The Movie Crash

Crash. A collision between entities that results in damage. In the movie “Crash” different dialectics ultimately crashed. Racism was a key concept in this movie and it greatly influenced how the audience perceived the movie. In “Crash” all of the characters in some way, shape, or form were affected by each other. Their lives seemed to somehow “crash” into each other’s and have a significant effect on their outlook on society. Referring to the concept of reality as motion and the concept of contradiction as energy for motion, I will discuss how the characters in “Crash “were changed by each there. Reality as motion is defined as the process of becoming in human life. According to this concept appearance is being and the essence is becoming.
The characters of the movie “Crash” appear to be, however in essence Cameron, Ryan, Christine, Anthony, and all of the others are still becoming. They are in constant motion, constantly becoming. The motion produced in this concept can be positive of negative. My first example of reality as motion is the character Anthony. In the beginning of the movie, Anthony was a ruthless carjacker who saw the world as full of people stereotyping black people. Anthony did not care about anyone but himself basically. However, in reality his essence was becoming. During the movie experiences such as him almost being arrested, and his encounter with Cameron basically telling him that he embarrassed him made Anthony change. His motion or change occurred when he had the chance to receive money for the china men in the van he was driving in. Instead of taking the cash, he let the china men go and gave them money for food. This showed how he had compassion for people other than himself. Another example is displayed by the character Tom Hansen referred to as “Tommy”. Tommy at the beginning of the film was your typical “Mr. Nice Guy” who seemed to love everyone. However, his essence was shifting to a negative area. Tommy was soon to become what he feared the most, a racist man who stereotypes. Tommy’s big shift occurred when he shot Peter because he “felt” he was pulling out a firearm. Instead he shot innocent Peter because he was showing him a statuette that they had in common. Unknowingly his essence had shifted to the person who he did not want to be but was becoming. The second concept that I will be discussing in my essay is contradiction as energy for motion.
This concept can be defined or described as when reality is in contradiction to the ideal, and that urges the person or entity to change. The contradiction between the ideal and reality is fundamental to energy of motion. This meaning a conflict between the two must be apparent for change to occur. My first example of this concept in the movie “Crash” is Farhad, the Persian storeowner. In reality, Farhad could not provide enough security for his store and family. He would have ideally like for his store and family to be safe. Farhad’s change was when he decided to buy a gun and eventually change his locks. This gun he decided would be the security measure that he needed to ensure the safety of his store. Moreover, Cameron’s character can also be an example of this concept. In reality, Cameron was looked down upon by his wife after he blatantly stood and let a cop molest her. She felt he was less of a man and Cameron did not like this. So, ideally Cameron wanted his wife to see that he could stand up and be a man to the authorities. This urged him to change by not listening to authorities when he was pulled over. This was a breaking point for him he felt this was the time to show his wife, and himself, that he was not weak. “Crash” exemplified one aspect of human life that is commonly overlooked. It showed how diverse the world is and how dialectic influences who we are. In the
movie each character was faced to move in some direction. All of them are in motion and they are not who they appear to be. In each example given in the prior paragraphs they have just yet reached a stepping stone on their journey of becoming.