African American Stereotypes In The Film Crash
The movie “Crash” is a stuck-to-your-seat thriller with true meaning. It is easy to see why is has been so successful and garnered so many awards. The viewer is witness to a great cast with several intertwining story lines that centralize around the common stereotypes of many races that plague our society today. We see several important characters that tell the story through several dynamic perspectives that are detrimental to understanding the film, as well as to the understanding of how we can get past these stereotypes and misconceptions in order to not just better our society as a whole, but better our businesses and employees in entirety. Arguably the character with the most severe preconceived notions and racial intolerances would be Officer John Ryan. Ryan, probably in his mid thirties, is a police officer for the Los Angeles County Police Department. On and off the job, he is, generally, the best example of how not to treat people of other races. Ryan demonstrates very racist tendencies. The viewer’s first encounter with Ryan does not prove otherwise. We see Ryan having a telephone conversation with some sort of secretary regarding his fathers HMO plan. The secretary is African American. The conversation is not going the way Ryan
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wants it to and therefore ends the conversation with a racial comment regarding the secretary’s name. Ryan proceeds to hang up the phone and enter his car where he receives a call to look out for a stolen black Cadillac, driven by a black male. Ryan sees a Cadillac, which, although clearly not the right Cadillac, he pulls over anyway. If it was not apparent before, the viewer now gets a front row seat to Ryan’s gross displays of racism when he violates and humiliates the African American couple in the vehicle. Ryan inappropriately frisks the woman while making the husband, at the same time, watch helplessly and apologize for breaking the law. It is not rational, nor moral to sympathize with Ryan being racist, however, if sympathizing can be justified, than it can be justified in his second conversation, which is in person, with the African American secretary. After John thoroughly makes it known, once again, that he can be very racist, and right before he is thrown out of the secretary’s office, John informs the secretary that at one time his father owned a company that employed many African Americans and provided them with benefits and treated them fairly (he was very good to them). The viewer learns that due to affirmative action his company was put out of business because it could not compete anymore. Ryan’s racism can therefore be justified because it was essentially the individuals of the other races that were responsible for Ryan and his father’s hardships growing up. He probably believes that the only thing people of other races are good for is depriving him and his father and people like them of their happiness and wealth. Essentially he is still stuck on image. The turn around event for Officer Ryan is when he saves the woman he violated from a crash site. It is a very stuck-to-your-seat experience in which the woman is stuck upside down in a car that is dripping gasoline near another car that is already on fire. Ryan enters and upon realizing who it is the woman throws a tantrum and demands someone else rescue her. The two reconcile and in a dramatic fashion Ryan rescues her at the last possible second. The scene is very important because one can imply the circumstances cause Ryan to get past race and recognize that deep down everyone is the same, everyone is a human being.
A very interesting and dynamic character is Jean Cabot. Cabot, who is probably in her thirties, is a white-collar woman, married to the District Attorney of Los Angeles. What is interesting about Cabot is that she has many preconceived notions about people of other races that come true, and are therefore justified, while because of these notions she develops more notions that do not come true. She frets not to be called a racist, and then wonders how she is not justified after her notions are proven true. When Jean is introduced we see her walking on a very well lit and populated New York City Street with her husband. The couple passes two mysterious African American men and Jean clutches her husband’s arm as a precaution. This precaution is justified a moment later when, as the couple enter their SUV, they are car jacked by the same two individuals. Jean is severely affected by the attack, which is displayed in a fight with her husband after they reach their home. She tells her husband she wants the locks changed in the morning even though they as they talked the locks were being changed by a young Hispanic man. She claimed he would sell the keys to his gangster friends. This Hispanic man, as proven in future events in the film, is exactly the opposite sort of “gang banger” than Jean thinks he is, and therefore her thoughts are not justified. These events define Jean until she slips and falls down the stairs and finds, when her “closest” friends are not there to help her, that actions are those of the individual. Her Hispanic maid helps her wholeheartedly and she realizes that her maid is her only friend. The lesson in this instance is that it is not what is on the outside that defines the person, but what is on the inside, where everyone is given the opportunity to be totally equal. A third very dynamic character is Anthony. Anthony, an African American individual, probably in his twenties, is who Jean would consider a “gang banger.” A car thief looking to make money, he is the definition of the stereotypical white racists version of a black man. Anthony does just about anything when it comes to making a buck, including threatening, hurting, and intimidating anyone of any race. What is interesting about Anthony is that he wonders why African American’s are treated poorly, why people are racist, and why people believe that all (I say all lightly) African Americans are “gang bangers” when it is he who promotes those definitions, stereotypes, and injustices. Anthony is introduced while he is squabbling with his fellow “hoodlum” about why there are so many negative African American stereotypes.
This proves to be ironic as he then proceeds to car jack a couple (Jean and her husband) and drive away in their car. Another instance of Anthony perpetuating the negative stereotype is right before the car jacking when Anthony wonders why he received such poor service at a restaurant. He thinks that it is because the waitress believed that he was going to tip badly, him being a young African American, and he is probably right, however, he only perpetuates this theory by not leaving a tip at all. Anthony is clearly a liability to the moral and civil African
American. Anthony can be considered to have his turning point at the end of the film when he finds a truckload of illegal immigrants. Presumably the man who is Anthony’s boss offers him five hundred dollars for each immigrant, and instead of being the typical money hungry young man who he has perpetuated since the beginning of the film, he refuses the offer and sets them free in china town. He is clearly making moral ground. The movie “Crash” clearly sets many examples of racial intolerances, stereotypes, and inequalities. In today’s fast paced business world it is very necessary to identify and if not work around, then obliterate these differences and anti-productive ideas in order to fabricate the healthiest possible work environment for every employee and leader. To combat these ideas the seven diversity principles for businesses have been established. By analyzing these principles and applying them to “Crash” it is possible to see how to best implement them in a business operation. The first principle is to carefully and faithfully follow and enforce federal and state laws regarding equal employment opportunity. To define this principle we look at the scene in which Officer John Ryan is fighting with the secretary about his father. The secretary, as Ryan rudely points out, probably has her job because of affirmative action taking away potentially more qualified Caucasian’s opportunities. Although harsh for some individuals, affirmative action and the first principal promote overall satisfaction and opportunity for all people in business. The next of the diversity principles is to treat group differences as important, but not special. This principal can be best identified when looking at the scene in which John Ryan gets the call to look for a black Cadillac with an African American driver. He clearly identifies a black Cadillac with an African American driver, but instead of going about the investigation normally, he makes the situation special by humiliating the driver and inappropriately touching his wife. Businesses can only be successful when everyone is treated the same way. The third principle is to find common ground. This example can be best exemplified in the scene in which officer Ryan is rescuing the same African American woman he violated from a terrible car crash. The woman is initially reluctant to be saved by Ryan, but realizes she is in peril and realizes that Ryan can save her and therefore allows herself to be rescued. Business employees need to find common ground in order to operate smoothly and prevent misunderstandings and unneeded conflict. The fourth principle is to tailor opportunities to individuals, not groups. The best instance of this from “Crash” is probably the scene in which Jean is having an argument with her husband regarding the Hispanic man changing her locks. She categorizes him as a “gang banger” because she makes the assumption that all people unlike her are dangerous. She does not take the individual into account, not realizing the Hispanic man is good natured and moral, when the true “gang banger” was the man who car jacked her. Good businesses must treat everyone as individuals, as every individual of a race does not act the same way. The fifth principle is to reexamine, but maintain, high standards. The only instance available for this principle is Officer Ryan. Ryan is required to maintain high standards of excellence working for the government, but he is constantly required to reexamine situations. Officers should do what is moral, but do not always do so. In our particular instance Ryan fails to maintain high standards after reexamining a situation and violates an African American woman. Businesses need to always evaluate new situations, but always need to maintain good standards no matter who is involved. The sixth principle is to solicit negative as well as positive feedback. The scene that best exemplifies this principle is the one in which Anthony is exiting a black Cadillac of the owner he tried to steal the car from. The owner asserts he is disgusted at Anthony and that he gives African Americans a bad name. The feedback changes Anthony and the next opportunity he has to be immoral he chooses the right thing to do, which is releasing the immigrants as opposed to getting paid to sell them. Businesses must give feedback to employees and leaders in order to promote positive actions therefore increasing cohesion and productivity. Finally, the last principle is to set high but realistic goals. A perfect example of the last principle is, once again, Anthony. Anthony despises the fact that others suppress him and constantly have preexisting notions towards him. It can be inferred that he wants this to change, which could be considered a goal. The problem is that he considers it too high, he believes that people will never change. He believes that affecting an entire race is too great a task for him, and thinks that what little he can do would be of no suffice, so he promotes these negative stereotypes by car jacking and “gang banging.” He doesn’t realize that he should control only what he can control, which is himself. If he set the realistic goal of he himself being moral and doing the right thing, than he can do that much more to improve the reputation of the whole race. Business leaders should set realistic and believable goals for followers in order to obtain the highest efficiency and productivity from all. In conclusion one can see that by applying the seven diversity principles a business will be much more effective even when individuals in that company share biases, misconceptions, and attempt to stereotype. The seven diversity principles attempt to squander these inhibitors to promote the best possible work environment for all.
wants it to and therefore ends the conversation with a racial comment regarding the secretary’s name. Ryan proceeds to hang up the phone and enter his car where he receives a call to look out for a stolen black Cadillac, driven by a black male. Ryan sees a Cadillac, which, although clearly not the right Cadillac, he pulls over anyway. If it was not apparent before, the viewer now gets a front row seat to Ryan’s gross displays of racism when he violates and humiliates the African American couple in the vehicle. Ryan inappropriately frisks the woman while making the husband, at the same time, watch helplessly and apologize for breaking the law. It is not rational, nor moral to sympathize with Ryan being racist, however, if sympathizing can be justified, than it can be justified in his second conversation, which is in person, with the African American secretary. After John thoroughly makes it known, once again, that he can be very racist, and right before he is thrown out of the secretary’s office, John informs the secretary that at one time his father owned a company that employed many African Americans and provided them with benefits and treated them fairly (he was very good to them). The viewer learns that due to affirmative action his company was put out of business because it could not compete anymore. Ryan’s racism can therefore be justified because it was essentially the individuals of the other races that were responsible for Ryan and his father’s hardships growing up. He probably believes that the only thing people of other races are good for is depriving him and his father and people like them of their happiness and wealth. Essentially he is still stuck on image. The turn around event for Officer Ryan is when he saves the woman he violated from a crash site. It is a very stuck-to-your-seat experience in which the woman is stuck upside down in a car that is dripping gasoline near another car that is already on fire. Ryan enters and upon realizing who it is the woman throws a tantrum and demands someone else rescue her. The two reconcile and in a dramatic fashion Ryan rescues her at the last possible second. The scene is very important because one can imply the circumstances cause Ryan to get past race and recognize that deep down everyone is the same, everyone is a human being.
A very interesting and dynamic character is Jean Cabot. Cabot, who is probably in her thirties, is a white-collar woman, married to the District Attorney of Los Angeles. What is interesting about Cabot is that she has many preconceived notions about people of other races that come true, and are therefore justified, while because of these notions she develops more notions that do not come true. She frets not to be called a racist, and then wonders how she is not justified after her notions are proven true. When Jean is introduced we see her walking on a very well lit and populated New York City Street with her husband. The couple passes two mysterious African American men and Jean clutches her husband’s arm as a precaution. This precaution is justified a moment later when, as the couple enter their SUV, they are car jacked by the same two individuals. Jean is severely affected by the attack, which is displayed in a fight with her husband after they reach their home. She tells her husband she wants the locks changed in the morning even though they as they talked the locks were being changed by a young Hispanic man. She claimed he would sell the keys to his gangster friends. This Hispanic man, as proven in future events in the film, is exactly the opposite sort of “gang banger” than Jean thinks he is, and therefore her thoughts are not justified. These events define Jean until she slips and falls down the stairs and finds, when her “closest” friends are not there to help her, that actions are those of the individual. Her Hispanic maid helps her wholeheartedly and she realizes that her maid is her only friend. The lesson in this instance is that it is not what is on the outside that defines the person, but what is on the inside, where everyone is given the opportunity to be totally equal. A third very dynamic character is Anthony. Anthony, an African American individual, probably in his twenties, is who Jean would consider a “gang banger.” A car thief looking to make money, he is the definition of the stereotypical white racists version of a black man. Anthony does just about anything when it comes to making a buck, including threatening, hurting, and intimidating anyone of any race. What is interesting about Anthony is that he wonders why African American’s are treated poorly, why people are racist, and why people believe that all (I say all lightly) African Americans are “gang bangers” when it is he who promotes those definitions, stereotypes, and injustices. Anthony is introduced while he is squabbling with his fellow “hoodlum” about why there are so many negative African American stereotypes.
This proves to be ironic as he then proceeds to car jack a couple (Jean and her husband) and drive away in their car. Another instance of Anthony perpetuating the negative stereotype is right before the car jacking when Anthony wonders why he received such poor service at a restaurant. He thinks that it is because the waitress believed that he was going to tip badly, him being a young African American, and he is probably right, however, he only perpetuates this theory by not leaving a tip at all. Anthony is clearly a liability to the moral and civil African
American. Anthony can be considered to have his turning point at the end of the film when he finds a truckload of illegal immigrants. Presumably the man who is Anthony’s boss offers him five hundred dollars for each immigrant, and instead of being the typical money hungry young man who he has perpetuated since the beginning of the film, he refuses the offer and sets them free in china town. He is clearly making moral ground. The movie “Crash” clearly sets many examples of racial intolerances, stereotypes, and inequalities. In today’s fast paced business world it is very necessary to identify and if not work around, then obliterate these differences and anti-productive ideas in order to fabricate the healthiest possible work environment for every employee and leader. To combat these ideas the seven diversity principles for businesses have been established. By analyzing these principles and applying them to “Crash” it is possible to see how to best implement them in a business operation. The first principle is to carefully and faithfully follow and enforce federal and state laws regarding equal employment opportunity. To define this principle we look at the scene in which Officer John Ryan is fighting with the secretary about his father. The secretary, as Ryan rudely points out, probably has her job because of affirmative action taking away potentially more qualified Caucasian’s opportunities. Although harsh for some individuals, affirmative action and the first principal promote overall satisfaction and opportunity for all people in business. The next of the diversity principles is to treat group differences as important, but not special. This principal can be best identified when looking at the scene in which John Ryan gets the call to look for a black Cadillac with an African American driver. He clearly identifies a black Cadillac with an African American driver, but instead of going about the investigation normally, he makes the situation special by humiliating the driver and inappropriately touching his wife. Businesses can only be successful when everyone is treated the same way. The third principle is to find common ground. This example can be best exemplified in the scene in which officer Ryan is rescuing the same African American woman he violated from a terrible car crash. The woman is initially reluctant to be saved by Ryan, but realizes she is in peril and realizes that Ryan can save her and therefore allows herself to be rescued. Business employees need to find common ground in order to operate smoothly and prevent misunderstandings and unneeded conflict. The fourth principle is to tailor opportunities to individuals, not groups. The best instance of this from “Crash” is probably the scene in which Jean is having an argument with her husband regarding the Hispanic man changing her locks. She categorizes him as a “gang banger” because she makes the assumption that all people unlike her are dangerous. She does not take the individual into account, not realizing the Hispanic man is good natured and moral, when the true “gang banger” was the man who car jacked her. Good businesses must treat everyone as individuals, as every individual of a race does not act the same way. The fifth principle is to reexamine, but maintain, high standards. The only instance available for this principle is Officer Ryan. Ryan is required to maintain high standards of excellence working for the government, but he is constantly required to reexamine situations. Officers should do what is moral, but do not always do so. In our particular instance Ryan fails to maintain high standards after reexamining a situation and violates an African American woman. Businesses need to always evaluate new situations, but always need to maintain good standards no matter who is involved. The sixth principle is to solicit negative as well as positive feedback. The scene that best exemplifies this principle is the one in which Anthony is exiting a black Cadillac of the owner he tried to steal the car from. The owner asserts he is disgusted at Anthony and that he gives African Americans a bad name. The feedback changes Anthony and the next opportunity he has to be immoral he chooses the right thing to do, which is releasing the immigrants as opposed to getting paid to sell them. Businesses must give feedback to employees and leaders in order to promote positive actions therefore increasing cohesion and productivity. Finally, the last principle is to set high but realistic goals. A perfect example of the last principle is, once again, Anthony. Anthony despises the fact that others suppress him and constantly have preexisting notions towards him. It can be inferred that he wants this to change, which could be considered a goal. The problem is that he considers it too high, he believes that people will never change. He believes that affecting an entire race is too great a task for him, and thinks that what little he can do would be of no suffice, so he promotes these negative stereotypes by car jacking and “gang banging.” He doesn’t realize that he should control only what he can control, which is himself. If he set the realistic goal of he himself being moral and doing the right thing, than he can do that much more to improve the reputation of the whole race. Business leaders should set realistic and believable goals for followers in order to obtain the highest efficiency and productivity from all. In conclusion one can see that by applying the seven diversity principles a business will be much more effective even when individuals in that company share biases, misconceptions, and attempt to stereotype. The seven diversity principles attempt to squander these inhibitors to promote the best possible work environment for all.