Crash

Posted: November 27th, 2013

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Crash

Introduction

Written by Paul Haggis, Crash is an intricate film that centers on the theme of discrimination as set within the city of Los Angeles. The characters used in the film amplify this theme through various forms of society inequities, with the most prevalent being racial discrimination, as complemented with religious discrimination (Crash, 2005). The period accorded to the film is two days centering on broken relationships, racist and oppressive practices, and the issue of healthy human relationships in the world today and how each interacts with the other for the good or detriment of the society.

Discussion

The main economic concept amplified within the film concerns discrimination in various forms. Inequity in economy is often meted against micro-economic measures like unemployment level, wage level, price levels within the market, level of investments within the economy, among other chief indicators. Discrimination in economics is an important subject based on the generalization of unlimited human wants and needs that have to be fulfilled with the inadequate resources in terms of work force, land, principal investments and entrepreneurship. The concept of inequality is viewed as an inevitable aspect in the real world, with the need for lesser gaps on the outlined factors for a higher communal wellbeing. The higher the inequity gap, the lesser the national welfare on the consumers whereas, the lower the gaps the greater the societal wellbeing.

Racial discrimination is highly evident in Crash. This factor seems to have a significant impact on the employment factor in the film. The whites are accorded the highest social status as evidenced by their work positions. Rick Cabot holds a prestigious position as an attorney and his future aspirations are to become a senator. His latter ambition is clearly noted in the film as he campaigns for his targeted position as directed by his campaign manager, Flanagan. The movie director in the film, employer to Cameron is also white depicting a level of superiority within the film industry (Crash, 2005). The blacks and Hispanics predominantly occupy the middle working level, especially the police body. The lieutenant in the movie, Dixon is black, with the majority of the law enforcers like Graham Waters, Hansen, Ria, and Gomez, with the sole exception of John Ryan, a white. Other middle working positions held by the blacks is acting, Cameron Thayer, and medical practice, Shaniqua Johnson.

The lowest job ranks are shared between the Hispanics, Asians, Iranians and Mexicans. Maria holds a position of a handmaid within the Cabot’s household while the lock changer, Daniel Ruiz is a Hispanic. Criminal activities are linked to the low earners like Anthony and Peter, two unemployed black individuals, Farhad and his Iranian family, Shirin and Dorri, and human traffickers like Choi Jin Gui, an Asian (Crash, 2005). The effects of the employment inequity within the film’s setting are succinctly noted by the residential settings, exploitation and offenses committed in the community majorly due to the income level. Graham’s mother lives in a lowly shack and her apartment is devoid of food supplies while his brother indulges into thieving practices due to lack of employment based on racial terms. The violence exhibited by Anthony and Peter reflects the adverse effects of monetary lack within the black society, which is evidently an underprivileged one in the film.

John Ryan, Rick Cabot and Fred being white individuals placed in leadership positions have oppressive tendencies due to their affluence and therefore monetary power over the other members of the community. Ryan molests Christine and accords verbal abuse to Shaniqua. Cabot’s wife, Jean, mistreats her adult household help, Maria by quarreling her on trivial matters like discarding trash. This is indeed a highly insulting matter yet Maria has to persevere with the situation for the sake of her job (Crash, 2005). The oppressive nature of the economic systems like the capitalist structure is based on the same practices with the resource owners applying them to their monetary advantage. Just like in economic principles, the film proves that power is attributed to the resource owners. Crime is notably higher in poor communities as a means of supplementing the lack of income required to meet the necessitated daily needs.

Religious inequity is addressed in Farhad’s case initially with the shopkeeper refusing to trade a gun with him due to his religious orientation as a Muslim. Additionally, further in the film the audience learns of his working diligence with the shop that is managed by his wife, Shirin. The small business however is limited by its poor locking system and Farhad decides to employ the services of a locksmith to fit proper fasteners. However, after these efforts Farhad’s is discouraged when his business is vandalized and walls are sprayed with hateful graffiti with regard to his religious orientation (Crash, 2005). The initial treatment with the gun purchase is defiantly linked to terrorist activities rampant within the Islamic religion as attributed to the practice of jihad. The inequality is defined by the generalization of the same with innocent individuals affected by stereotyping tendencies.

In the second instance, the effect of such discrimination is noted as Farhad’s livelihood is destroyed leading to his resolution for revenge (Crash, 2005). The situation leads to his near murder situation with the locksmith’s daughter. The economic principle of the game theory bears the same foundation where each move requires retaliation for the sake of survival. Gender issues in the film are accorded equal treatment with women as they are depicted as working and with equal positions as the males. Therefore, the film contains no traces of gender inequity. In conclusion, Crash enhances economic concepts of inequity through racial and religious prejudice.

Works Cited

Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Lion Gate Films, 2005. Film.