Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - Do People Really watch The Academy Awards

djnemo65 · 02-26-2007, 08:26 PM

Haha, let me be clear. I didnt like Crash.

The problem I had with it was this: it perpetuates the racial stereotypes it is purporting to deconstruct by featuring characters who embody these stereotypes. The black gangster, the middle eastern shop owner, the racist cop, etc. Identity is multifaceted and complex, and I don't think the film's wriring is able to adequately demonstrate that. At the end of the movie, the characters still harbor their prejudices about each other, have not grown, and have learned nothing new; but more importantly, the audience has learned nothing new about their respective ethnic groups, other than that their preconceived prejudices were in fact correct.

Crash on the other hand is a film that features characters which, although from disparate ethnic and economic backgrounds, are complex and 3-dimensional. Even though these characters appear to embody the same type of stereotypes as Crash's characters - the Japanese schoolgirl, the immigrant maid, the arab peasant farmer, and the loud, culturally insensitive American tourist - all the characters, and particularily the female characters, are so compelling because of the ways in which they individuate from such cultural stereotypes. They are flawed, and sympathetic, and ultimately moving in a way that Crash's are not.

02-26-2007, 08:26 PM	#18
djnemo65 Playmaker Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 2,836	Re: Do People Really watch The Academy Awards Haha, let me be clear. I didnt like Crash. The problem I had with it was this: it perpetuates the racial stereotypes it is purporting to deconstruct by featuring characters who embody these stereotypes. The black gangster, the middle eastern shop owner, the racist cop, etc. Identity is multifaceted and complex, and I don't think the film's wriring is able to adequately demonstrate that. At the end of the movie, the characters still harbor their prejudices about each other, have not grown, and have learned nothing new; but more importantly, the audience has learned nothing new about their respective ethnic groups, other than that their preconceived prejudices were in fact correct. Crash on the other hand is a film that features characters which, although from disparate ethnic and economic backgrounds, are complex and 3-dimensional. Even though these characters appear to embody the same type of stereotypes as Crash's characters - the Japanese schoolgirl, the immigrant maid, the arab peasant farmer, and the loud, culturally insensitive American tourist - all the characters, and particularily the female characters, are so compelling because of the ways in which they individuate from such cultural stereotypes. They are flawed, and sympathetic, and ultimately moving in a way that Crash's are not.