Your task is to answer the following questions, with evidence from the text

1. Write a brief plot overview
The film ‘Crash’ set in LA, shows elements of racism within different peoples lives. It begins at a crime scene where a black detective is investigating the incident of what seems to be a homicide. The film then goes back in time and is now ‘yesterday’. There are multiple characters with their own stories during the movie all of which show their own take on racism. Jean and her husband experience getting robbed by 2 coloured men at the beginning of the movie, Jean then is upset because she ‘knows’ that she should have walked away from 2 black people. She then goes to prejudge the man who is changing her locks as he’s Latino and has tattoos. This man, however, is the father of a child and lives a very ‘innocent’ life. Dorri and her father get treated appallingly in a gun shop due to their race and end up buying blank bullets instead of normal ones.

2. Discuss a character that was of interest to you and explain why
I took interest in Officer Hanson as no matter how hard he tried he was drawn back into the immediate racial judgements towards coloured people. During the film, he is portrayed as a young white male who is trying to treat those around him ‘fairly’ and with equal respect. He is mortified when he witnesses his partner physically touch and abuse a woman in front of her own husband. He attempts to show his good character and morals towards the ‘groups’ within his society which I found on his part was decent as he was living in a very racist city. What interested me the most with Officer Hanson was that although he tried and wanted to be fair towards all races his immediate instinct when put under pressure is to think the worst of them.

3. What do you believe the director’s intention was-explore this and the moments that allowed you to experience this
I think that Haggis’ intention was to show that even when you try to move away from those racial beliefs and try to treat everyone with equal respect there is always going to be an under-lying judgement within peoples minds whether they want it to be there or not. It shows how much society influences people.

4. How did Haggis use stereotypes to manipulate viewers?
He made the people who were getting targetted seem ‘extra’ innocent to give us the impression that nobody should be racially discriminated.

5. Discuss and research the setting of L.A. Why do you think it was set here and how did it influence the plot/interactions.
Post 911
Very racist

6. Was there any cinematography techniques that stood out to you? Choose one and discuss its effect (presenting directors intention, causing a viewer realisation)
The scene where the locksmith’s daughter supposedly gets shot used a lot of cinematography techniques to make the scene more intense for the audience. There was a mixture of slow-motion shots which made the scene last a lot longer so the audience could see exactly what was happening. The diabetic sound in this scene was a muted and non-diagetic sound was added. There was intense music that went with the slow-mo and made the scene more emotional.