Multiculturalism as portrayed by CRASH

Multiculturalism as portrayed by CRASH

Crash is a 2004 ensemble drama about racial and social tensions in LA,
California (originally it meant that the principal actors and performers are
assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time Hollywood : many well-known actors, even if most of them only have
minor or supporting roles)
All-star cast - they won Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding
Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Matt Dillon was particularly praised for his performance and received
Academy Award, and numerous nominations for Best Supporting Actor
Crash was inspired by a real-life incident, in which the directors
Porsche was carjacked outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard in
1991
interlocking, cross-cutting Los Angeles stories of groups as whites,
blacks, Latinos, Koreans, Iranians, cops and criminals, the rich and the
poor, the powerful and powerless
intercultural, sociographic portrays in an enthnically mixed
megapolis
characters defined by racial tensions and prejudices
all are victims of it, and all are guilty of it unbiasedness of directing
characters leap to conclusions based on race
the film teaches us to realize it is never too late to redeem (helyrehoz)
ones self and change.
characters assumptions (el) felttelezseik) and the lack of
acceptance of other cultures prevent them from seeing and understanding
the actual individual person standing before them
characters stereotypical thinking predetermine their judgements
instead of showing characters at their best, like most popular movies do,
they are stressed out and pushed to their own emotional limits - unique
characterisation
racist remarks and actions are often shown to come from ignorance
and misconception (tjkozatlansg s tvhit) rather than a
maliciousness and deliberateness (rosszindulatsg s szndkoltsg)
PAUL HAGGIS (The director)
Im often inpired by what people say. Someone recently who had said :
Well I wrote that scene. And I said: No, no you said those lines in real
life. And I remember them and write them down. ITs not writing, its
saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6hAr9WkGec

Main protagonists in Crash

Do they undergo personal transformation for the better, for the worse or
remain stagnant?
1. Sandra Bullock as Jean Cabot
Jean Cabot is Rick's wife, whose racial prejudices escalate after the
carjacking. At the end of the film, following an accident in her home, she
realizes that the person who is the nicest and most helpful to her is Maria, her
Hispanic maid, while her snobby friends are too busy with shallow pursuits
(felsznes trekvsek) to help her out.
2. Brendan Faser as Rick Cabot
Rick is the white District Attorney of L.A. (the state government
representative in the prosecution of criminal offenses - fgysz). He and his
wife Jeanre carjacked by Anthony and Peter. He then tries to save his political
career by reassuring voters that he is racially sensitive (as he is a Democrat
and African Americans and Hispanics are his key ets). His character is never
shown as a a bigot*, which makes his racial stance ambiguous (faji alapllst
ktrtelmst).
3. "Ludacris" Bridges as Anthony
Anthony is an African-American car thief who steals vehicles for a
bigoted* chop shop owner (a location or business which disassembles stolen
automobiles for the purpose of selling them as parts.) He believes that society
is unfairly biased against blacks, and justifies his actions by saying he would
never hurt another black person. Yet, after he and Peter try to carjack a car
driven by a black man Cameron, Anthony's response is to call on Peter to shoot
Cameron. He steals a van full of illegal immigrants from South East Asia
towards the end of the movie. Upon learning that the owner of the chop shop
that buys the stolen vehicles intends to sell them off as slaves; he releases all of
them out onto the streets of LA and gives them all his money.
4. Larenz Tate as Peter Waters
Peter is Anthony's friend and partner in crime. Like Anthony, he is black, but he
humorously mocks (gnyol) at Anthony's paranoia over racism. Peter is
shot to death by Officer Hansen, who picks him up in the valley hours after their
failed carjacking of Cameron's SUV and mistakenly shoots him after assuming
hes taking a figure of Saint Christopher -hes drawing from his pocket- for a
gun. The irony of the situation is that Peter and Officer Hansenre portrayed as
characters least suspected of racism and stereotypes up to that point.

5. Terrence Howard as Cameron Thayer

Cameron is a black television director who becomes distraught (confused) after
witnessing Officer Ryan molesting his wife and realizing that the very show he
produces is propagating racist stereotypes about black people. In an
emotional moment, he fights off Anthony and Peter (You embarrass me. You
embarrass yourself.) when they try to steal his car, takes away Anthony's gun,
gets himself into a harsh argument with armed white police officers. Just when
it is very likely that he will be shot to death, Officer Hansen intervenes on his
behalf and prevents any outbreak of violence.
6. Thandie Newton as Christine Thayer
Christine is Cameron's wife. She is molested by Officer Ryan after she and
Cameron are pulled over. She becomes furious with her husband because he
does not act to defend her. The two insult each other over their upbringings as
both Cameron and Christine have grown up in a more privileged
environment than other African Americans. The next day she is trapped in an
overturned car due to a highway accident and, by an exquisite twist of fate,
Officer Ryan is the man who willingly endangers himself to save her life.
7. Matt Dillon as Officer John Ryan
Officer Ryan is a bigoted white police officer who physically molests Christine
Thayer, a black woman, during a traffic stop. This causes his partner, Officer
Hansen, to believe his partner has racist tendencies. Ryan later works with a
newly-assigned, Hispanic - American whom he seems to get along with but
mockingly asks "ready to roll, homie". Ryan later puts his own life on the line
to save Christine from certain death in a fiery car wreck, which is unexpected
because he is considered among the film's most prejudiced characters.
8. Ryan Phillippe as Tom Hansen
Tom Hansen is Ryan's partner who is disgusted by his partner's racism and
the city's inaction. Remembering Cameron as the husband of Christine,
Hansen saves Cameron during his confrontation with the police. However, he
then engages in a racially tense conversation with Peter who he picks up as a
hitchhiker - draws his gun shoots, dumps the body and burns his car in an
attempt to hide evidence. This is one of the most surprising developments in
the film, as Officer Hansen begins as one of the least bigoted*, most righteous
characters.
*Bigoted =a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or
identities differing from his or her own

List of Characters from Crash

Characters Name

Played by (Actors Name)

Graham Waters

Don Cheadle

African-American detective investigating

shooting of Detective Lewis

Ria

Jennifer Esposito

El Salvadorian/Puerto Rican detective

also on the Lewis case; she and Graham
are romantically involved.

Rick

Brendan Fraser

Caucasian district attorney whose SUV is

carjacked near the beginning of the movie

Jean

Sandra Bullock

Ricks uptight wife

Maria

Yomi Perry

Rick and Jeans Latina housekeeper

Anthony

Chris Ludacris Bridges

Young African-American man who steals

cars & tries to educate his friend, Peter
various forms of racism

Peter

Larenz Tate

Grahams younger brother & Anthonys

friend. He likes hockey, is later shot
by Officer Hanson

Cameron

Terrence Howard

African-American TV director who is

harrassed by Officer Ryan in a traffic stop

Christine

Thandie Newton

Camerons wife who is sexually molested

by Officer Ryan during a traffic stop later
rescued by him after a car crash)

Officer Ryan

Matt Dillon

Caucasian officer on the LAPD

who has obvious racial prejudices

Officer Hanson

Ryan Phillipe

Rookie cop who no longer wants to ride

with Ryan. Hanson later helps Cameron
go w / a warning but then shoots Peter
after he picks him up as a hitchhiker.

Daniel

Michael Pena

Latino locksmith who gives his 5-yearold daughter an impenetrable cloak

Lara

Ashlyn Sanchez

Daniels 5-year-old daughter

Farhad

Shaun Toub

Iranian storeowner who tries to shoot

Daniel but who ends up shooting Lara

Shereen

Marina Sirtis

Farhads wife

Dorri

Bahar Soomekh

Choi

Greg Joung Paik

Farhad & Shereens daughter. She works

in the medical field & does not want her
father to have a gun (She buys blanks).
Korean man who is hit by Anthony
and Peter as they are driving the
Lincoln Navigator

Brief Description of Character

Kim Lee

Alexis Ree

Chois wife (Shes also the woman

involved in the car crash with Ria &
Graham at the beginning of the film.)

Shaniqua Johnson

Lorretta Devine

African-American woman who is the

supervisor of health insurance claims.
She has Officer Ryan thrown out of
her office.

Fred

Tony Danza

Caucasian man who works with

Cameron at the TV studio & asks
him to reshoot a scene because a
character didnt sound black enough.

Lieutenant Dixon

Keith David

African-American LAPD lieutenant

who advises Officer Hanson to say
he has uncontrollable flatulence in
order to get out of riding with Ryan

Detective Conklin

Martine Norseman

Caucasian police officer who is being

accused of shooting Detective Lewis

Detective Lewis

African-American detective who was

shot in a car belonging to someone
else. Large sums of $ ($300,000?)
were discovered in spare tire of car.

Flanagan

William Fichtner

Works for D.A. Rick, tries to

persuade Graham to say that Conklin
shot Lewis (Such a statement would
politically benefit the D.A.)

Grahams mother

Beverly Todd

Grahams mother who blames him

for his brothers death since she
thinks that Graham was too busy
to bother looking for his brother like
she had asked him to do.

Gunstore owner

Jack McGee

Owner of gunstore who hurls ethnic

slurs at Farhad & then makes
sexually suggestive comments toward
Farhads daughter, Dorri.

Graham Waters

Rick

Ria

Maria

Peter

Officer Ryan

Jean

Anthony

Cameron

Christine

Officer Hanson

Lara

Daniel

Farhad

Shereen

Dorri

Choi

Kim Lee

Shaniqua Johnson

Fred

Lieutenant Dixon

Detective Conklin

Flanagan

Grahams Mother

Gunstore Owner

A. Read some definitions of stereotypes. Work with a partner and think about at
least three examples for each piece of information of the definitions.
1. A simplified and fixed image of all members of a culture or group (based on
race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, national origins).
2. Generalizations about people that are based on limited, sometimes
inaccurate, information (from such sources as television, cartoons or comic
books, minimal contact with one or more members of the group, secondhand information)
3. Initial predictions about strangers based on incomplete information about
their culture, race, religion, or ethnicity
4. A single statement or attitude about a group of people that does not
recognize the complex, multidimensional nature of human beings
5. Broad categories about people that fail to differentiate among individuals,
peoples, and societies.
B. Work in small groups. Discuss these items and decide whether they are
true or false.
1. ( ) Stereotypes can be positive or negative.
2. ( ) They are all unfair and misleading.
3. ( ) They reduce individuals to an inflexible image.
4. ( ) Human beings are unique and complex, so no one should be
stereotyped.
5. ( ) They dehumanize people because they place all members of a group in
one simple category.
6. ( ) Stereotypes can be true.
7. ( ) You can know a lot about a people if you know their stereotypes.
8. ( ) Stereotypes are not necessarily true, but there is a lot of reality in them.

D. Match the words about stereotypes with their definitions:

1. alienation
2. attitude of superiority
3. discrimination
4. ethnocentrism
5. intolerance

6. prejudice
7. racism
8. scapegoat
9. bigotry
10. xenophobia

( ) a belief that one is better than others are

( ) fear or dislike of foreigners or strangers
( ) a feeling of being separate or not belonging
( ) special treatment (good or bad) based or race, religion, physical
appearance, age or social class
( ) lack of kindness or understanding toward people who are different
( ) belief that one's own group (country, race or culture) is better than other
( ) having such strong opinions about a group of people that you are unwilling
to listen to anyone else's opinions
( ) A person or group who is given the blame for the mistakes or failures of
others
( ) Belief that an ethnic group is superior or inferior than other groups
( ) A negative, unfair opinion about a person or group of people based
on limited information or experience.

QUOTATION IDENTIFICATION TASK

1. 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.
2. [to Anthony] Look at me. You embarrass me. You embarrass
yourself.
3. They think we're Arab. When did Persian become Arab?
4. I want the locks changed again in the morning.
5. Listen. You can give me the gun, or give me back the money,
and I'm really hoping for the money.
6. Why do these guys have to be black? No matter how we spin
this thing, I'm either gonna lose the black vote or I'm gonna
lose the law and order vote!
7. I know all the sociological reasons why, per capita eight times
more black men are imprisoned than white men... Schools are a
disgrace, lack of opportunity, bias in the judicial system.
8. -We didn't get any coffee that you didn't want and I didn't
order, and this is evidence of racial discrimination? Did you
happen to notice our waitress was black?
-And black women don't think in stereotypes? You tell me
something man. When was the last time you met one who
didn't think she knew everything about your lazy ass? Before
you even open your mouth.
9. Stop in the middle of street! Mexicans! No know how to drive!
She break too fast!
10. Go to the locker. In my wallet theres a check. Bring it here.
11. Get him the hell outta my office.

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12. This little girl is my guardian angel.

13. You think you know who you are? You have no idea.
14. You're welcome. No problem. Goodnight Mrs. Jean.
15. How far can bullets go?
16. I just couldn't stand to see that man take away your dignity.
17. Maybe they didn't tell you, but I've been reassigned.
18. She reaches into her backpack and she pulls out this invisible
cloak and she ties it around my neck. And she tells me that it's
impenetrable.
19. (to Graham) Oh, I already know who killed him. You did.
20. Yo, Osama, plan a jihad on your own time.
21. I'll give you a lesson. How 'bout a geography lesson? My
father's from Puerto Rico. My mother's from El Salvador.
22. I'm sure you understand how hard a black man has to work to
get to, say, where I am, in a racist fu**ing organization like the
L.A.P.D.
23. This is weird for a white guy to say this but have you noticed
his been talking a lot yes "black" lately?

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