Analyzing the relationships between the characters in the 2004 Movie Crash
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INTRODUCTION
Crash is a film produced by Paul Haggis in 2004. IMDb describes the film as “Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.” This 112 minute film with an ensemble cast including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Tony Danza, Loretta Devine, Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, and Thandie Newton, portrays racial tensions between several different ethnicities. Many characters in the film are shown having some racial prejudice or bias towards other characters. At the same time that characters are discriminating against other individuals, they are also being discriminated against based on their skin color, accent, or behavior. Individuals in the movie were of several different races including African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Persian. The name of the film Crash implies that there is a transformative experience disrupting a cycle. With the setting of the hectic California city Los Angeles, these characters continue to ‘crash’ into each other perpetuating negative beliefs about each other. Our creation of an interactive web with the characters of Crash is useful to analyze the connections between the characters in the film. Visualizing these interactions allows us to closely examine the racial exchanges and divisions not only between the characters in Crash but between individuals in society.
In an article entitled “Framing Racism”, one scholar mentions the role of Crash being filmed in a fractal form. Our class has called this term hyperlinked cinema, but the two terms can work together. Silvey discusses how the film “draws upon the idea that everyone in the world is connected by six (or fewer) degrees of separation.” This article mentions that the idea of this interconnectedness stems from the influence of the Internet in how quickly websites allow you to jump from place to place with them all being connected somehow. We agree with Silvey and believe that the motivation for the hyperlinked cinema in Crash is to show how many different kinds of people are connected. As a result of this connectedness, it can be noted that racism and stereotypes occur by and against many different ethnicities. Silvey comments how Haggis portrays racism as a widespread problem that occurs in many different directions. Through our web, one will be able to see just how connected and intertwined the characters are in Crash.
METHODOLOGY AND REASONING
In this project, we aim to visualize the hyperlinked cinema style used in Crash by creating a network describing the interactions between each of the different characters presented. While this particular network may not describe every single character in the movie, we have attempted to describe most of the characters and show their interactions. In this project, we employ the usage of the software Cytoscape to create the network below showing the interactions between each of the characters. First, one will notice that the edges of the network, connecting the characters, have arrows on the end of describing the directionality of certain character’s interactions and the mutual relationship between other characters. Some characters also have more than one edge running between them describing the ways that these characters interacted more than once over the course of the movie. In addition to the directionality of the interactions, each interaction edge of the network is also annotated with the specific interaction that happened between the two characters in the movie.
Another property of this network to note is that each of the points representing the characters are colored differently with each color representing a different race. Below we describe the colors and the races described by those colors in the network:
After viewing this film one time, we were a little confused about all of the interactions that occurred. It wasn't until we actually began analyzing the film and putting together this web that some of the connections became clear. Our overarching goal of this project is to give others a visual to examine the many racial divisions that occur throughout Crash. We created this project with the intention of thoroughly connecting over 25 different characters. We believe that this web will be helpful to future viewers in order to understand the complexity of the film in its hyperlinked form. Additionally, we did this project not only so that we could analyze all of the interconnected relationships in the film, but we also wanted to analyze the role that race played in these relationships. This film gives a basic overview of every major character and their interactions with others, and additionally, it breaks down each scene with a brief summary while adding new individuals to the web. The intention for this is to help us and our audience see the carefully placed characters and how they all revolve around their relationships. These relationships involve interactions with their own race and other races, which typically include tension and stereotyping of other characters.
In Joyce Middleton’s article “Talking about race and whiteness in Crash,” Middleton describes both the successes and failures of Paul Haggis as he attempts to use Crash as a pedagogical tool in describing race. Middleton suggests that Haggis might do a good job in opening dialogue (particularly among young people) about race but he does not address the concept of whiteness and the privileges associated with being white. In this article, Middleton also addresses Haggis’ potential theatrical influences in how he shaped the film by using many different interwoven narratives. However, in this project, we are particularly interested in the events and experiences that shaped Haggis’ creation of these particular characters. It is mentioned that Crash is based on a personal experience of Haggis’ after he was carjacked, which led to the creation of the two black characters Anthony and Peter. In this article, the concept of whiteness was continually revisited as a status quo that was not, but should have been, challenged in the film. Therefore, our project aims to visualize where the points of biases come from in this film. Middleton also paints an important distinction in this article by stating, “Crash very effectively equates and replaces the term ‘race’ with the term ‘prejudice’…for those who do not want to be identified as ‘racist, but can accept the idea of being ‘prejudiced,’ since (as the film argues) everyone is.” While the majority of the characters in Crash are not free from prejudice or racism, we aim to characterize the types of prejudice and see which characters (by race) harbor the most prejudice.
Crash is a film produced by Paul Haggis in 2004. IMDb describes the film as “Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.” This 112 minute film with an ensemble cast including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Tony Danza, Loretta Devine, Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, and Thandie Newton, portrays racial tensions between several different ethnicities. Many characters in the film are shown having some racial prejudice or bias towards other characters. At the same time that characters are discriminating against other individuals, they are also being discriminated against based on their skin color, accent, or behavior. Individuals in the movie were of several different races including African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Persian. The name of the film Crash implies that there is a transformative experience disrupting a cycle. With the setting of the hectic California city Los Angeles, these characters continue to ‘crash’ into each other perpetuating negative beliefs about each other. Our creation of an interactive web with the characters of Crash is useful to analyze the connections between the characters in the film. Visualizing these interactions allows us to closely examine the racial exchanges and divisions not only between the characters in Crash but between individuals in society.
In an article entitled “Framing Racism”, one scholar mentions the role of Crash being filmed in a fractal form. Our class has called this term hyperlinked cinema, but the two terms can work together. Silvey discusses how the film “draws upon the idea that everyone in the world is connected by six (or fewer) degrees of separation.” This article mentions that the idea of this interconnectedness stems from the influence of the Internet in how quickly websites allow you to jump from place to place with them all being connected somehow. We agree with Silvey and believe that the motivation for the hyperlinked cinema in Crash is to show how many different kinds of people are connected. As a result of this connectedness, it can be noted that racism and stereotypes occur by and against many different ethnicities. Silvey comments how Haggis portrays racism as a widespread problem that occurs in many different directions. Through our web, one will be able to see just how connected and intertwined the characters are in Crash.
METHODOLOGY AND REASONING
In this project, we aim to visualize the hyperlinked cinema style used in Crash by creating a network describing the interactions between each of the different characters presented. While this particular network may not describe every single character in the movie, we have attempted to describe most of the characters and show their interactions. In this project, we employ the usage of the software Cytoscape to create the network below showing the interactions between each of the characters. First, one will notice that the edges of the network, connecting the characters, have arrows on the end of describing the directionality of certain character’s interactions and the mutual relationship between other characters. Some characters also have more than one edge running between them describing the ways that these characters interacted more than once over the course of the movie. In addition to the directionality of the interactions, each interaction edge of the network is also annotated with the specific interaction that happened between the two characters in the movie.
Another property of this network to note is that each of the points representing the characters are colored differently with each color representing a different race. Below we describe the colors and the races described by those colors in the network:
- Yellow: Caucasian or White
- Purple: African American or Black
- Green: Latino/Latina
- Red: Asian (including the Persian family)
After viewing this film one time, we were a little confused about all of the interactions that occurred. It wasn't until we actually began analyzing the film and putting together this web that some of the connections became clear. Our overarching goal of this project is to give others a visual to examine the many racial divisions that occur throughout Crash. We created this project with the intention of thoroughly connecting over 25 different characters. We believe that this web will be helpful to future viewers in order to understand the complexity of the film in its hyperlinked form. Additionally, we did this project not only so that we could analyze all of the interconnected relationships in the film, but we also wanted to analyze the role that race played in these relationships. This film gives a basic overview of every major character and their interactions with others, and additionally, it breaks down each scene with a brief summary while adding new individuals to the web. The intention for this is to help us and our audience see the carefully placed characters and how they all revolve around their relationships. These relationships involve interactions with their own race and other races, which typically include tension and stereotyping of other characters.
In Joyce Middleton’s article “Talking about race and whiteness in Crash,” Middleton describes both the successes and failures of Paul Haggis as he attempts to use Crash as a pedagogical tool in describing race. Middleton suggests that Haggis might do a good job in opening dialogue (particularly among young people) about race but he does not address the concept of whiteness and the privileges associated with being white. In this article, Middleton also addresses Haggis’ potential theatrical influences in how he shaped the film by using many different interwoven narratives. However, in this project, we are particularly interested in the events and experiences that shaped Haggis’ creation of these particular characters. It is mentioned that Crash is based on a personal experience of Haggis’ after he was carjacked, which led to the creation of the two black characters Anthony and Peter. In this article, the concept of whiteness was continually revisited as a status quo that was not, but should have been, challenged in the film. Therefore, our project aims to visualize where the points of biases come from in this film. Middleton also paints an important distinction in this article by stating, “Crash very effectively equates and replaces the term ‘race’ with the term ‘prejudice’…for those who do not want to be identified as ‘racist, but can accept the idea of being ‘prejudiced,’ since (as the film argues) everyone is.” While the majority of the characters in Crash are not free from prejudice or racism, we aim to characterize the types of prejudice and see which characters (by race) harbor the most prejudice.
IMPLICATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS
A film review of Crash by Sandra J. Taulbee examines the conflicted feelings that races hold against each other in the film and in society today. Crash contains an “in your face” depiction of stereotypes and unacceptable feelings. Taulbee states, “Crash uncovers the reality that people do hold stereotypes about others that drive us consciously or unconsciously to live out in sort of a love-hate duality.” In the world today we have been impacted by societal beliefs to form negative emotions against other races that do not exist innately. This film review specifically acknowledges four poignant scenes that show the harsh racial dualities. These scenes represent several main episodes from the film that depicts individuals victimizing themselves, but also being perpetrators of stereotypical beliefs. Examining the reason behind all of the harsh realities in the film can be difficult, but Taulbee suggests that the tension reveals miscommunication between individuals. Throughout the film, characters act based on their biases rather than trying to understand the situation from somebody else’s point of view. There are several scenes where the tensions could have been more controlled if the individuals set down their stereotypes for one minute. The question we have run into is whether or not this request is realistic. We believe that Taulbee’s point that the United States culture has recently become less like a ‘melting pot’ and more like a ‘salad bowl’ is very relevant today. This analogy means that cultures are not engaging and integrating with other cultures, but rather they are living within their own culture and revolving around others without fully engaging in a positive way. Given this analogy, we are able to rearrange our network as seen below to further examine the ‘salad bowl’ concept presented by Taulbee. In this particular analogy, we see that we can still separate all of the different characters in Crash by race and group them together. The interactions show that these races are interconnected, but there is no real mixing in the sense of the ‘melting pot’ and shows more clearly this concept of a ‘tossed salad.’
However, visualizing the racial interactions in the network, we have also observed several other phenomena within the network and the movie Crash:
1. By looking at the first network presented, if Anthony never car jacks Rick, we can see that all of the African American characters will be contained in a smaller sub-network of the film. This would mean that no black characters would have made contact with Farhad and his family, Daniel and his family, and Rick and his family.
2. You can very easily pull out the main characters based on who has more interactions with other characters. (Ex: Daniel, Officer Ryan, Detective Graham, Rick, Cameron). We can see Paul Haggis’ intention of which individuals are the main characters:
5. The focus of the film is to observe interactions between races and each scene shows this, but this may not represent real life interactions of tensions within each race. The film exaggerates inter-racial relationships between characters.
6. As previously mentioned, while it is easy to visualize the separation of characters, we still have to realize that there are still many interactions between any two races. At least one character from every race has an interaction with an individual in any other race represented in the film. Even though we attempt to separate the characters, this does not mean that different racial characters do not interact, but it is easier to see there is a more natural tendency of individuals of same race to interact with one another.
A film review of Crash by Sandra J. Taulbee examines the conflicted feelings that races hold against each other in the film and in society today. Crash contains an “in your face” depiction of stereotypes and unacceptable feelings. Taulbee states, “Crash uncovers the reality that people do hold stereotypes about others that drive us consciously or unconsciously to live out in sort of a love-hate duality.” In the world today we have been impacted by societal beliefs to form negative emotions against other races that do not exist innately. This film review specifically acknowledges four poignant scenes that show the harsh racial dualities. These scenes represent several main episodes from the film that depicts individuals victimizing themselves, but also being perpetrators of stereotypical beliefs. Examining the reason behind all of the harsh realities in the film can be difficult, but Taulbee suggests that the tension reveals miscommunication between individuals. Throughout the film, characters act based on their biases rather than trying to understand the situation from somebody else’s point of view. There are several scenes where the tensions could have been more controlled if the individuals set down their stereotypes for one minute. The question we have run into is whether or not this request is realistic. We believe that Taulbee’s point that the United States culture has recently become less like a ‘melting pot’ and more like a ‘salad bowl’ is very relevant today. This analogy means that cultures are not engaging and integrating with other cultures, but rather they are living within their own culture and revolving around others without fully engaging in a positive way. Given this analogy, we are able to rearrange our network as seen below to further examine the ‘salad bowl’ concept presented by Taulbee. In this particular analogy, we see that we can still separate all of the different characters in Crash by race and group them together. The interactions show that these races are interconnected, but there is no real mixing in the sense of the ‘melting pot’ and shows more clearly this concept of a ‘tossed salad.’
However, visualizing the racial interactions in the network, we have also observed several other phenomena within the network and the movie Crash:
1. By looking at the first network presented, if Anthony never car jacks Rick, we can see that all of the African American characters will be contained in a smaller sub-network of the film. This would mean that no black characters would have made contact with Farhad and his family, Daniel and his family, and Rick and his family.
2. You can very easily pull out the main characters based on who has more interactions with other characters. (Ex: Daniel, Officer Ryan, Detective Graham, Rick, Cameron). We can see Paul Haggis’ intention of which individuals are the main characters:
- The more prominent characters are of several different races.
- EXCEPT, the Asian characters in the film actually have relatively minimal interaction with many other characters.
- For example, the city of LA is 48% Hispanic or Latino, but there is only one Hispanic family portrayed in the film plus a housekeeper, constituting about 14% of the characters. While this might be due to the relatively small number of characters in Crash and/or can be due to a number of other different factors, this is still an interesting observation.
- Additionally, black characters make up 1/3 of this film, but they are only 10% of LA Metropolitan population.
5. The focus of the film is to observe interactions between races and each scene shows this, but this may not represent real life interactions of tensions within each race. The film exaggerates inter-racial relationships between characters.
6. As previously mentioned, while it is easy to visualize the separation of characters, we still have to realize that there are still many interactions between any two races. At least one character from every race has an interaction with an individual in any other race represented in the film. Even though we attempt to separate the characters, this does not mean that different racial characters do not interact, but it is easier to see there is a more natural tendency of individuals of same race to interact with one another.
CONCLUSIONS
At the beginning of the project, our goal was to visualize the many interactions between the characters of different races. After analyzing the characters and making several observations of the film, we are able to more clearly comprehend the tangled maze of connections made in the film. Our interactive web allows people to explore the relationships presented in the film as the film progresses. We also attempt to use this network to help viewers understand the role of racial bias in the development of the plot and characters of the film. This project is not necessarily meant to explain all of the biases and prejudice shown in the film, but rather show the impact of these biases on the characters of the film. Therefore, some additional directions the project could take may be to help viewers understand the racial bias/slurs/prejudice portrayed by Haggis. With the diversity of Los Angeles, there can be a multitude of historical and social contexts that can be added to each of the interactions. While we take a more macroscopic approach to visualizing the relationships between characters in the film, there are many articles that take a microscopic view of each individual's interaction between the characters in Crash, which can be used to augment the information provided by our network. Overall, we feel that this project was successful and will help future viewers of the film to analyze and understand the multitude of different racial interactions presented in Crash.
Sources:
At the beginning of the project, our goal was to visualize the many interactions between the characters of different races. After analyzing the characters and making several observations of the film, we are able to more clearly comprehend the tangled maze of connections made in the film. Our interactive web allows people to explore the relationships presented in the film as the film progresses. We also attempt to use this network to help viewers understand the role of racial bias in the development of the plot and characters of the film. This project is not necessarily meant to explain all of the biases and prejudice shown in the film, but rather show the impact of these biases on the characters of the film. Therefore, some additional directions the project could take may be to help viewers understand the racial bias/slurs/prejudice portrayed by Haggis. With the diversity of Los Angeles, there can be a multitude of historical and social contexts that can be added to each of the interactions. While we take a more macroscopic approach to visualizing the relationships between characters in the film, there are many articles that take a microscopic view of each individual's interaction between the characters in Crash, which can be used to augment the information provided by our network. Overall, we feel that this project was successful and will help future viewers of the film to analyze and understand the multitude of different racial interactions presented in Crash.
Sources:
- Los Angeles County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." U.S. Census Bureau: State and County QuickFacts. United States Census Bureau, 11 MARCH 2013. Web. 18 Apr 2013. <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06037.html>
- Middleton, Joyce. “Talking about race and whiteness in Crash”. College English. Vol. 69, No. 4 (Mar., 2007), pp. 321-334. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25472216>.
- Silvey, Vivien. "Framing Racism: the Problematic Racial Politics of Crash." Screen Education . 55 (2009): 95-100. Print.
- Taulbee, Sandra J.. A Film Review of the Movie Crash. Springer Science Business Media, 08 Oct 2006. Web. 18 Apr 2013. <http://link.springer.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s11089-006-0053-y>.