Crash Paper

Crash displayed various aspects of racism and stereotypes that occur everyday. One of the three major scenes in the movie that stood out was when the two officers pull over a black couple. Obviously they've done nothing completely harmful, reckless or dangerous. The leading officer claims the wife was performing falatio, while driving a vehicle, which could be a form of reckless driving and can be penalized for it. In fear of authority, and in all respect, the husband complies as polite as possible to the officers demands. While doing so, the officer is responding in the rudest manor. He asks the officer if it's okay to reach in the glove department for his paperwork and the officer replies with a very suspicious "yeah nice and slow". Now on the other hand, the other officer takes no part in what goes on next because he knows what's right and wrong, he's deemed the "good" cop. The leading officer comes back to test him if he's drunk and driving and he wasn't. Complying with the officer once again, he did it. His wife, a little drunk, tries to explain in a firm manor that they've done nothing wrong and what he's doing is wrong. Feeling an undermining to his authority, he gets angry and as she gets out of the car to confront him he tells the couple to turn around and place their hands behind their heads. As he pats down his wife, he grabs her inappropriately and asks what should be done since what they've done can technically be seen as a crime. Coming back to complying to an authoritarian figure out of fear and recognition of authority, her husband had one of two choices; he either could've spoken up, done something about it and got arrested or kept quiet, let him do what he knew was wrong and be let off with just a warning. Thinking that he would not win over an authority figure like the cop's word, he didn't say anything and let it happen. This situation brings up "The Authoritarian Personality" from one of the theories of prejudice in which the man complied to