The first thing I noticed when watching this movie was the blatant racism. Racism was obviously the main theme of the movie. It is interesting to note that in the very beginning, one of the characters uses the name of the title to describe the loneliness of the world right now. I think the director was trying to make a statement on how prejudice and racism lead to a lonely life. Each of the characters was by themselves even when they were interacting together. Crash showed an evolution in the characters to see that others can be good.
Crash teaches a lesson through the interaction of the characters. Each of the main characters interacts with one another on some level. Every one of them displays racist attitudes and actions. The whole point of the film was to show that everyone can get along when we see past ourselves. To me, this film takes a humanistic approach to the problem. The entire film revolves around teaching that racism is not right. For instance, after the police harass the black woman and man, the police officer is the one who saves her from the car. This might seem like irony, but I think it is deeper in that it shows that she could overcome her fear and emotions of him when she had to. The other officer was the only person in the show who did not display obvious signs of racism. But, he was the only one who ultimately shot and killed another person because he was black.
Irony was used in this movie. One of the black characters constantly dished on anyone who wasn’t black. He even dished on their black waitress in the restaurant. In the movie however, it was a fellow black man who beat him on the street. But, this beating and subsequent ride in the car showed him a better way and led him to free the Asians trapped instead of selling them. More irony was shown with the police officer and the medical assistant. He used racial epitaphs during a phone conversation with her. Later he went in and had to sit down and she denied him his claim because he was being racist. It was also interesting that in the end she was hit by another car setting off yet again a chain of events like the rest of the movie
Music and lighting were used to heighten the effects of the movie. The use of racial and cursing language led us to see the amount of hatred there was going around. One of the most powerful scenes to me even went out of focus to show the emotions that were running rampant. The officer just pulled the lady from the car and she starts to cry into his chest. The color and focus go off slightly to emote the feeling of helplessness from not only her but him as well. The picture snaps into focus when the paramedics show up, but the expression on the officer’s face tells us he will no longer be so racist.
Crash was an excellent movie. I don’t live in California, but I hope that racism isn’t as bad as it is portrayed in the movie. The main theme was to address the issue of racism and show that even people who were extremely racist can come together and get along. Each of the characters learns a lesson and we feel that they will never be the same again. There was a crashing of the different lives that led to this change. The director shows us that no matter our heritage, we can come together because we are all the same when and where it counts.
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