Deconstruction of the Movie Crash

Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. PhD 

Crash is a 2004 American movie that discusses racial relations in America. The movie is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles and was inspired by real-life events. Crash received several awards and nominations. 

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and the Movie “Crash”

 (a)    The self-fulfilling prophecy is a self-made assumption based on future events, and often the person has a belief that it will come true. It is a statement that alters actions based on the person’s hidden wishes and expectations. Our thought processes guide our actions; therefore, self-fulfilling prophecies often come true. There is positive feedback between belief and behavior. The person subconsciously guides his self-fulfilling prophecy until it becomes a reality.

In the movie Crash, it applies on numerous occasions. For instance, at the restaurant, Anthony and Peter come to the assumption that they will not get a proper service due to their skin color. They were the only African Americans among the white folks. This assumption was based on their prior experiences, and subconsciously, they anticipated the outcome. They were not very responsive and friendly to the waitress who served them. The waiting period for the service and the welcome they received from the waitress were evaluated via a racial point of view.   They were not satisfied with the service that they received at the restaurant, and it was evident to them when they walked in. Because they went to the restaurant with a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Their behavior was based on a self-fulfilling prophecy, and obviously, when one party is cold and unresponsive, the other party (the waitress) becomes numbed too. They came to the postulation that the waitress did not give them an appropriate service because she thinks that black people do not give good tips for the service they receive. Anthony and Peter did not give her a tip. But the fact remains that they were served by a black waitress.

 (b)   The self-fulfilling prophecy applies to Jean when she sees Anthony and Peter (at the street scene) outside the restaurant. While walking with her husband she sees two black men and as a defensive reaction, she gets closer to her husband. According to Jean, she sees these two young black men as a danger. She is being reinforced by the media on violence and black youth. Therefore, her reaction was obvious. She subconsciously realized a threatening situation and her behavior pattern changed drastically. A minute before she was arguing with her husband and when her instincts apprehended a situation that could be threatening she ended the argument and held her husband’s hand.

Jean had a self-fulfilling prophecy when she saw Anthony and Peter. She anticipated any type of harm from them. Her self-fulfilling prophecy became a nightmare when the two black men grabbed Jean and her husband. A gun was pointed in front of her face, and their car was apprehended. Hence, the self-fulfilling prophecy became a reality.

  

2) Ethnocentrism displayed in the movie

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one's own ethno cultural standards.  As Haviland (2001) postulates, Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture is superior in every way to all others.

Ethnocentrism was displayed in the movie on several occasions. The interactions between  Detective Waters and his partner Ria are often decolorized by the ethnocentrism factor.

When  Detective Waters was having sexual intercourse with Ria he gets a call from his mother. Then he says that he cannot talk to her because he is having sex with a white woman. Ria is a Latin American woman. Her father is from Puerto Rico and mother is from El Salvador. For Detective Waters who is an African American, any person who has less skin pigmentation -melanin and looks fair is white.  This concept may be stemming from his initial understanding of color differentiation and ethnocentric schemas. This is a very thought-provoking concept.  

During Hitler’s regime, the NAZI government had several parameters to determine a white Aryan. He or she had to be pure German without any racial contamination, must have white skin, blond hear and blue eyes.

Ria was stunned by the way Waters answered his mother, stating that he was having sex with a white woman. According to Latin American culture, sex is something that you do not discuss with your parents and it is a very private thing.  The religious influence could have influenced Ria to be upset too.   The surveys reveal that 71% of the Latin American population consider themselves Catholic (Fraser 2005) In Catholicism casual sex is regarded as a sinful act and revealing it to one’s mother while committing the act makes it more immoral.  

Another event where ethnocentrism could be seen was the conversation between officer, John Ryan and   Shaniqua Jonson. The officer, John Ryan, was upset following his father’s chronic urinary infection and called the clinic. The receptionist does not go out of her way to help the old man and sounds very bureaucratic. When Ryan asks her name, she says that her name is Shaniqua. The name sounds alien to him. Immediately he realizes she was a colored woman. Then he becomes verbally aggressive and uses racial slang.

 

3)  The movie Crash and the roots of racism

 Farhad ; Farhad is a Persian who views society in terms of racial spectacles. According to his interpretation, people are hostile to him and habitually try to cheat him. People, especially white Americans, misunderstand him as an Arab.  When there is an anti-Arabian emotion in the USA after 9/11, he is very particular about his ethnic identity.

He lives in a hostile neighborhood and frequently faces mob attacks. Following these assaults, he decides to buy a gun for self-defense. When Farhad and his daughter are at the gun store, they debate whether to buy a gun or not. The conversation goes on in Persian for a long time, and the white salesman loses his temper. He calls Farhad - Osama (means Osama bin Laden) and asks him to plan the Jihad or the holy war in Farhad’s own time without wasting his.  This ignites his anger because it was again a misapprehension of his ethnic identity. Secondly, it was a racial insult, calling him Osama.

The second event occurs when the locksmith asks him to change the door. For Farhad, anyone outside his ethnic group is a suspicious character. He often calls them cheaters. When the locksmith recommends him to change the door, he thinks that the locksmith who belongs to the Latin American ethnic group tries to fool him.  Farhad scolds the locksmith and demands him to fix the lock.  

In  Farhad's case, the roots of racism stemming from both externally as well as internally. After living in the North American culture for many years, he faces numerous racial humiliations. He was identified as an Arab and was sometimes subjected to harassment. After the 911 attacks at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the anti-Islamic wave became more potent in the USA.  People like Farhad who are Persian and have nothing to do with the fundamental Islamic stream, became the scapegoats. They were not integrated into mainstream American society and were left as misfits. At the gun store, Farhad yells that he is an American. But the white salesman sees him as an Arab who conspires to cause a calamity in American society.

Internally, every mishap and erroneous human interactions were interpreted as racially motivated offenses. Farhad was a person who had poor communication skills and immature interpersonal relations with anyone outside his racial group. Farhad regarded any inappropriate expressions as racial slang. He never thought that these types of arguments would occur among the white people too. With his past experiences, he became more vigilant and obsessed with what other people (anyone outside his ethnic group) said or did to him. Although Farhad felt that he was a victim of racial discrimination, ironically, there is a racist inside Farhad’s heart.