Crash

Walking down the street, everybody is afraid to walk past you. You receive many evil and hateful looks. There is nothing you can do but keep walking. You feel humiliated and alienated by your fellow citizens, just because of the color of your skin. You just put your head down and keep walking.

In Paul Haggis' 2004 film, Crash, Anthony and his friend are discriminated against while walking down the street (Crash). "Paul Haggis mangles each character into two pieces: the villain and the hero (Chacon 1). This movie presents clear cut good and bad guys. In the beginning of the film, the characters are portrayed as villains and at the end, it shows how each of them is able to overcome the negativity and straighten out his or her lives. "The critics say that Crash is one of the best movies of the year" (Carr 1). This film should be considered an American classic movie because it deals with real-life issues. According to google.com 4% of Americans in the United States admit to being racist. Throughout the film characters are able to overcome racism and straighten out their lives. This film is enjoyable and applies to all races and sexes. Due to the important issues of racism being covered in this film, Crash should be considered a modern day American classic.

Taking place in Los Angeles, Crash has many main characters and settings. Racial issues emerge throughout this film. As Anthony and Peter are walking down the street they pass Rick and his wife, knowing neither of them. Rick's wife gives Anthony a dirty look and grabs onto Rick. Anthony sees this fear in this woman's eyes just because she walks past some black men. Anthony

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turns to his friend, whom he has been walking with and says,

Look around! You couldn't find a whiter, safer, or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gangbangers? Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared, it's us: the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger-happy LAPD" (Crash).

He is upset because he is the victim of non-verbal racism.

Officer Ryan is another character that encounters racism. He pulls over Cameron and his wife Christine who did nothing wrong. He interrogates them and makes them miserable as he pats them down. He feels that he is doing his job, although he wouldn't treat whites in the same matter. However, Officer Ryan is able to overcome racism and later saves Christine when her SUV flips and is about to explode. He thinks nothing of his own safety and pulls her out. Anthony also overcomes racism and saves Asians in the back of a stolen van. He gives them twenty dollars and lets them out in Los Angeles. He also is able to overcome reacting to people displaying racism. The characters figure out how to interact with other.

Racism is defined as hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. Verbal racism is the most common example of racism in this motion picture. It is also the most common example of racism in the world today according to facts.com. Throughout this film, Asians were referred to as Chinamen, blacks were referred to as niggers, and whites were referred to as honkies.

It's just black people demeaning other black people, using that word over and over (nigger). You ever hear white people callin' each other 'honkey' all the time? 'Hey, honkey, how's work?' 'Not bad, cracker, we're diversifying!'said Anthony (Phelps).

These racial names are offensive and no person should disrespect another based on their skin. Although Paul Haggis is a wealthy, white man living on the higher end of society, he is still able to write and direct a film that relates to all races and social classes of America. His main message of this film is not to prove that Americans are racist but to show how people are able to overcome their differences and accomplish good (Chacon 2).

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show that every person in America is at least a little bit racist, but to show how people react to and overcome racism(Chacon 2).

They did no action to receive this reaction

Ludacris played the character, Anthony, a middle-aged black male living in Los Angeles. Ludacris was the perfect actor for this character, he even won a Black Actor award (Chacon 3). By keeping a judgement-free mind, Anthony is able to look past physical issues and judges people based on their personality. However, most people don't give him the same opportunity because he is black. As Anthony is walking down the street, he passes Rick and his wife, knowing neither of them. Rick's wife gives Anthony a dirty look and grabs onto Rick. Anthony sees this fear in this woman's eyes just because she walks past some black men (Crash). Anthony turns to his friend, whom he has been walking with and says,

Look around! You couldn't find a whiter, safer, or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gangbangers? Do we look threatening?