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The story consists of people coming from different ethnicities and various socioeconomic status in life who share dynamic interaction among each other. There are those that are presented as stereotypes while mostly, characters pass through changes and transformations. The metaphorical title depicts the literal meaning of the word as there is indeed a crash in the contemporary society with the sad reality of racism. Also, the beginning and the end part of the movie includes scenes of crashing cars which significantly contributed to the meaning of the title.
The movie primarily revolves around the district attorney of Los Angeles who struggled with his image in the public. He is surrounded with black African Americans gaining their confidence. There is also the black cop that has an affair with his partner who is a Latina. There is also the cop that considers black women who are light skin to be white. There are also the differences between the black and white TV directors involved in the story. Among the lines of the movie, it is evident that there are racial categories among the different races, national heritage, and even cultural aspects of the people. There are other races involved as the story interlocks with different characters composed of Latinos, Mexicans, Blacks, Iranians, and the whites. There are also prejudices that occur among the rich and poor, the criminals and the cops, the powerless and the powerful, and other contrasting status of people that can be found in the society (Eber, 2005).
The best dramatic scene that can be considered in this movie is when the daughter of the locksmith Daniel was shot as she intervened the gun scene between his father and Farhad, a shopkeeper who is Persian in heritage. Farhad wanted Daniel to fix his store’s door lock. Daniel advised him to change the door but Farhad misunderstood Daniel and became furious at him. The next day, Farhad came to see his store broken in. The insurance company refuses indemnity for his carelessness. Farhad then fixed the blame on Daniel. After he successfully located Daniel’s house, he confronted him when Daniel is closed from work and demanded for his money and swears to kill Daniel unless he gives him the money. The daughter of Daniel looking out from the house saw the commotion outside, she runs to her father to protect him from the bullet.
This scene is very touching such that, the child believes her invincibility as she has faith in the clothing that her father has given her. Daniel has previously told his daughter that she has a fairy cloak that can protect her from bullets. This statement reflects true love of a father to a daughter, devoid of any form of prejudices. Daniel’s vulnerability is revealed as he tried to make her daughter feel safe through his words. In effect, the daughter had faith in her father. She believes in every word that he said to her. Thus, when the time has come that her father is in danger, she stood in between him and the danger with faith in her heart that she can truly save her father from the bullet. True enough, she was able to save her father. There is a very touching scene, where love has been shown. There is a lesson in this part, where, love is the ultimate answer to every conflict.
Farhad was taken aback with his actions. He thought he just killed an innocent child. In some moments, he realized that he was guilty of evil. Although he demanded some sort of justice in his part, he too, had a bad side as he became a criminal. The scene moved both the killer and the father. The father shouting in pain for the death of his daughter, and the other man, struggling in conflict with his actions. He then opened his heart to a different perspective. That is, looking at the different view and not just dwelling on his pain and his part of seeking for equality and justice.
There are also several other stories from the characters in the film that shows the essence of equality, forgiveness, and peace. They all experience sadness and bitterness in life. They all faced some darkness in their day to day experiences. Some may be due to circumstances while other faced the consequences of their reckless behaviours. But as this film promotes forgiveness, it is important that each one should face the darkness within oneself. It is the dark side of nature of man that may lead to destruction, utter despair, and negative implications. Just like the scene of the little girl which greatly touched viewers, it takes a big event in the life of a person that could make it a pivot point in living.
As the Persian shop owner and locksmith encountered, the intervention of the innocent girl made them realize the big impact of their actions. The locksmith experienced a great transformation such that he faced the consequences of his actions. The moment the shop owner realized that he just shot a bullet to the little girl, he saw a clear reflection of himself as he looked into the father’s eyes. In those still moments, as the girl is clutched to his father, he felt what the father felt. The cringing pain let out through the sobs and howls of the father reverberated to his soul. He felt the intense pain of the grief and loss felt by Daniel. The gravity of the fear of the father for the loss of her daughter was felt inch by inch by the locksmith, such that he feared death for his loved one as well (Aptaker, 2010).
All these things occured just because of some injustices felt by the characters triggered by racism. There are differences in the races of the characters that made them felt bereft of human rights, where they ended up with broken souls. Some sought for justice, thus, making some reckless actions that made them faced big consequences. The movie then calls for forgiveness. Despite the differences in each human being, it is not an excuse to criticize people due to this. As the movie showcases different angles of injustice and racism, there is some good light shown in the end that calls for humanity to understand each other rather than considering other people different. There is a call for forgiveness, and not to dwell in pain to the extent of extracting vengeance to other people. It promotes positive light as the racist’s justifications are drawn into good transformations. Indeed, the movie is very worthwhile leaving behind a feeling of goodness for all races of humankind.
References
Aptaker, J. “A Sociological Analysis of the Movie ‘Crash’”. Reel Rundown. (2010). Last visited December 10, 2016
Eber, R. ‘Crash”. RogerEbert.com. (2005). Last visited, December12, 2016
Written by Clifford Owusu-Gyamfi, www.medium.com