Ano Lectivo: 2010/2011

The Multicultural World-Unit 4

11 th
grade
The Multicultural Society
March

Escola Secundária “Crash”- Film activities

c/3
C.E.B. de Felgueiras

Before Watching
Answer these questions:
1. Racism is type of discrimination. What other forms do you know?
2. Is there a socio- economic / racial / ethnic group that is more likely to be discriminated against in your
country / area?
3. How do people show their discrimination?
4. What can people do to stop racism?

Read the following text.

“Crash” examines Los Angeles racism

When done correctly, films can do more than entertain. They can evoke emotion, cause debate and
even challenge the trends and culture of a nation. “Crash” is this type of film. It is powerful,
provocative, poignant and poetic. It will be (…) one of the most important films made about
American society in post – 9/11 America.
“Crash” (…) takes a serious and unforgiving look at racism in modern day Los Angeles. The film
focuses on the lives of about a dozen characters and how their decisions affect not only those directly
around them, but those that they have never met.
What makes this film powerful is that it does not just show racism happening, but it attempts to show
why it is happening. For many of the characters fear is the root of their problems. Characters are
afraid of others as well as themselves, meaning they are not only ignorant of one another but often
ignorant of themselves.

While Watching

Answer these questions about the film:

1. Where does the action take place?
2. When does the action take place?
3. What theme does the film deal with?
4. Describe people’s mood?

Complete the sentences:

1. The story begins a few days ……………………………………
2. Jean and her husband Rick are carjacked ……………………….
3. That night a series of racially biased incidents take place ……….
4. The clerk at the gun shop made a few racist comments when the Persian …….
5. Ludacris is an ……………………………………………………..
6. Rap music is the music of …………………………………………

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 Ano Lectivo: 2010/2011

Read the plot synopsis and complete it with the missing words:

Issues of…………1 and gender cause a group of strangers in Los Angeles to physically and
emotionally …………2 in this drama from director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. Graham is a police
……….3 whose brother is a street criminal, and it hurts him to know his mother cares more about
ne’er-do-well brother than him. Graham’s partner is Ria, who is also his …………4 , though she has
begun to bristle at his emotional distance, as well as his occasional insensitivity over the fact he’s
African-American and she’s Hispanic. Rick is an L.A. district attorney whose wife, Jean, makes
little………… 5 of her fear and hatred of people unlike herself. Jean’s worst imaginings about people
of…………. 6 are confirmed when her SUV is carjacked by two African- American men. Anthony,
who dislikes ………….. 7 people as much as Jean hates ………….8, and Peter, who is more open
minded. Cameron is a well-to-do African- American television …………9with a beautiful wife,
Christine. While coming from a …………10 , Cameron and Christine are pulled over by Officer
Ryan, who subjects them to a humiliating interrogation and her to an inappropriate search while his
partner, Officer Hansen looks on. Daniel is a hard-working …………11 and dedicated father who
discovers that his looks don’t lead many of his customers to …………12 him. And Farhad is a Middle
Eastern shopkeeper who is constantly threatened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks ………..13 that he
decided he needs a …………14 to defend his family.

After Watching

Read the following comments on the film.

“One of the best movies ever. Everyone should see this to learn more about racism and how it affects
everyday life”

“An excellent film that explores the complexities of race and ethnicity in the USA. There are all round
good performances and as far as I am concerned, it was unquestionably the best film of 2005”

“This movie is probably the best movie ever. It is absolutely amazing. Anyone who says otherwise
doesn’t know what they’re talking about. I love it.”

1. What is the general opinion about the film?

2. And you, what is your opinion about the film. Write it down.
I think the film is……

Read this quotation and discuss its meaning. (optional work)

“I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until
the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently
the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a Black man in a White man’s court. This should not be. I should
feel perfectly at ease and at home with the assurance that I am being tried by a fellow South African, who does not regard me
as an inferior, entitled to a special type of justice”

Nelson Mandela quotes – South African Statesman first democratically elected State President of South Africa (1994), 1993
Nobel Prize for Peace

The teacher: Ofélia Ribeiro

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