Movie_Crash

CRASH The movie “Crash” is about as intense a movie as you could have produced. During this time after a very sensitive period in our world, the movie portrays a number of different stereotypes, interpersonal conflicts, and creates questions that are very prevalent in today’s society. The character that I found most intriguing was the African American character who hitched a ride. One of the main characters in the movie was Officer John Ryan, played by Matt Dillon, of how he changed his behavior from the beginning to an end. Ryan was a Caucasian officer for over 17 years. He shows a good example of racist towards to "black" people. The audience is captivated by his quotes, but also by his nonverbal communication which is illustrated throughout the film. When we do not listen effectively to what others have to say, we leave ourselves and minds open to believe anything and often misinterpret the point of what others are really trying to make. Also, we tend to assuming what another is trying to say without letting them actually finish saying what they want to say when they are trying to get their point across. This can cause confusion within each other leading them to jump to conclusions. In the movie “Crash”, not listening to others and communicating effectively can have serious consequences that cannot be reversed. In the move “Crash” an African American guy was walking down the highway trying to hitch a ride. Someone pulls over and asks him where he was going. He says anywhere away from here. The African American guy gets in the car; the driver of the car was a Caucasian police officer. The passenger is also unaware that the driver is in fact a police officer. As they are engaging in a conversation the African American mentions he likes the music that was playing in the car which was a country song. The police officer laughs like he does not believe what the guy is saying. The African American guy also sees an ornament on the dashboard and started laughing. The officer then asks what he was laughing at assuming he was laughing at him. The African American guy then says “people” so the officer assumes he means white people. The officer then tells him angrily to get out of his car. They began to argue back and forth for a minute about not pulling over because the guy didn’t want to get out. The passenger then reaches into his pocket to show the driver something and the officer told him to keep his hands where he can see them. The guy kept moving trying to get something out of his pocket. The driver assumes it’s a gun or a weapon so as he began to pull it out of his pocket the driver shoots him in the chest. The driver leans over to see what is in his hand and it turns out to be the same ornament of Saint Christopher that was on the dashboard. He realizes he has just mistakenly shot and killed someone for assuming the wrong thing. This conflict was handled ineffectively because the police officer stereotyped the African American guy because he assumed he had a weapon and that he would hurt him. The African American guy knew the officer was not confortable so he could have explained what it was that he had in his pocket when the officer asked him to keep his hands visible. If the officer was not so judgmental I think the situation could have been handled differently because he would’ve had the opportunity to talk to the African American guy to get to know him before drawing any conclusions about each other. This film was overwhelming and it opens people’s eye to the issues by showing us that are faced everyday by many Americas. As the film progresses, the incidents that arose from all of the character faces in this film became more understandable about the truth of life between one another.