Diversity in Crash Essay

The movie Crash (2004), directed by Paul Haggis, is full of different racisms, social and multicultural differences. There are seventeen different characters in this movie ranging from different race, gender, social class and ethnicity. These are stereotypes that people face every day of their lives. Crash really shows the assumptions that we make of others and how people of different backgrounds interact with each other. The movie really made me realize how I act in these types of situations. This movie not only shows the multicultural differences in society, but I think places an emphasis on it within the criminal justice system. In one of the first scenes we see a Persian man with his daughter in a gun store trying to purchase a gun. The owner of the store who is a white male has a very negative attitude towards the man and his daughter. His attitude and gestures really show the negative stereotypes towards the Persian race. The store owner made remarks regarding the attacks on 9/ 11. The store owner is associating them with the Arabs that actually attacked the U.S. Anyone from the Middle East seems to fall under the same category for the store owner. There are many stereotypes that have been around for years, no matter how hard we have tried to get rid of them. Sandra Bullock’s character had made the statement, â€Å"If a white woman sees two black men walking towards her and turns the other way, she’s a racist. Well I got scared and didn’t say anything, and the next thing I knew, I had a gun shoved in my head!† This was a turning point for her and her beliefs. Although the men who shoved a gun to her head were black, she started to be racist towards anyone that was not white. A Hispanic male was changing the locks on her house and she automatically started throwing insults at him. Sandra figured that he would make copies of the keys and come back and break into her house. The way Sandra acted; I think is how most people may respond to situations like that. This can be especially true for the police departments. When an officer has a bad experience with another race while on duty, it can affect other situations the officer may come across with the same race. The officer may think that everyone of that race is the same way. I have always believed that racism, social and multicultural differences were a result from how we were brought up. I believed that if your parents were racist, then you too would be racist. At first, Matt Dillon’s character showed the signs of this theory. Dillon showed that he had a very close bond with his father, which I assumed where he learned his behavior from. This would end up being the furthest from the truth. Dillon’s beliefs come from working on the LAPD for many years and the frustration that he would have at his father’s doctor’s office. At the doctor’s office, Dillon believed that the lady was not trying her hardest to help his father, because she was black. Police corruption is not something that the public hears about a lot. Usually, this is something the police departments try to keep out of the media. There was a situation in the movie that really shows the corruption that can happen. Matt Dillon’s and Ryan Phillips characters are partners on the police force. One night on patrol they pulled over an SUV with a black couple inside. Dillon had offered to let them go without a ticket if the woman would perform sexual acts. As Ryan was looking on at the situation he saw that Dillon was groping and touching the woman inappropriately. While Dillon was assaulting the woman all her husband could do was look on. If he had tried to stop it he would have been arrested. I hate to think this happens, but I know that it does. Ryan decided that he no longer wanted to be Dillon’s partner. He went to his boss and tried to give reason as to why he wanted out. Ryan had to cover what Dillon did and come up with a different reason as to why he wanted a new partner. In our book Ethics and Morality in Criminal Justice explains and gives many examples of sexual misconduct. At the bottom of page 188 it talks about how officers would go â€Å"bimbo hunting.† This would include sexual harassment towards women out drinking, prostitutes and homeless women. These types of situations really show the corruption in a police department. Police chiefs do not want to bring negative attention to their force, so they usually end up covering up what is going on. As far as my personal experience, growing up in Arizona I was in contact with many different races and cultural back grounds. I would like to say that I do not judge people and give them a chance. However, this would not be true. I think we really do use previous experiences and judge others from those. If I were a police officer, I think it would be really hard not to carry over my experiences each time I have a run in with a certain race. I do know that if I witnessed police corruption going on that I would bring it to someone’s attention. We arrest those who sexually harass or rape others that are not on the police force. Therefore, I would not let them get away with anything just because they are an officer. Trouble facing stereotypes can happen anywhere. It is not restricted to race and cultural backgrounds. There are stereotypes against age, social class, gender and there are many more. These stereotypes can cause friction within the same ethnic backgrounds. Until our society takes control and changes these, then there will always be prejudice. The movie Crash really makes us take a look ourselves and how we behave and how much we are all alike in reality. There are so many different scenes in that movie, that there is at least one that we can all relate to.