Crash

Hey guys, sorry I haven't written in forever. I have had a lot to do and I have been experiencing a lot of writers block lately as well. Anyways, I watched Crash for the first time last night. Like everyone told me, it was a great movie. It is fully deserving of it's 30 awards including Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Editing, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly of the Screen. For those who haven't seen it, it a movie about the lives of about 6 different people/couples and how there seemingly unrelated lives are so intricately intertwined. I really like one of the taglines which says, "Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other." This perfectly describes why the world can seem so big and yet people can never run away from their past of problems. We are bound to collide. The movie shows the need all humans have to contact with others. No one wants to be alone, everyone wants to be touched. Don Cheadle says it best in the first line of the movie, "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." This movies exposes humanities reliance on others. No one on earth can live life on their own. Many people may say that all we need is God, which is true, but God gave us others for a reason. If we were meant to be alone, God would have only put one of us here.

Another big theme in the movie is racism. Almost everyone in this movie is biased racially at one point or another. I think it is important that everyone is portrayed as biased at some point (I say biased, because I think racist is such a strong term). It is human nature to make judgement about other people who are different. Race is the most obvious of human differences. We all make judgments or assumptions about other people at one point or another. It doesn't mean you are a racist, it just means you are human. The whole point is to not let those difference or assumptions control our actions or lives. I think this idea of everyone being biased is best shown when Anthony (Ludacris) is talking about people being racist when he leaves a restaurant. In his dialogue with his friend, he shows his own racism and biased towards white people, and later East Asian people.

It was interesting how the movie also used tragedy or traumatic events to truly wake people up to true life. Every character has either had their life threatened, a family member die, or their life as they know it destroyed. Through these events the characters find out what it truly means to live. Life means more than just accumulation wealth. This is best shown through the life of Daniel. Daniel is a static character that most people can easily relate to. He is a locksmith that comes in contact with a couple of the other characters. It is understood from dialogue that he was from a dangerous part of L.A., and is now living in a different neighborhood that is safer for his family. I enjoyed his character because it was clear he has worked hard to get where he is and he truly loves his family. He showed that life is about family and enjoying life.

This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I felt as though it was a real life portrayal of what life is like for some people in L.A. It opened up my eyes to the fact that racism is not always as we see it. In the times we think we are being discriminated against, we may be doing it to others as well. I also liked how the movie showed that L.A. is so big, but it is smaller and more intertwined that most realize. Well, let me know what you thought of the movie. Please comment!