Saturday night found us watching Crash. I generally like movies with intersecting story lines, like Short Cuts, Traffic, and The Hours, and I think this movie is one of the better ones.
The theme that I walked away with was the theme of stereotypes, or as we like to say in law school, proxies. Proxies (stereotypes) are based in some kind of truth, so proxies can be very helpful. If I see a pit bull, I may steer clear because I have heard stories of pit bulls being violent. That particular pit bull may be as gentle as a lamb, but I will generally be safer if I treat all pit bulls as dangerous until I know otherwise.
But is it right to use proxies when dealing with humans?
We like to say "no." Individual humans should not be judged by the statistical characteristics of whatever race or gender they have been born into by chance. The movie does not make it easy to answer this question. In one scene (that appears in the trailer), a white couple, Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser, are walking on the sidewalk toward two young African American men, played by Ludicris and Larenz Tate. Ludicris' character mocks Sandra Bullock for being afraid of them, and Sandra Bullock berates herself for being afraid. However, two seconds later the two young men carjack the couple's car. So, then Sandra Bullock regrets not using the young men's race as a proxy because it could have saved her the experience of having a gun to her head. A few hours later, though, she uses the locksmith's race (Hispanic) as a proxy to determine that he will sell the keys to their house to his "homies" who will rob them blind. Of course, she is mistaken.
In the movie, people live up to their stereotypes (a white police officer is racist, a wealthy white housewife is selfish and spoiled, the young black men are carjackers), then the same people transcend their stereotypes. In addition, characters who have shunned stereotypes to be more enlightened fall prey to their own fears and disappoint themselves.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Great review, Christine. Sounds like a great movie, too... though one that I will certainly have to turn my brain on for.
Not always the worst thing to do!
2 - Peter Wright
So, Christine, what do you make of all this? It seems to me the conclusion you drew from watching this movie is that this issue is destined to be mire people into confusion. Is that right?