Plot Intro
Several inter-linked stories study overt racism in modern-day Los Angeles. A wealthy white couple (Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock) have their car stolen at gun point by two black men (Ludacris and Larenz Tate). A Persian man (Shaun Toub) has his shop broken into and he blames the Mexican man (Michael Pena) who changed his door lock. A wealthy black couple (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) are victims of unnecessary brutality from two white police officers (Matt Dillon and Ryan Phillippe) when they are pulled over. And a black police detective (Don Cheadle) faces racism amongst the authorities whilst investigating a case.
We’ve come across films tackling racism a few times on this Oscar project. Gentleman’s Agreement, West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night and Driving Miss Daisy are some of the most notable. What connects them is the way in which the theme of racism was interweaved with their storylines to create something that, believably, could have happened in the periods they are set. Crash, on the other hand, dispenses with all subtlety, surprise and sensitivity. It’s not so much a commentary on racism but rather a full-blown, fully-armoured, full-frontal attack on racism.
The fundamental message of Crash is that pretty much all characters, regardless of their race, are guilty of racism in some way, shape or form. The first scene portrays the initial “crash”, during which an Asian woman and a Salvadoran square off about which race is the worst driver and the entire 100 minutes pretty much carries on as it began. The “crash” of the title refers to a couple of literal car crashes that occur in the plot (and inevitably lead to two characters of different ethnic origins throwing horrendous insults at each other), but also the symbolic way in which we, as humans, are like particles floating around and crashing into each other every now and then. Don Cheadle waxes lyrical about this and the film emphasises that it is a shame these crashes culminate in anger rather than love. The only literal “crash” that does end in the latter is when Matt Dillon saves Thandie Newton, whom he disgracefully molested earlier in the film, from a burning car wreck.
The enjoyable aspects of the film (and yes, there are a few) are the ways in which the characters interrelate. The film works full circle with Don Cheadle discovering a dead body on the side of the road and the plot explaining who this body is and how they are connected to Cheadle; minor characters pop up with unexpected connections to major ones; and unlikeable characters gain emotional life lessons from the most unexpected of places.
But none of this can really detract from the fact that Crash is about as profound about racism as Kim Kardashian would be about the evils of vanity. Characters behave and interact in ways that are so extreme and sudden that it is hard to believe it. Ludacris and Larenz Tate rant incessantly about how they are treated like second-class citizens because they are black, then almost immediately afterwards, draw guns to rob Sandra Bullock. Characters in conflict go right in with the race card, yelling things like “You Mexicans can’t fucking drive!” or likening a Persian family to Osama Bin Laden without any preamble. One character even moans about black people to Don Cheadle then scoffs and says “Black people, eh?”- to a black man!
I know that racism takes extreme and undisguised forms such as these. But they are shoehorned in with almost no effort from the script writer whatsoever. There’s also no exploration of the more underhanded, insidious forms of racism that have come to light. Critics went to town on the producers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for choosing a black actress to play Hermione (even though Hermione’s race is never mentioned in the books); Meghan Markle gets significantly more scrutiny than her white sister-in-law, Kate Middleton; and in which year was the first film featuring an a majority Asian cast released by a major Hollywood studio? It was 2018. All of this proves that though we may have shouted about equal rights in the '60s, and though the law may have changed in most of the Western world, there are still huge steps to take in order to combat institutionalised racism. And for all its moralising and liberal use of racial jibes, Crash, quite frankly, has not aided this cause in the slightest, while its opponent, Brokeback Mountain, remains a cornerstone in LGBT culture.
Highlight
The scene in which Matt Dillon saves Thandie Newton from the burning car is pretty beautifully shot. The film seems to have been built around it, so its a shame it happens halfway through and the plot has to continue limping along.
Lowlight
The characters portrayed by Ludacris and Larenz Tate are by far the worst thought-out. They are disgruntled about being black in a white-dominated world and they are also criminals. But no exploration is put into why they have turned to crime, or what they think needs to change to aid the world. They have no voice in a film that should really have been about their victimisation.
Mark
2/10
‘I want to examine it. But I know it has no content’ - Oscar, ‘The Office’ (US)
In 2018, the surprise winner of ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars was Green Book, a film whose unsubtle attempts to argue racism was a nasty factor of eras gone by rankled heartily with me. ‘Look’, the film seemed to say, ‘wasn’t racism just the worst? Aren’t we glad it’s sorted now?’
It was a pretty shameful win, especially with the whiteness of the writers and directors. And many discussed how quiet about the whole thing Mahershala Ali was about the film when collecting his Best Supporting Actor win. Even he, people thought, thinks this is a pretty disgraceful film.
But this is the problem with Hollywood. The writers and directors given the chance to create are mostly white, and if they decide to write about the subtleties of racism, no one seems to think of stopping them. It’s the same with Crash, where a white man wrote, directed and produced a film about how Racism Is Bad, and instead of being called out for a ham-fisted and obvious critique, he got showered in awards.
The film is dire, and I’m not going to go into it, only to say Paul is entirely right. One can almost imagine writer, director and producer Paul Haggis enthusing about the scene where a white man says to a black man ‘black people, eh?’ Oh my, Haggis might have said at a dinner party, it’s a really interesting scene I’ve written and really addresses the subtleties of racism.
Well it doesn’t. The most interesting film I’ve seen the Academy even nod at recently on the topic of racism was ‘Blackkklansman’ which was - guess what? - Directed By A Black Man. Imagine that? That the subtleties and intricacies of a highly complex and unsolved matter might best be spoken about by someone who has lived that life? Spike Lee’s take on racism is not the pat, easy one that Haggis or Green Book’s Peter Farrelly harp on about. It’s messy and it’s unfinished - something which these writers seem afraid of admitting.
Anyway, I’ve had enough of talking about this piece of tripe, only to say Sandra Bullock - you were better than this. You are. Television is putting far more effort into diversity and it’s showing up Hollywood massively - in 2005 and in 2018. To quote Hannah Gadsby: pull your fucking socks up.
Highlight
No.
Lowlight
This film.
Mark
0/10
0/10
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