Crash

I have been to a fair few countries and met people of different background. I like to hear about different customs and beliefs, languages and heritage. My brother's high school is one of the most multicultural schools with students from over 90 different countries in a school of just under 2,000. Unfortunately, not everyone else is so accepting.

"Crash" is a movie that addresses not only racism but also stereotypes and that everything is a matter of perspective. People are born with good hearts, but they grow up and learn prejudices. The movie is set in Los Angeles, a place where there is a mix of every nationality. The story begins when several people are involved in a multi-car accident. We are taken back to the day before the crash, seeing the lives of the main characters, and the problems each character encounters during that day. The movie shows us that life is not always black or white, good or bad, it is all a matter of perception.

The theme of the movie was the fact that in recent times, people have gotten so that we are constantly protecting ourselves, putting up shields from strangers, being extra careful not to touch others in case of lawsuits. The opening lines explain clearly: "It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."

Rick Cabot (Brendon Frazer) a white district attorney and his wife Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) are depicted as helpless "good" guys when they are carjacked at gunpoint by two black young men (no racism intended). Rick Cabot later shows his "bad" side when he tries to win votes to save his career by pretending to be racially sensitive. Jean proves her "bad" self when a young Hispanic man comes to change her locks and she describes him as a "gang banger with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, [and] the prison tattoos" who is going to sell her key as soon as he steps out the door.

The two young boys who steal Rick and Jean's car, Peter and Anthony also have a good and a bad side. Throughout the movie, Anthony walks around pointing out racist tendencies in the people around. While he tends to exaggerate a fair bit in terms of the boys experience in the movie, he hits the mark with regard to perception out in the wide world. Bad: the boys hijacked a car. Good: Anthony may have been right about racism and people's perceptions against blacks because when Peter tries to pull out a figurine of a saint to show a young police officer, the officer mistakes the gesture for Peter pulling out a gun and shoots him.

Well, the young officer, Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), is not all bad. He is partnered up with a bigoted white officer who continuously harasses black people for no apparent reason other than the fact that they are black. Officer Hanson is very unhappy with his partner's behavior and protects the people that are unfortunate enough to get stopped.

Surprisingly, Officer Hanson's partner, John Ryan (Matt Dillon) is not all bad either. His father has suffered great financial and business losses due to racist policies and is now very ill. He has been miss-diagnosed and will not be treated due to a black insurance representative who takes offence to Officer Ryan's behavior. I suppose he can also swallow his pride because later on in the movie, a black woman he molested is trapped in a car that is burning and he risks his life to save her.

There are many other characters in the movie, each with their own intricate lives, with their good and bad sides, with their right and wrong opinions. The movie keeps you guessing right till the last minute, what is going to be around the next bend? But most of all, it makes you feel utterly ashamed of how we treat each other, with suspicion and revenge, with preconceived stereotypes. If a black man reaches into his pocket, is he getting a gun? If a young man has tattoos, does that mean he is a criminal and he has been to prison? If a man looks middle-eastern does that mean he is a terrorist? Even if you are not a minority, do you have to be discriminated against? We may be different colors, shapes, sizes, with different backgrounds and different opinions, but in the end, we are all people.