Movie Crash - Essay Example

Worry not friends, about the ways of the world. If there is no perfect discipline, carry on with the available discipline; if there is no perfect understanding, carry on with the available understanding; if there is no perfect happiness, carry on with the available happiness. Even a child wants to speak to establish contact with the world outside. In the early months of its existence, when it has not yet learned the art of speaking, it wants the parents to listen to it and understand the implications of its movements. It wants to be loved and accepted. It cries, and when you pay attention and take it in your arms, it laughs, and that laughter proclaims the happiness and victory of its existence. The greatest bane of materialistic civilization is that man has begun to neglect man. He has created a cocoon around himself and is not willing to free himself from the limitations that bind him. Aggrandizement for wealth is not just one of the views of his life, but the sole way of life. The plight of humankind in metropolitan cities is still worst. People rush around in a great hurry, seeming as if they are directionless and destinationless. In the movie Crash, Graham is credited with this meaningful dialogue: “It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.” Even though the wordings are secular, this observation has latent, profound spiritual meaning.

The color of the skin has taken precedence over the existence of the human soul. A human being is judged or discriminated against on the basis of his race, ethnicity, language, etc. A human being is identified, accepted, or rejected on the basis of his roots. There are Arabs, Persians, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and Africans but where is the real American?—the real human being?  He is subject to various restrictive qualifications and therefore he feels his freedom curtailed, and his breath suffocated. He is not willing to trust the other; he is not willing to interact with the other. The thinking is restricted and not free. A politician calculates about winning the black vote or white vote, but not the real vote! One thinks about tossing the coin, and not winning the toss! If you win the toss, you speak about the merits of winning the toss. If you lose, you convince your followers that their genuine interest is served by your losing the toss. The rules of fairness of the game are cleverly swept under the carpet.

People try to outsmart each other. The movie begins with the theme stated in the first paragraph of this paper. People have lost the charm ingrained in interaction and are not willing to trust each other.  When rules and merits of social interaction are ignored, the result is a crash! People may be attached to any profession-- they have some private suffering in addition to their public responsibilities. This movie has a number of such characters. The Attorney General of Los Angeles married to a rich bitch, who faces a crisis when the car is stolen, a cop who is covering his sorrows behind the mask of racism; he helps his father living with him who suffers from a urinary tract infection, a detached police detective who serves his dependent mother well, how money alone is not enough to get prestige in the society, skin color intervenes as the obstacle--- the movie depicts several such roadblocks that hinder the growth of the free spirit of an individual.

This movie truly represents the multi-cultures of America. This is a good indicator, but the assimilation process to harmoniously blend the various sections of society is a herculean task. On paper and with enacting rules and regulations America has succeeded. But the ground realities are different. Prejudice amongst the various sections of society is alive and kicking! Every individual has some prejudice, there are many such characters in the movie, through which the story navigates. The movie doesn’t end on an inspiring note; it provides the true picture of society. It has some imaginative episodes and interesting dialogues like an exciting encounter between Dillon and Newton at the site of a car crash.

Money alone will not bring happiness; the absence of money will not either! But money with healthy interaction with people, irrespective of their social status is the ultimate option to achieve happiness in life. The movie ‘Crash’ successfully ‘cash’ upon the gullibility of the individual, some intended, some unintended, and some inevitable! Several stories have been interlocked in one silken thread, to reach your soul!  Important current social problems have been discussed. The parts of the story may not inspire and may have some negative connotations. But the total effect of the movie results in the crash at the portal of one’s inner world, which pricks the conscience and sets one thinking!—what’s happening with society and why it is happening? In which direction we are moving? It is not the intention of the producers of the movie to tender tangible answers or to preach morality, but to state the facts as they are!