Analysis how Whiteness Operates in the Film in Crash - Essay Example

Analysis how whiteness operates in the film in Crash (2004) Whiteness comes out as a symbol of domination in the film Crash (2004). Despite the fact that the film has been creatively structured such that it does not seem to advance racial prejudices held by different races that are portrayed in the film, it is the white race that eventually emerge as the most dominant in achieving the positive and heroic actions (Farris, 2007:346). The racial tension between the white and the rest of the races sets in the scene where Farhad and his daughter Dorris walk into a Whiteman’s shop to purchase a gun. The white man comes out as both domineering and seductive. This is owing to the fact that he did manage to kick Farhad out of his shop without selling him a gun, and even referred to him as ‘Osama’ (Jaafar, 2005:5). Later the man continued to show his fetishism while seducing Farhad’s daughter, who eventually ends up buying the gun, which the white man refused to sell to her father. In this scene, whiteness becomes a symbol of dominion, due to the fact that the white man is observed to be capable of domineering over a Persian/Arabic man, while at the same time being demonstrated as being capable of seducing a woman from the same Persian/Arab race. Masculinity is defined by the ability to dominate in a situation, as well as the ability to seduce the female gender. Thus, whiteness has been represented as a symbol of masculinity under this scene, since the action showing the white man as capable of dominating over both Farhad and her daughter clearly demonstrates the masculinity associated with the whiteness. Further, the domineering representation of whiteness is not only demonstrated by the ability of the white shopkeeper to force Farhad out of his shop and go ahead to seduce Dorris only. The application of psychoanalysis in this scene goes to show that the white shopkeeper has been able to dominate twice over Farhad, since he has managed to force him out of his shop, and in addition, he has managed to toy with the thing most close to Farhad; her daughter, by treating her as a sex object (Ray, 2007:352). In his respect, the white shopkeeper has been able to defeat Farhad twice, by first overpowering him through forcing him out of the shop. The double win that has been attributed to the white shopkeeper over Farhad goes to show how whiteness is attributed to a high level of dominance over the rest of the races in the film in Crash (2004). The dominance of whiteness has been demonstrated in this scene by the fact that the white shopkeeper has been able to achieve both his desires of dominating over Farhad as a man, and then dominating over his daughter and over the psychology of Farhad, which then make Farhad perceive the white shopkeeper not as just domineering, but also as seductive. The other aspect that has made whiteness come out as a symbol of domination in the film Crash (2004) is the fact that the white most of the characters in the film are the ones who have come out of the actions unscathed. However, while the white characters come out of most scenes of the film unscathed, there is no doubt that some of them are not morally upright to the extent of being considered role models, yet they still come out unscathed (Villanueva, 2007:49). While the white characters are not manifested as over-heroic, except for Ryan and perhaps the white shopkeeper, the rest of the white characters are playing the moderate domineering game. Nevertheless, even with the modesty applied with the white characters, they eventually come out of the film as the most unscathed and heroic, owing to the fact that the film normalizes the white characters, but overemphasize and even make their problems seem large and bigger (Seshadri-Crooks, 2000:14). For example, in the scene where Ryan is having a confrontation with Shaniqua, who is a black woman, over her refusal to have Ryan’s father change his doctor, Ryan is projected as racist by hauling some racial insults at Shaniqua, who does not seem to be moved very much by the racial insults (Goyette, 2011:n.p.). However, in the last scene just before the film comes to an end, Shaniqua is involved in another confrontation with another person who had hit her car from behind. In this scene, the racial ranting of Shaniqua and her application of overly racial slurs have been projected in an enlarged proportion, such that she appears to be very racialist, when compared to Ryan who had racially insulted her before (Haggis, 2005:n.p.). Furthermore, Shaniqua’s racial slurs have just been put in the ending scene of the movie, as a way of showing that even the characters who the audience could have thought are not racialists could even be worse. The essence of this film presentation is to magnify the problems, mistakes or the errors done by the other races, while holding those that are done by the white characters in the film at moderation. The overall effect is that the white race eventually comes out as dominating on the side of the positive, while being mildly reflected on the side of the negatives, which are instead attributed to the other races (Dyer, 1997:27). The contrast in the moderation of whiteness as compared to the other races is also a subject of the white shopkeeper and Farhad. When contrasted, the white shop keeper ordered Farhad out of his shop and embarrassed her even more by seducing and toying with her daughter s a sex object. However, the overall effect of this scene is to project the white shopkeeper as dominating and seductive, attributes which are highly and desirably masculine (Ware & Back, 2001:19). On the other hand, Farhad was involved in a confrontation with Daniel regarding the misunderstanding around the changing of locks in his shop, which saw Farhad ambush and shoot at Daniel, but luckily the gun had blank bullets. The application of this contrast is simply meant to show the mistakes done by the white shopkeeper as moderate, normalized and less harmful, compared to the actions of the Persian/Arabic Farhad (Hunter, 2004:56). Through this contrast, whiteness once again comes out as dominating in the positives, while the other race comes out as dominating in the negatives (Back, 1996:47). This makes the overall effect of the presentation of whiteness in the film Crash (2004) to be a presentation of whiteness as a symbol of domination. Further, the normalized and internalized racial ideologies play the role of portraying the minorities in the film Crash (2004) as being inferior. The argument held by Ryan that Shaniqua Johnson is ineffective in her work simply because she is an African-American is one such normalized and internalized ideologies that serves to show the minorities as inferior (Garner, 2010:12). According to Ryan, Shaniqua possibly got her job over the rest of the qualified whites simply because affirmative action was applied to pick her over the rest qualified candidates who must have been whites. Therefore, it is Shaniqua’s race, rather than personal incompetency that Ryan projects as inferior. In addition, Ryan is also involved in the projection of the white race as superior, when he laments that his father’s shop closed possibly due to the affirmative action that was implemented by the city authorities, which denied his father a business opportunity and passed over the same to a minority, through the implementation of affirmative action (Haggis, 2005:n.p.). This too is another normalized and internalized ideology that is advanced by the film in Crash (2004), with the intent of projecting the white race as superior even in business, only that they are denied opportunities by the minority races through the affirmative action. Through such normalized and internalized ideologies, the whiteness in the film comes out as dominating over the other minority races, which are considered to ascend to a better position than the whites in anything, only as a result of affirmative action (Villalba & Redmond, 2008:272). In the presentation of this internalized and normalized ideology, the film simply seeks to show that the white race should remain in the dominating position of power as the deserving lot, without being disrupted by the minorities through their being favored by the affirmative action. Jean, who is also a white woman and the wife of the local district attorney, Rick Cabot, also advances this normalized and internalized ideology that the other minority races are inferior (Hardt, & Negri, 2000:36). Jean is even more infuriated by the fact Daniel Ruiz, a locksmith is the one changing locks in their house than the fact that she and her husband had just been hijacked by two black men. Jean has already internalized the notion that Hispanics are members of gangs, and thus she does not perceive Daniel as a hardworking family man. Instead, Jean holds that Daniel is even more a risk while changing their locks at home, since he will give copies of keys to "his other gang members” (Ross, Kumagai, Joiner & Lypson, 2011:188). This scene is also applied to project the white as superior over the minority races, owing to the fact that the whites hold that the jobs and occupations held by the whites are genuine, while the ones held by the minority races are merely a cover-up for something sinister. In this respect, the film in Crash (2004) has once applied whiteness as a symbol of domination, since even in occupations, the internalized and normalized ideology is that the whites are genuine professions in their fields, while the minority race are not in any genuine profession, without being attached to something that is ether illegal or at least disruptive of the normal life of the society (West-Leuer, 2009:1157). The minority races are also projected inferior to the whites, since they do not seem to get it right in their evaluations. Detective Graham Waters, who is a black police officer is having an affair with his colleague, Ria, who is a Latina, but has never been able to get it right regarding which country Ria is from (McCosker, , 2005:33). On the other hand, Farhad entered into a confrontation with Daniel Ruiz, the locksmith, out of a misunderstanding that entailed a language misconception, and which grew into a potentially fatal shooting incidence. The minorities are at all times involved in either misunderstanding or misinterpreting others, while the whites are rarely portrayed in the film under any misunderstanding or misinterpreting situations. Additionally, English language, which is the mother-tongue of the whites, is the dominant language applied by the minority characters in arriving at the misunderstandings and the misconceptions that they develop. This is a simple representation of the whiteness and the language of whiteness as superior, such that the minorities who belong to the other different races are not able to apply it appropriately. Additionally, the minorities do not actually ever seem to get it right, owing to the fact that even in the shootout that involved two undercover officers, it is the black undercover officer who was shot and killed by the white undercover officer. In fact, the white undercover officer had shot and killed three black men in separate incidences prior to this one. In the car hijacking incidences, it is the blacks, peter and Anthony who are involved in carjacking and the subsequent apprehension by the police. The minorities are at all times never get to do anything right, while the white characters are rarely mess up (Beltran, 2004:63). This has got to show that the film in Crash (2004), has served the purpose of projecting the white race as superior, whether in language use, effectiveness and proficiency in their duties or the ability to apprehend or track down the wrong doers. Shaniqua was also judged to be failing in her health duties, since she could not change Ryan’s father to a different doctor. The minority races have been mostly involved in the failure to get things right, while the whites are rarely missing on the opportunity to impress in their respective areas. The status contrast between the white characters and the characters from the other races is yet another aspect that has been applied in the film Crash (2004), to project whiteness as superior and dominating over the other races. The Cabot family is a white family with Rick Cabot being the district attorney who is able to pamper his wife and give her a good and enviable life (Ebert, 2006:B1). In fact, the film Crash (2004) presents Jean Cabot as a privileged white woman who does not need to work in order to have a good and enviable life. For this reason, she can manage to hold and voice her racial stereotypes regarding others, such as referring Daniel Ruiz as a member of a gag. The other whites in the film include the white shopkeeper who owns a gun shop, and Ryan, who is an LADP officer. All of these white characters have not been projected as economically struggling or belonging to a lower social status within the society, considering that most of them are well-off and in certain positions of authority. This is in sharp contrast with the rest of the characters from the different races, who are projected as either struggling economically or belonging to a lower social status. Farhad is a Persian/Arabic who is struggling with his shop, while Daniel Ruiz is a Hispanic who earns a living through fixing locks, while Peter and Anthony are blacks who hijack and steal cars. The overall presentation of the white characters as well-off and holding respective positions of authority, while projecting the characters from the other races as members of the lower class of the society that keeps struggling in order to earn a living, is meant to make the white races distinct from the rest of the minority races (Beltran, 2004:56). The nature of the distinction is to make whiteness appear superior and domineering over the other minority races, which in overall serves to make the film Crash (2004), a presentation of whiteness as a symbol of domination. Finally, whiteness has been projected as superior and dominating in the film in Crash (2004), through the heroic actions of Ryan, the white police officer who saved Christine from a car crash that would have ended her life. Ryan had a prior interaction with Christine and her husband, Cameron Thayer, which did not go well with Christine. Ryan did not only mishandle Christine’s husband in this first incidence, but also undertook a body search on Christine, which amounted to sexual assault, thus embarrassing Christine in front of her husband. Nevertheless, in the second incidence, Ryan was to save Christine from an imminent dangerous scenario that did not only endanger his life, but also terrified his other police partners. On recognizing that Ryan was the same officer who had sexually molested her and mishandled her husband, Christine had resisted the assistance from Ryan, but Ryan went ahead and saved her anyway, causing Christine to turn around and get romantically attached to Ryan (Villalba & Redmond, 2008:267). While this scene is the hallmark of the film Crash (2004), Ryan’s mishandling and molestation of the black woman and her husband has been quickly covered up by his heroic action of saving her life from an imminent danger. In giving Ryan this heroic character, the film Crash (2004) seeks to project whiteness as a symbol of heroism and domination. The superiority of the whiteness is not only projected through the heroic actions of Ryan, but also through the fact that Christine would easily turn around from resisting and detesting into actually falling for her and getting romantically attached to her. This seeks to make Ryan’s immoral and ruthless character more excusable than the other negative characters in the film (Sicinski, 2005:52). Other minority characters, for example Peter who is a carjacker, ends up dying out of a mere misunderstanding that arose out of his interaction with Hansen, thus he was punished by the film through undeserved death. Despite the fact that Ryan had insulted Shaniqua, molested Christine sexually and harassed and mishandle Christine’s husband, his one heroic character in the film has been made to portray all the other wrongs as more forgivable, in light of the heroism the demonstrated by whiteness (Giroux, 1997:377). It is this leniency that is applied with the white characters in the film that seeks to project whiteness in the film Crash (2004) as more appealing compared to other racial orientations. References Back, L. (1996) New Ethnicities and Urban Culture. London: UCL Press Beltran, M. 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