Crash

The movie Crash was full of examples of both simple non-conformity and crossing the line. After watching the movie and participating in the discussions with my classmates, I’ve developed a sharper awareness of how boundaries are tested, and I’ve recognized that boundaries do not always act in our best interests.

Terrence Howard plays Cameron Thayer, a Hollywood director who, with his wife, was wrongfully pulled over by a corrupt police officer while driving home from an awards ceremony. Although the well dressed couple had done nothing wrong, the officer racially profiled them, assuming they “must be up to something”. Racial profiling is an example of crossing the line at its worst. Cameron is an African American whose success contradicted the insidious stereotype of what a black man should be. Rather than defend his wife who was being inappropriately searched, he remained cooperative, hoping to avoid an unnecessary arrest. While his partner stood by, the officer abused his power of authority by groping the woman while her husband helplessly watched. While his wife undoubtedly appreciated the affluent lifestyle his profession afforded, she accused him of crossing the line when he failed to react like an “angry black man” to the officer’s profiling and treatment of her.

After wrapping up a film scene, Cameron is approached by a white actor who expressed concern about the performance of a black colleague. Although the director disagreed with the actor’s concerns, he re-shot the scene after providing the black actor with some corrective feedback. While it was Cameron’s prerogative to accept the scene as he saw fit, he found himself in a position of having to choose which boundary to cross: the one in which he deferred to the white actor’s wishes, or the one that came at the expense of the black man’s performance. I felt that Cameron crossed the line when he re-shot the scene after asking the actor to speak more like a black man; perhaps he even crossed the line by wanting to be perceived as a director, and not as a black director.

I’ve always considered myself an open-minded person in terms of society, diversity, and culture; after watching this movie and participating in the discussion boards, however, I’ve gained a deeper awareness and appreciation of how challenging boundaries can be for both insiders (conformists) and outsiders (non-conformists).