Examples Of Discrimination In The Movie Crash

Loren Wilkinson – 4/7/2011
Crash Essay Project

In the film “Crash”, there were repeated examples of prejudice and discrimination displayed by a variety of characters. While considering the film in concepts set out in our assigned reading of chapter 11 - Race and Ethnicity (Macionis, 304-333) several areas we had covered were clearly evident. I decided to focus on the prejudice and discrimination displayed toward blacks and Hispanics in the film. The first example that struck me was the common theme of stereotyping based on race and ethnicity. The first example from the film that conveyed stereotyping to me was the conversation of the two black car thieves as they walked out of the restaurant and down the street. One of the thieves is complaining about the service they received in the restaurant when the other points out that their server was black. The first thief counters with the argument that their
server knew black men did not tip well and therefore paid less attention to them which is an example of the Scapegoat theory (Macionis, 312). He also said he had not left a tip, there by perpetuating the stereotype that black men don’t tip.
An example of the scapegoat theory occurred in another conversation between the two thieves. The thieves were driving the SUV they had stolen and one tuned the radio to rap music. The other began to complain that he should not be listening to rap music as it was created to keep the black man down, in effect blaming blacks for helping keep themselves down.
Discrimination and racism toward blacks and Hispanics was evident throughout the film.
In the scene where Sandra Bullock was in her home after being carjacked, she showed repeated instances of prejudice based on race and ethnicity. Bullock observed the Hispanic locksmith changing the locks on her home and told her husband she wanted the locks changed again the next day. She then told him to tell the lock company not to send a Hispanic with gang tattoos insinuating that all Hispanics with tattoos were gang members. She was worried the locksmith would give copies of the house keys to other gang members who would rob their home. She then went on to say when she saw the two black men who stole their car walking toward them she should have turned and walked away. This thought process is in line with the culture theory of prejudice cited in our text that prejudice is rooted in our culture and we learn to feel greater social distance from some categories of people (Macionis, 313). She thinks all blacks are criminals and wants to distance herself from
them.
Stereotyping is common throughout the film. In the scene where the black internal affairs’ detective and his Hispanic partner are in bed together, the black detective says she is white woman in a phone conversation. She tells him she is Hispanic and he then refers to Mexicans, lumping all people of Hispanic heritage into one group. His partner then lists the Latin countries her parents were from and states that neither of those is in Mexico.
I also observed a type of institutional prejudice and discrimination in the scene in which the young white police officer complains to his captain, who is black, that his veteran partner is a racist and requests a new partner. The captain discounts his complaints and rejects his request based on his own feelings of institutional racism he has had to overcome in his career. The captain notes he has risen to his rank in a department that is known to have racism issues and speaks questioningly of how a veteran who has served under his command for several years could be a racist, as if it would reflect on him personally. We see this type of institutional discrimination in many of our large organizations in everyday life, as few blacks or Hispanics are promoted to positions of authority.
My last topic area is the concept of pluralism as discussed in our text which states pluralism is a state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing (Macionis, 315). In theory the United States is a country where everyone has the same rights and privileges. In fact, we are not a truly pluralistic society, as we see in our everyday life. The film portrayed this concept through the traffic stop of the movie producer and his wife by the two white police officers. The officers are looking for the stolen SUV and pull behind a similar colored SUV to check it. They can clearly see it is not the one they are looking for as the tag does not match but the officer portraying the racist character stops the car over his partner’s objections. He then begins to humiliate the couple because they are black.
In closing, I would note there were many other examples of prejudice and racism in the movie worthy of review but I felt these would best demonstrate the concepts I chose to examine.