The Role of Cultural Differences in The Crash - Movie Review Example

Unit: Cultural conflicts Many of the current conflicts being experienced in the world are as a result of stereotypes associated with cultural differences. Taking the case of United States of America, the country seems unified from the international point of view. United States of America has become a dream destination among citizens of both developing and third world countries. Almost everyone, who has not been to the US, wishes to go there. Something that many people from other parts of the world do not seem to understand is the fact that US is made up of people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Although most of the US citizens are whites, there are other races present (Emily, 10-11). We have got the whites, blacks, American/Eskimos, Asia/Pacific and other races being represented by small percentages. The great nation of United States of America experiences is discouraging distrusts among her citizens, basing on their color and race. Right from the previous regimes, the American society applied suppression measures against certain races. The suppression of people basing on their race was, as a result, cultural differences. The whites considered themselves more civilized and superior than other races (Said, 3). The feeling of superiority played a major role in spearheading stereotyping by one dominant race against other races (Little, 1). The movie “Crash” brings out astonishing facts about the American society as one dominated by negative stereotypes leading to cultural conflicts. The Movie “Crash” portrays a community of people from different cultural backgrounds. Although there is an effort among the people to try and coexist, differences are witnessed once they start seeing each other from a cultural point of view. The community portrayed in the movie portrayed clinging on skin color, race, and other stereotypes to create racial tensions amongst themselves. The effort among the people to coexist is observed in the movie, but conflicts come in whenever racial concepts are invoked. Outbursts are witnessed among people of different cultures. There are also various cases of physical and emotional abuse as well as hate. The negative feelings that people have towards one another in the movie justifies differences and conflicts that can arise among people of different cultural practices. Viewers are able to deduce the difficulties experienced in an environment where inhabitants believe and practice different cultures. The movie uses symbolism to depict hatred and negative stereotypes existing in the American society. The American people have failed to embrace cultural diversification and instead are actively involved in racial segregation. The American people are constantly discriminating against racial and ethnic lines. For instance, the American store owner refused to sale the firearm to the Persian man, on the ground that he is not an American. The Persian man is seen as an Arab, despite his effort aimed at convincing the store owner that he is an American too. The store owner displayed negative stereotype attached to cultural background. The westerners have a perception that Arabs are dangerous; likewise the store owner perceived the Persian man as being dangerous. Taking a look at the article by Douglas Little about American Orientalism, everyone from the middle East is described as being backward, untrustworthy and decadent (Little, 1). Similar scenario is witnessed in the movies during the interaction between the storeowner and the Persian man. The Persian man is portrayed as someone who cannot be trusted with a gun, although he tries to prove that he deserves to own since he is an American. The cause of mistrust between the characters is as a result of conflicting believes that the whites have regarding certain cultures. Critical analysis of the movie shows that the Americans are displaying ignorance with regard cultural meaning. One should base his or her judgment on the skin color of a person. The character of a person has no connection with the skin color. The race and culture of a person also have no connection with one’s behavior. The American society needs to embrace cultural diversity as a nation. There is a need for citizens to realize that they belong to the same nation and should work towards unification of the American people. The country need to be united in order to foster developments in the same direction and to enjoy fruits of their freedom together, as the American forefathers had wished. The movie portrays all characters as either victim of racism or as being guilty of the vice. The center of the conflict among the people emanates from the fact that they believe and practice different cultures. Since most of the people in the America believe in their cultural background, the society is constantly experiencing cultural conflicts. The cultural crash captured in the movie clearly depicts the current situation existing among the American people. Each group in the America is united by its cultural practices. There is no single group that can be held responsible for cultural conflicts. However, the movie has displayed unequal distribution of power among the characters. The majority group of the population is the one receiving more privileges as well as power. Unfair distribution of power and privileges is a true representation of the present American society. Although the white people were the majority among the American population, the trend of the population’s birthrate reveals decreasing figures among them (Emily, 10-11). The birthrate of other races is increasing while that of the whites is decreasing. The other reason leading to increasing in the number of other races in the American is the immigration policy. Being the dreamland of many people from both developing and third world countries, many people are migration to America in search of better jobs and good life. The current shift in population has resulted to a shift in policy application. Many campaigns have been witnessed in the America agitating for fairness and equality. Allocation of positions is now being done fairly among all races. Fair and just distribution of job positions and other privileges has been embraced by the American society as a way of appeasing minority communities. Similar scenarios are witnessed in the movie. The District attorney awarded a black person with a job position. The action of awarding a black person with the job position was as a result of other two black men stealing the vehicle of the Attorney. The move was to appease black men and convince them to feel recognized and valued. There is a lot of tension and misunderstanding among the American people. The tension and mistrusts has a close link to different cultural practices embraced by different ethnic groups. In the movie “Crash”, a white mother is seen making requests for her locks to be changed. The reason prompting the change of locks is that the Hispanic locksmith was in the process of changing Cabot’s house lock. The husband to the white mother, Jean, is forced to change the locks due to the wife’s mistrusts towards their neighbors. She even exclaims that she would wake the following morning with a gun pointing in her face. The increased mistrusts among the people are a true prove of the cultural differences being experienced in the American society. The hatred existing among the American people was behind false accusations being raised against the locksmith. The cultural conflicts existing among the American people have been one of the reasons towards cold reception that immigrants receive upon their arrival. Many American newcomers are mostly received with hatred by the natives. Despite immigrants running away from hardships in their home country, they meet racial hatred and misunderstanding in America. The American people are constantly opposing cultural diversity. The American people do not see each other as equal citizens; instead they view themselves along cultural lines. Cultural divisions among the people are a major stumbling block towards the spirit of nationalism. Instead of the people seeing each other as equal, every group regards itself as Hispanic, blacks, Asians and whites (Emily, 10-11). There is no understanding between people of different races and cultures. Various characters in the movie “crash” have been constantly displaying cultural hatred and misunderstanding. For instance, a white police officer pulled over American Couple of African background with no good reason. The officer then proceeded to molest the wife while her husband observed. The husband was powerless due to the negative stereotypes against minority groups. The white police officer is a representation of white dominance in terms of authority. He also represents challenges that minority group go through as a result of their cultural background. There is a strong resistance against different races coexisting. The difficulties against different races coexisting peacefully have been the contributing factors towards racial mistrusts and hatred. The end effect of cultural mistrusts and hatred are the main reason as to why the present American society is divided. The American society is witnessing increased victimizations of minority races, despite increased immigration. Cultural clashing has been on the rise among the American people. For instance, the Latino people are mostly portrayed as violent and gangbanging group. The publicity that Latinos receive in the media usually portrays them in a negative way. The negative perception and publicity against Latino is well captured in the Movie Crash. Latinos locksmith cannot be trusted with a key. The white mother thinks that he can go ahead and give it to “homies”, who might rob them at night. Latinos are mainly discriminated against in America because of various stereotypes (Flores et al., 265). Looking at the article written by Flores et al., (265), American Latinos are being discriminated because of their psychological distress, depression and poorer physical health (Flores et al., 265). The mistrusts and misperception of American Latinos and other races have resulted into false cultural persecutions. There has been a false perception that all immigrants go to America to beg for help and good morals. One wonders the high level of cultural mistrusts and hatred can be regarded as good morals. According to the article by Said about Orientalism, the white people are superior naturally and are the ones to raise the living standards, as well as morals of the other races. Said believes that white people have a responsibility to rule over the other races. In conclusion, the movie “Crash” revealed cultural conflicts existing among the American people. There is a lot of hatreds, and discrimination among the people associated with cultural believes and practices. The white people believe to be more superior against other races. According to the article written by Said, the white people believe that it’s their responsibility to rule over other races. Also, people of Asian origin, as well as American Latino descendants, are perceived to be violent and untrustworthy. The mistrusts and false perception that the whites have towards other races has a major reason towards widespread and existence of disunity among the people. There is a need for the white people to realize all races are equal and need to coexist so as to enjoy freedom and privileges as citizens of the same nation. In order to attain unification, peaceful and prosperous nation, the American people should treat each other in a just manner. Works cited Freidman, Emily. “America’s Growing Diversity”. The Healthcare Forum Journal (1992). 1, 35, 10. Web. Flores, Elena et al. “Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination, Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, And Health Risk Behaviors Among Mexican American Adolescents. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 2010. Vol. 57: n. 3. Pg. 264-273. Little, Douglas. American Orientalism: the United States and the Middle East since 1945. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2008. Said, Edward W. "An Introduction to Edward Said’s Orientalism." Vintage, 23 Oct. 2013. 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