When we speak of Intersectionality, we are forced to not only interweave the oppression in society that includes classism, sexism, ageism, and racism but also how they are continuously affected by one another. As an IDS Major I often wonder what can be learned from our prejudiced notions that we have acquired throughout our lifetime and how does the social construct of race affect the world around us? What stereotypes are we conditioned to believe that they have become almost just knee jerk reactions to daily events?
In the 2004 movie entitled Crash, we become engulfed in the perspectives of different types of people whose lives are touched by the racial and social class discrimination that is unavoidable in a city as diverse as Los Angeles is. Diversity in a city could very well be seen as an asset, and you’d think that we could get along with each other in a more communal way. However, when you consider the context of which this movie is set in, we can see that the aftermath of 9/11 has clearly played a role in the development of the plot and characters for this film.
The film starts off with a car crash that Ria (Jennifer Esposito) and Detective Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) are involved in with an Asian driver. Ria insists that the accusatory Asian driver is only blaming her because she couldn’t see over the steering wheel. In her broken English the Asian driver says that Ria should have braked which she mispronounces as “blake”. Ria takes this and runs with it and greets the Asian driver with derision and contempt. This opening to the movie is only the very beginning of a film that explores a myriad of other possibilities, all of which are open to interpretation based on one’s cultural and ethnic background.
In a subsequent scene, Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter Waters (Larenz Tate), 2 African American men are shown leaving a bustling restaurant when they start up a conversation about discrimination and how they were not served coffee like all the other white patrons. Anthony says they were not served the coffee because they were not going to tip because they are “black”. Even though the waitress was also African American Anthony says that she discriminates against her own race. He wonders why they shouldn’t be scared when they are in a neighborhood where they are outnumbered by “over caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger happy LAPD”. Peter replies that they are not scared because they have guns and they proceed to car jack a white couple, Rick and Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock and Jason Fraser). This particular scene is disturbing because the very stereotypes that these two African American men are so aware of and trying to avoid, are the same stereotypes that they play into. It’s almost like they are just trying to live up to those standards set forth for them by the society that they live in. If they are so bothered by it, why not change it? Like many situations, it is easier said than done. The fact of the matter remains that even though they are fully aware of the prejudice that African American men face, their lives have led them down this path to where they see no other option but to car jack people for money, drugs, or whatever the case may be. There are other factors in this situation that may be lying under the surface if we just take a closer look. Perhaps poverty, lack of education, and other types of limitations have led up to this one action. Instead of generalizing so much maybe we should ask more as to why and how this situation came to be.
One thing is for certain, when a person of a different ethnicity/race hurts us in some way, it is possible that we can internalize this event and develop a negative connotation that leads to othering. This is shown in the following 2 clips where Jean Cabot who has been car jacked is now scared that the guy who comes to change the locks at her house may come back to rob her home. It is also exemplified in the clip where wealthy, African American, Christine and Cameron Thayer (Thandie Newton and Terrence Howard) have been harassed by the police officers on the street and now generalize that all “pigs” are racist and corrupt. A discourse for this new type of racism post 9/11 is necessary to say the least. At the intersection of the Class, Race, and Gender, where all these issues collide perhaps we should make a conscious decision to judge based on individual character and integrity rather than continuing the endless cycle of phenotyping that our society has ingrained in us.
On Twitter @jess_miller_310
Your blog was very informative. Although I saw the movie years ago, the information you provided gives another perspective on how and why stereotypes remain alive concerning race, class and gender in our society. All of the characters in the movie are acting out the reality of stereotypical behaviors based on what the media continues to feed people. This propaganda only proliferates the same behaviors primarily to keep a separation between class, and race. Thank you for your post!
A conscious effort to “judge on individual character and integrity” is a must if we hope to change the discrimination practices that our society insists to keep the economical division of the 1%. The consistent effort of those in power to keep the average working man at odds with one another so that their bidding can be done is a successful endeavor. What would happen if we judged people on their merits and actions instead of their race? What would happen if we did not blame our peers for our lack of employment and educational opportunity and place that blame on those that profit from the disparity? Hopefully, a more equitable distribution of the wealth this country has to offer.
I have watched this movie many times before. It is a great film, and does an awesome job of showing stereotypes we all have against us and also stereotypes we may hold against others. Your blog was great and you did a phenomenal job at explaining the movie, and analyzing the film.