CRASH

1. The cop (Matt Dillon) from the movie "Crash" demonstrated very different racism than the other cop he was first paired with. When Matt Dillon's character pulled over the African American couple on their way back from a party, Matt Dillon basically only pulled them over because of their color. Then, he looked for reasons to get them in trouble, and he then continued to harass the man's wife. He knew that he was a white man, a cop, and a very recognized cop in his city, so he couldn't get in trouble. He treated the two that he pulled over like they were dirt to him. The other cop who was there during this scene just stood there, amazed. He was witnessing something he had never really seen before and at one point he tried saying something, but then he was shut down. Compared to Matt Dillon, he wasn't racist. He went back to the office asking for a new partner because he couldn't take it to be paired with Matt Dillon's character. However, he wasn't able to switch without having terrible rumors and reasons spread about him. Matt Dillon was not a respectful person. When he was trying to get medication for his father, he took out all of his anger on the women on the line after learning that her name was Shanequa. He judged her by her name and by her race and freaked out at her. The other cop was respectful towards his boss, who was African American, when he asked to change partners. Although the other cop did not agree with his boss who was not letting him trade partners, he didn't insult him and freak out like Matt Dillon's character did when he didn't get his way. This just shows that there can be two people who are the same color, have the same profession, and are both put in similar situations dealing with people from the same background, but they can handle it completely differently just based on their levels on racism.

2. The hispanic lockman was negatively stereotyped in the movie as well. The first instance we witnessed was when Sandra Bullock's character wanted the locks changed once again after the Hispanic man changed them. She thought that he would sell the spare key to his buddies, and when she was expressing how she felt to her husband she was screaming and the man could clearly hear her. She was judging him just because of his ethnicity. She knew nothing about him, yet she still thought that he would want to do her wrong because of the way he looked. Also, when the same guy was changing the lock's in the other man's store, he was negatively influenced again. When the hispanic man explained that he replaced the locks, but the whole door had to be replaced in order for it to work, the owner of the store freaked out at him. He thought that the lock man was trying to ruin his door on purpose and he was trying to cheat him of money. The hispanic lock man was not, however. Just because he was hispanic, two different characters in the movie questioned his abilities and his intentions.

3.In the movie "Crash", the majority of the people were racist in some form. In the beginning of the movie, we met each character and they all had some run-in with racism, whether they were racist, or others were towards them. In my opinion, I think that this movie accurately depicts the racism that takes place in our country today. As humans, we automatically pass judgement about everybody and everything that we see. It is natural for us to form opinions quickly without having previous knowledge about what or who we are judging. In the beginning of the movie, Sandra Bullock's character had her car stolen at gunpoint. You could tell by her facial expressions and actions (like grabbing onto her husband's arm) when she saw the two African Americans that she was already uncomfortable. After the theft of her car, her racism grew dramatically. That night at her house when the Hispanic worker was replacing the locks on her house door, she freaked out that he was replacing them, and she wanted all of the locks replaced again in the morning just because of who was replacing her locks. She thought that he was going to take the spare key and sell it to his friends. These two scenes displayed how racism can grow in a person. Before Sandra Bullock's character had a gun pointed at her and her car stolen, she already displayed signs of racism. Just because she saw two African Americans walking down same side of the road as her, her body expressions showed that she was uncomfortable. The grabbing onto her husband showed that she wanted protection- she didn't feel safe. I feel like this is common for the people in our country today. It is the small, small signs of racism, such as just grabbing onto another person, which show that racism still exists in our country today. After Sandra Bullock's characters run-in with the two robbers, her racism expanded. Since two African Americans did her wrong, her racism expanded to all forms of different ethnicities. The hispanic man who was changing her locks didn't do anything to her, he wasn't going to do anything to her, but she still had a meltdown and severely insulted him while ranting to her husband. I feel like this is how racism grows and doesn't decrease in our country. People hear about something happening to someone, or experience something happening to themselves, and then their views grow and take over all types of ethnicities. I believe that it would be very hard for it to stop, because of who humans are. I think that people judge others based on small things from their clothes, to their skin, by just looking at them. It is just a trait that all humans have. For the racism to end in our country, the people living here would have to realize that we are all the same and equal. I know that sounds cheesy, but if people could just wrap their minds around the fact that it doesn't matter what other people's outside shells look like, then we wouldn't have any more issues. And I think that this concept would be almost impossible to try to explain to the people in our country today because we are all so opinionated. I just wish that our country could understand that bad things can happen to anybody and they can be done by anybody. Just because somebody is from a different background, that doesn't mean that they are out to get you or that they want to do you wrong. I think that the movie "Crash" was accurate when it came to demonstrating racism and why people formed their opinions about other races, but I wish that it wasn't. It is sad that our country is still racist even though most people claim that it is not a racist country.

4. I think that all stereotypes originate from just one incident. There are small stereotypes such as "All blondes are dumb" or "All asians are smart" which are completely false. Nobody can have more intelligence because of their outside appearance. However, I think these stereotypes formed from just one time when somebody said something. One time, some blonde haired person probably said a stupid thing, and then it just stuck. As for me, I remember distinctly in 6th grade when I said a dumb comment without thinking, and then I was labeled as a dumb blonde, which I'm not; I'm smart! There there are the stereotypes like "All middle eastern people are terrorists." This stereotype really bothers me, because I cannot even begin to feel the hurt that those people who are stereotyped feel. When the father and daughter were trying to buy a gun at the gun store in the beginning of the movie, the salesman was being racist towards them. He accused them of being terrorists and he was giving them such a hard time. All stereotypes originate from one problem in the past, and then they stick. It is unfortunate.

5.I don't know if I think it is natural within our genes to be racist, but I do think that is is natural to form judgements very easily. We look, and we decide. I think that since we are naturally judgmental, that leads to racism. Different color skins and facial features cause people to draw judgements, and then they stick. I don't think it is possible though, to be born with a racist gene where we don't like anybody who looks differently than we do.

6.I think that race is learned through school, our family member's opinions, and the way media depicts different races as well. We learn from a young age about the racism that used to take place in our country. We learned about the slaves and the way they were treated. So from a young age, we were educated about it. Then, families all have different views, and they are passed on to the different family members. If there is a racist family member, then those opinions are generally passed on to the other people in that family. I think that the media also greatly influences the public's racist opinions. The media reaches everybody in our society, and so if there are racist messages being broadcast, then everybody hears about it. I believe that racism exists in our country today, and we all hear about it through multiple forms. It is hard to escape.

7.Like I mentioned in question number 3, I think that the only way to end racism would be for every single person in our world to understand that racism is stupid stereotypes based off of our ethnicities. Nothing good comes out of racism, and it needs to end. There is no point to be racist, it isn't helping anything or anybody. The world needs to understand the concept that we are all the same exact human. We all have two eyes one nose on one mouth, they just look different. I think that sadly, the world will never understand this. Therefore, I don't think that racism will ever end. People will always continue to judge what they see.