Examples Of Stereotypes In The Movie Crash

The problem with racial stereotypes shown in the movie Crash is the characters have false or partially true ideas about certain groups causing discrimination, language barriers, and abuse of power between them. First, stereotyping races in this film causes discrimination among the characters that represent the different cultures in our society. In addition, in the movie the characters experienced the formation of language barriers. In addition, abuse of power from the authorities is found throughout the film. In other words, racial stereotypes in this movie place its characters in a rut where each race is described only by conventional notions and negative generalization of each individual because of race. The movie Crash exhibited the cruel reality that is happening in our society, especially in crowded cities, such as Los Angeles, where a majority of the minority groups live. It showed the black perspective of living in a multicultural community where the differences between people and their race cause tension, racism, and discrimination among the varied ethnic groups. In addition, the racial stereotypes create a false
perception and unfriendly feelings towards an individual for belonging to a certain race. This film projected how language barriers divide the different races because the characters prejudge a person's behavior by his or her nationality making many mistakes in their opinions or judgments. Fortunately, at the end of the movie the characters realized that they are all human beings regardless of their nationality, and that they need each other to survive in this complex society, which we call America. The scene where the locksmith who was of Mexican race, went to fix a door in a store owned by an Iranian man, demonstrated how racial stereotypes cause friction among different ethnic groups.
However, the situation got worse when one of the people involved in the discussion tried to take advantage of the other. In this case, the Iranian man did not want to pay the Mexican for his services, and later he blamed the Mexican for the burglary of his store. The Iranian man, blinded by his fury, tried to get even by killing the one who supposedly robbed his store, but fortunately, the gun did not have bullets. This scene exposes how the differences between people cause tension, misunderstanding, distrust, and hatred between them and how this kind of behavior can lead to unnecessary results harming the innocent, which in this case was a
child. Another scene in the movie crash that shows clearly how racial stereotypes cause abuse of power by the authorities is when the older male cop without justification stopped an African American couple. The cop took advantage of his position as a police officer, and humiliated them simply because they were African Americans. Furthermore, the cop discriminated against the husband & wife because he was unfriendly, abusive, and sarcastic with them. The police officer seemed to be racist because another occasion he embarrassed an African American woman over the phone even though she was in charge of Insurance at the Administration's Hospital where his father was a patient. This scene is relevant in the film because it is an example of how maladjusted, isolated, and ignorant individuals release their anger against more vulnerable people that are considered minorities. In conclusion, the movie Crash is only one movie of many that show how racial stereotypes cause conflicts among society. However, this film is especially controversial because it explicitly exhibits the darkest side of people living in this nation. Therefore, this movie creates many different opinions because some people think the script is exaggerated and unrealistic in many aspects. On the other hand, many people identify themselves with the characters because they lived or they are living similar situations as in the movie. Finally, we as members of the society have to be rational and liberated from false prejudices in order to live in harmony in this "democratic nation" where its citizens should be judged by the content of their characters, not by the color of their skin, their accent, their religion, or their appearance.