Subtle Hatred

Rating: 9/10 (13 July 2006)

I read the user comment that accompanies the movies statistics (actors, directors, awards etc.) and the user commented that this was the worst movie ever made and that it handled the subject of racism in a childish manner. The user went on to say that if you'd like to see a "real" movie about racism than you should see American History X.
First of all, American History X is a phenomenal movie. It tackles the subject of racism like no other movie, but I do believe it explores racism at its worst. I think Crash explores the subtle racism that exists on a much more prevalent level. The true hate crimes that are depicted in American History X are horrific, but I believe racism exists in a larger number of people the way it is portrayed in Crash. Racism is based upon fear and ignorance and that is what we see in Crash. People that are afraid and ignorant. Every day people if you ask me.
A woman (Bullock's character Jean Cabot) sees two black men walking down the street and she instinctively draws herself closer to her husband. A Lebanese store owner calls a lock smith because his door will not close. The Hispanic lock smith tells the store owner that the problem isn't his lock it's the door. The store owner tells him to "Just fix it," and the lock smith informs him that he needs to call someone who sells doors. The store owner insists that he fix it and accuses the lock smith of trying to rip him off because he probably has a friend that sells doors. Does this sound irrational? That's because most of the characters in this movie are, but to me they are real.
Most of the characters in Crash are flawed to some degree which makes them even more real. Not only does Crash explore racism amongst several different cultures it also explores how people deal with racism within their own culture. As the movie clearly demonstrates, racism exists in every culture and none of us deal with it intelligently. In Crash a man is accused of not being black enough by his wife. That same man tells another black man that, "You embarrass me," because he is living up to many of the stereo types placed upon black people.
More than racism I think Crash explores another problem in our society. Our culture has become much more diverse over the years and it would appear that communication between the many different cultures is a HUGE problem. This of course can ultimately lead to racism.