts of threats and intimation is coercive power.
“Who was the most racist in that situation? Was it the white man who was too terrified to confront his black neighbors on their rudeness? Was it the black folks who abandoned their mattress on their curb? … Or was it all of us, black and white, passively revealing that, despite our surface friendliness, we didn’t really care about one another?” He never blames the black neighbors for their disregard of the mattress because their black, but sounds aware of the stereotyping and how he comes off addressing it. He also knows how much he stands out in the community as a minority, wondering what the cops would say to him, “ ‘Buddy,’ the cops would say. ‘You don’t fit the profile of the neighborhood.” Despite his pride in his actions of disposing of the mattress, the mistreatment by his black neighbors comes off as an unfortunate, but expected, consequence, “I knew the entire block would shun me. I felt pale and lost, like an American explorer in the
One of them was racist and would use his authority to exploit minorities. During a traffic stop, the movie director and his wife were pulled over for allegedly performing felatio on her husband. During this stop, the racist cop thought they were drunk, so they were taken out of the car. During the pat down of the wife, the racist cop sexually assaults his wife reaching his hand up her cocktail dress. The director did not say anything when the officer felt up his wife because he was worried about his social role. Social role is a set of expectations for a certain group or type of person. In this case, he was a director and worried that his social role may be tarnished if he were to argue with this police officer. We saw that later in the scene he and his wife began to argue because of
After all these years, racism and prejudices are still present in our society. It seems as though there is not a day that goes by without seeing a story about a racially fueled crime or act of discrimination on the news. As much as people would like to believe that racism no longer exist and that stereotyping and racial profiling do not happen on a daily basis, the truth of the matter is that these prejudices are still very existent today. In the 2004 movie Crash, the lives of several Los Angeles citizens intertwine when faced with racism, stereotyping and crime.
I watched the 1989 film Do the Right Thing produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. As the movie progressed, I identified with the character Tina because she too was a Puerto Rican. I did not realize that my ethnic identity was so salient but this makes sense because it is something you are faced with every day. By this I mean, some social identities can be changeable such as one’s religious preference, but someone's ethnicity cannot. Growing up, I constantly heard Spanish being spoken in my home, I noticed my meals were different than my friends, and cultural aspects such as a tight knit family were very familiar to me. All of these characteristics led to the development of my identity and thus why I can relate to Tina’s character. For
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.
In the first scene when Cameron is introduced, two white cops get a call about a stolen car. The openly racist cop, Officer Ryan, pulls over Cameron and Christine’s Lincoln Navigator, although it is obvious that their Navigator is not the stolen vehicle. The cop thinks he sees the couple participating in a sexual act while driving. When he approaches the car to ask for registration and license, Cameron and Christine laugh and find the whole situation humorous. Officer Ryan then asks Cameron to step out, and although Cameron obeys, he acts confused. He is obviously not drunk or wanting trouble (in the movie it even states that he is a Buddhist), and he declares that he lives only a block away. When his wife comes out of the car protesting the absurdity of the stop, the officer tells both of them to put their hands on the car so he can check for weapons. The cop then humiliates Christine by feeling her up between her thighs while Cameron is forced to stand by and watch. In this scene, Cameron does not protest but unbelievingly stares at what is happening to his wife. He is in a vulnerable situation because if he objects, he and his wife could be arrested and his reputation ruined. When the police ask Cameron what he should do with what they did in the car he slowly says, “Look, we’re sorry and we’d appreciate it if you’d let us go with a warning, please.
One of the oldest arguments within mankind is the nature vs.nurture argument.The age-old question of whether or not is is our DNA or the way we were raised have that determine the type of person we are. I have always believed that both our DNA and the teachings of family, friends, teachers and itself have an effect on how we behave. But most importantly, our circumstances determine our behavior. It is safe to say that all people have done something out of character due to their circumstances and this is extremely obvious when watching the movie Crash by Paul Haggis. Especially when we meet LAPD officers John Ryan and Tom Hansen who are partners. John Ryan initially seems like a racist, molesting crooked cop while Tom Hansen seems to be the socially aware and caring cop who wouldn’t hurt a fly. However, by the end of the movie the viewers see completely different sides of both cops. This drastic change in both of the characters raises questions about whether or not Ryan was born evil or made to be evil due to situations he had no control over and whether or not Hansen is actually as nice as he seems when his circumstances change. I would argue that all people are capable of being nice and all people are capable of being evil. However, I think our DNA affects how we behave more than the way we were taught to behave when we are put into compromising situations. When people are forced to make decisions on the spot we usually don’t have enough time to think about what our parents told us instead we rely on what feels natural.
"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.
He is talking to a woman and she is telling him how his father has been to the clinic three times that month and there is nothing they can do about it any longer. He ask to speak with her supervisor which she is the supervisor. Once the woman states that her name is Shaniqua he makes a rude comment and she automatically hung up in his face. After this happens John has a negative impression of all African American women. He is discriminating against all African American women just because what happened with Shaniqua not giving his dad medical assistance. “Discrimination is a hurtful action toward a particular group of people because they belong to that group.” In another scene John is with his partner Hansen and they pull over the Thayer’s who look to be doing some type of sexual intercourse. He doesn’t pull them over, because they are performing sexual intercourse in the car but because they happen to be a part of the particular group he doesn’t like. Since his views of all African American women are changed as negative he forcefully takes his anger out on Christine by sexually harassing her in front of her husband. Her husband wants to react, but he is in a position to where he can’t do anything. Ryan knows what his partner is doing is wrong, but he has to be obedient seeing how he is a police officer. Obedience is following the demands of an authority. He talk’s his partner into letting them go rather than saying that he’s wrong and needs to