The Movie Crash

Martin Luther King stated "Yes, I am intouchable, and every Negro in the United States of America is an intouchable" (The African American Dream). Americans live their lives afraid to touch one another due to their differences in beliefs, backgrounds and ethnicities. Each person lives in a dream which separates them from reality and from the truth. Because they are afraid to have contact with others unlike themselves, they rely on stereotypes to determine people's identity which causes their perceptions of the world to be distorted. They are resistant to leave their comfort zone and they fail to attempt to understand the people around them. They are sleepers in their own dreams afraid to awaken to reality. Their only opportunity to understand one another is by unintentionally crashing into one another.

However, when they crash, their emotions are driven by fear which prevents them from awakening from their reality. Dreams are often deferred due to fear. Fear of the unknown and facing reality. Each character in the film, Crash has a fear of other people unlike themselves. They find it difficult to leave their border space and enter the comfort zone of others. There is a blind fear which prevents them from breaking the boundaries which separates them from the people surrounding them. They use stereotypes as way to judge others and keep people at a distance in order to avoid interaction. Their form of resistance focuses on identifying the differences between themselves and failing to recognize the similarities. As sleepers in their own reality, people tend to judge people by stereotypes, which alters a person's identity causing them to reach a point where they must resist the conforms of society.

The character, Cameron Thayer, plays an African American television producer. His character displays how an African American male feels he needs to manipulate his method of thinking in order to survive in American society. Our society has molded people to develop their psyche which conforms his character to choose to put his reputation over his dignity and self-respect. Within thirty-six hours, his wife, Christine Thayer, and her husband are thrown into a world in which they believed they were above. Due to the fact, they were in the upper class; they believed that success would force others to respect them. They were proven wrong by a person who is supposed to embody the American dream and all it stands for. The American dream is centered on equality and equal rights for all. This dream is eliminated when an officer of the law who is supposed to embody the basic principles of America steals their dignity and self respect by molesting a woman in front of her husband. The act was done deliberately in order to dehumanize the couple, as well as demonstrate the power of the American dream in molding people into its criteria.

The American dream embodies the ideals our forefathers believed were significant and even with centuries to master these concepts, Americans fall short of meeting its expectations. The American dream has been defined as the idea that through hard work, courage, and determination one achieve prosperity. In addition, the American dream focuses on equality, justice, fairness, liberty and security in one's nation. Americans value having a sense of security, sense of justice, and equal rights for all citizens (Nepo 67). Each of these principles was violated in one scene in various ways. The scene takes place when a young, upper class, African American couple are pulled over by the police because their vehicle fits the description of a car which has been hijacked. There are four main characters in this scene; however the actions of the couple are the most relevant to the influence conformity has over a person's train of thought. From the character, Cameron Thayer's perspective society has developed a specific criteria and procedure which he must follow in order to continue to be welcomed in upper class society. His wife's sense of security is seized from her when a Caucasian police officer believed he had the right to emotionally rape her by sexually harassing her in front of her husband. She lost her dignity as well as her sense of comfort in her own neighborhood. The police officer believed his actions were appropriate because she was resisting his demands. Her ideal of the American dream is altered as her sense of security in her skin as well as her country is sacrificed for her husband.

In addition, her sense of justice is altered because a police officer, played by Matt Dillon, commits the act. As a law enforcement agent, his job is to embody the basis of the legal system; instead, he deliberately commits a crime to an innocent civilian. From his perspective, her resistance gave him a valid excuse for his actions. He used his stereotypical beliefs to alter his psyche and caused him to misjudge right from wrong. Her self worth was lowered as his hands slid up her leg; her husband felt worthless as he watched and felt helpless. However, he was not physically helpless, he was physiologically paralyzed because he was afraid to react due to his reputation and the affect his actions would have on his career. His masculinity was questions because he was unable to protect his wife which is a critical aspect in a marriage. His reaction is based on the society's requirements for his success. In the famous American song, the Star Spangled Banner, a line states, "Oh, say does that Star - Spangled Banner yet wave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" (The American Dream). However, our land is not free of racism or discrimination. Our society had been configured using stereotypes as a way to judge others and measure their self worth. Due to the fact that people are judged based on stereotypes, their identity becomes altered and their psyche becomes distorted as they mold their personality and way of thinking to conform to society and its ideals. They become lost between their dreams and reality and often obligated to choose between their personal beliefs and society's norms. When they chose to follow their personal beliefs, they demonstrate a sign of resistance by displaying to society they are individuals and should have equal rights. Resisting to the norms of society is critical when attempting to reclaim the identity of a race. The lack of reacting is a sign of weakness and admits defeat because one is unable to display to their oppressors, their need for equal rights. Howard's character demonstrates this concept when he apologizes to the officer for his wife's behavior and pleads with him to allow his wife and himself to return to their home. He fails to resist the stereotypes that America has embodied and adds wood to fire by giving into them.

After the incident occurs, the couple engages