Write a brief plot overview :
At the beginning of the novel, it shows us a scene of a murder or accident investigation. after this is going back to a few days beforehand where it shows us the racist environment that all these characters lived in. A racist white cop pulls over a car in which belongs to two black people, a man and his wife, and then the cop takes advantage of the black woman right in front of her husband in which a director for a film. this woman then believes that her husband does not support their black background enough to defend her in which leads her to be angry. After this racist white cop harasses this woman, the cop’s partner disagrees with what the racist cop did and refuses to work with him. Racist views occur throughout the whole film as Farhad’s shop was robbed straight after a black man in which had a beautiful family to go home to fix his locks but lets him know that he needs a new door. this lead Farhad to think this man robbed his shop so goes to this black man, daniel, a house with his gun. Luckily dorri had bought blank bullets by mistake in which saved lara as she jumped onto daniel.
Discuss a character that was of interest to you and explain why:
Daniel took my interest as he was a polite black man that just wanted to take care of his family at home but was interrupted by a white man accusing him of something he didn’t do. daniel fixes Farhard’s lock even though Farhad continues to make racist comments about him, but he continues to do his job so he can provide for his family at home. you can tell that Daniel wants to keep his kid safe as he gives his daughter, Lara, a magical cloak which is impenetrable. Lara takes this quite literally as when Farhad comes to shoot Daniel she jumps on her father to protect him. it is obvious that Daniel is one of the good characters in the novel as he continues to put up with racist comments just so he can provide and protect his family.
What do you believe the director’s intention was to explore this and the moments that allowed you to experience this.
I believe that the director’s intention of this film was to show the audience the stereotypes that were obvious at the time but also that looks are deceiving as a lot of characters look bad but weren’t as they seemed. This was shown in many scenes one being Daniel fixing Farhads locks as Farhad made many racist comments and said that black men were not to be trusted but really Daniel just wanted to help all along and provide for his family at home. Another character that took a turn in the film was Officer John Ryan as at the start of the film he harassed a black woman, Christine, right in front of her husband in which made him look like a racist prick. As the film went on Christine got into a bad car crash in which the same officer helped save her and put his own life at danger.
How did haggis use stereotypes to manipulate viewers?
Throughout the film, Haggis manipulates us with many stereotypes the main one being the colour of their skin. If they were black the white characters in the novel immediately thought that they couldn’t be trusted and were bad. This is shown at the very beginning of the film when Jean and her husband are walking back to their car and she sees two black men, which in the end carjacked them. Jean states ” I just had a gun pointed in my face! And it was my fault because I knew it was going to happen. But if a white person sees two black men walking g towards her and she turns and walks in the other direction, she is racist, right?”. As Jean expresses her frustration to her husband she explains that even if black men are criminals it’s racist to try to avoid them but she knew that they were bad news based on the way they looked. Shaved head, pants around his ass, and prison tattoos gave her the instinct that they were bad. Jean, a wealthy white woman expressed both racial and class stereotypes. This is because it’s hard to tell who is good and bad in black people, but isn’t it the same with white people? How do we know if they are going to be good or bad?
Research the setting of LA, why do you think it was set here? How did it influence plot/interactions?
As paul haggis had his own experiences while he lived in LA for over 25 years when thinking about his film. He has carjacked himself as one night he was coming out of a video store in his own neighbourhood and was carjacked at gunpoint. that even, which he explained as a collision of two worlds that normally don’t intersect, forced him out of his complacency. Haggis started considering the lives of his attackers and became acutely aware of his own urban isolation. Pua Haggis mentioned, ” After 9/11, the subject seemed, to me, to become even more urgent, and I felt compelled to start writing what would eventually become Crash”. The carjacking in the film was an influence of his own experienced of being carjacked and was relevant to LA society and the intersection of the two races.
LA facts: 3.99 million population
Cinematography techniques, how did it drive haggis intentions and viewers realisation
In the important scene of Officer John Ryan saving Christine from the significant car crash, it shows a shot framed by the broken car window. The audience is drawn into the drama inside the car, cutting to close up shots of Officer John Ryan trying to help Christine who is stuck inside the car. It also shows shots of the action going on outside of the car through the broken glass of the rear window. These camera shots showed the audience the severity of the car crash and the struggle and danger that the officer put himself in to save the woman that he had recently molested the night before.