Crash (2006, Blu-ray Disc)

In high school most people in the United States have been taught that America is no longer a melting pot where different ethnicities are assimilated into one homogenous mix, but a tossed salad where people keep their differences from their ethnic backgrounds. The ethnic background includes aspects such as race, linguistics, religion, and culture. This knowledge frequently drifts into some unused part of the brain, as it slowly moves into oblivion. Nonetheless, the ethnic differences between people continue to exist in the United States, as people work and handle their personal matters on a daily basis. Crash tells a story of people from all parts of the world, as African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Middle Easterners move through life and occasionally bump into each other by accident, a crash if you will.

Through daily interaction people accidentally connect with each other where stereotypes and generalizations are made based on assumptions from the brief incidents, previous events, and hearsay. This is often the result of simplified deduction, which could be colored by emotion and bias. The skewed perception of people with different ethnicity could also stem from appearance, gender, and the socioeconomic status of the observer and the observed. Paul Haggis directs several interesting characters from all walks of life such as police officers, criminals, locksmiths, storeowners, and TV directors. Some are caring while others neglect those around them. They have one thing in common with each other - no one is alike.

Instead of playing the card of racism in a black and white manner, Haggis cleverly intertwines all of the characters through a truly genuine approach. The origin of intolerance is being dissected through the camera that depicts the characters' behavior while also displaying the source of the behavior. Through the characters Haggis displays different emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, and love. These different emotions are expressed in different manners, as interactions between the characters accidentally appear. Some times the observed feelings are subtle, as when Jean (Sandra Bullock) in fear grabs Rick's (Brendan Fraser) arm while Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) walk by them, which is even mentioned by Anthony. Another more overt example is when Farhad (Shaun Toub) speaks in Farsi to his daughter at a gun store in Persian, as the gun store manager throws out prejudicial comments toward Farhad.

Many of the scenes display racism, but the focus is on an incident before that triggered emotions such as rage, fear, and hatred. These powerful emotions burn violently inside each person when being hostile, as the individual regresses into simplistic thinking using their stereotypes and generalizations as guides. When each person regresses through anger someone always tends to get hurt either physically or emotionally. In turn this anger breeds more anger much like Hydra, as when one head is cut off two new heads grow out. The anger develops into fear of similar incidents which then is communicated to friends, media, or other channels of communication. Sometimes people simply neglect to inform others of racist behavior in fear of repercussions. Consequently, the fear brings about more negative generalizations that feed the hatred. In the story the hatred is directed toward people due to their ethnicity, as race is the easiest thing to observe since it rests within the skin color of each person.

Crash

Hollywood is often full of themselves, and since this was a "compromise" Best Movie winner for 2005 (according to the critic's whose favorite movie didn't win at least), I was expecting another "see how these character's all intertwine? Aren't we clever!" type movie. What I got was a movie where I was riveted from the first scene to the last. Now part of my permanent Blu-Ray collection. One of the finest movies ever made. Get it.