Racial Tension in Crash

Will there always be disagreement between ethnicities, or will races solve their discrepancies? The movie Crash takes a closer look at this idea of racial anxiety in society. Throughout the film, different races collide with each other, creating conflicts that are a constant part of today's culture. Although it gives examples of many different races conflicting, it appears that the main focus is between blacks and whites. Crash reinforces the idea of racial tension between blacks and whites, which influences the viewer to believe that conflict between races is continuously occurring. However, it then breaks down the barriers of these stereotypical relationships to show that blacks and whites can exist in harmony.

In the movie, as well as in our society, it seems that confliction between races will be continuously taking place. The recurrence

of racial arguments in the movie makes the viewer think that this is happening in everyday society. Some people may live in a very diverse area where they encounter these sorts of experiences on a daily basis. Others, however, may live in a very Caucasian dominated area where they are less unaware of these conflictions. After watching this movie, it seems to increase society's stereotype that these conflictions are not just in movies, they are everywhere, constantly. The entire movie deals with various encounters between races getting in arguments, fighting, and even killing. Almost every argument always leads to a problem about differences in races. It seems that the arguments stem solely from the color of someone's skin. The viewer may at first be overwhelmed by the immense amount of tension between blacks and whites, and feel as if these discrepancies can never be resolved. However, by the end of the film, it is evident that these things are capable of being overcome, even though they will always occur. The racial tension between blacks and whites, and the prevalence over these tensions can be broken down into a couple of the most prominent and obvious examples to help explain these ideas more clearly.

The most obvious claim that the movie represents is that whites and blacks are in constant turmoil. Whites and people of authority are portrayed to feel superior towards blacks. This movie makes it evident that whites still feel superior to blacks, despite the efforts to eliminate stereotypes in the past centuries. Whites are very distrusting of blacks, assuming the worst in every situation. They assume that other nationalities are inferior to them and are not as important. Examples of conflicts occur throughout the entire movie in various situations, reflecting the stereotypes that exist within our society.

There are many examples to demonstrate the existing stereotypes that our society has about blacks and whites. The conflicts in this movie between races occur mostly when a white man feels powerful over a black man. In one scene of the movie a black man is pulled over by a white cop for sexual conduct by his black wife in public. The black man is a very successful producer, yet is still viewed as inferior to the cop. The white cop, feeling he has authority over the black man, thinks he can do whatever he wants. The wife, dressed in a silk white dress, is searched for weapons. The real reason the cop does this is to feel the woman's body. He violates her right in front of her husband. She is very disturbed by this, especially by the fact that her husband just sat and watched it happen. He didn't defend his wife or stop the cop, even though they all knew it was wrong. The black man, however, felt like the cop was superior to him, therefore kept quiet and instead, apologized to the cop. The wife was very upset about this because she was molested and humiliated by a white cop. This situation shows one of the many examples when a black person feels of less importance than a white person.

Hence, this situation gives evidence to support the stereotype that white cops always have authority over minorities and that blacks are inferior. Stereotypically, cops are usually thought of doing good for society. However, this movie breaks this stereotype by showing that cops are not always doing the right thing. The movie suggests that they sometimes do things to satisfy their personal needs, even though they know they are hurting those of other races. The white cop takes advantage of the black man's wife, leaving her feeling violated, the husband feelings powerless, and him feeling dominant. This is just one of the many stereotypes that occur about blacks and whites in this movie.

Although at the beginning of the movie, this argument takes place, the movie lets the viewer realize that the resolutions of these problems are possible. The feeling between these races switches from negative to positive when it is later resolved as the white cop saves the black woman's life; the woman he once violated. The woman happens to get into a car accident and the only police officer around is the same man that once violated her. At this point she has no trust in cops, especially the only one around to help her. She is screaming for someone, anyone else to help her. As the car starts on fire, however, she realizes she has to let this man help her in order to survive, despite their past encounter. When he sees how scared she is of him because of their previous incident, he realizes the pain and the detrimental effects he has caused this woman to suffer. As he reaches over her, he pulls back down her skirt to make her feel like she can trust him more. He saves her life, somewhat redeeming himself for the mistake he committed in the past towards her. This is a clear indication of what was once racial tension between blacks and whites that was resolved.

Immediately thereafter, the white cop decided to have a new outlook on life. Not only did he save the black woman's life, but he changed his own. He stopped treating others like inferiors, and decided to be more respectful. For example, he was no longer hostile to his old sick dad. He started showing affection towards him by giving him a hug instead of brushing him off as he usually did. He also realized that what he was doing to black women as a cop was wrong. It was very out of line to touch woman inappropriately as a cop. He realized that he is not superior to those of other races, such as the black couple. Although this disagreement got resolved, there were numerous accounts of racial tension that are yet to be discussed.

In addition to white people feeling powerful over blacks, another claim that can be made is that blacks are stereotyped to be dangerous in the presence of white people. In various parts of the movie, blacks are portrayed as always armed with guns. There are a few exceptions, such as a