The opposing characters within the movie “Crash” depict contrasting lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours.The elements of social status and gender dynamics determine the characters’ tolerance for uncertainty as well as the ways in which they react to societal situations. A situation which may be quite dramatic and life changing for one person might be minimal for another. The following characters including: Jean Cabot played by Sandra Bullock, Daniel played by Michael Dena, and Officer Ryan played by Matt Dillon will be explored throughout this paper.
Sandra Bullock’s character “Jean Cabot” illustrates an unforgettable amount of fear, stress, anxiety and turmoil within the film. For Jean, an upper class, affluent, Caucasian female, it is difficult for her to accept the fact that she has been a victim of a reckless crime as she and her husband were demanded to leave their vehicle while two black males with guns, drove off leaving them terrified and without their car. Jean makes it clear that the incident was in fact her fault because she knew it was going to happen. She makes it clear that she feared the two men based on their skin colour and that she initially did not say anything to her husband because she didn’t want to be implied as racist.
Jean’s character shows an immense amount of anger but also a prominent stereo-typical attitude. Based on one experience Jean has had she then proceeds to discriminate against Daniel, a Mexican male who comes to her house to change her door locks. Daniel played by Michael Pena is a working class male in his early 30’s. He has a home and a family and is unfortunately discriminated against time and time again within the film. He is depicted within the film as having a happy life and a caring nature however, he lives in a lower-class neighborhood and can’t help