Review - Crash

I wont go into a cinematic discussion except to say that I loved the movie and the performances. I also missed Denzel Washington in the role of the black inspector..that would have added one more oscar to the kitty for Crash. No, this will more of a discussion about the issues the movie has highlighted.

Of the situations portrayed in the movie, I could identify a lot of scenarios that hold true in India today. We also have our divides, be it religious, regional or socio-economic and a lot of that create the same frictions as those the whites, blacks, hispanics, chinese and arabs are facing in the US today. We have our problems with the 'minority' muslims and they have the same with the blacks. States like West Bengal and Assam have Bangladeshi immigrant problems while they have the same with mexicans in Florida and LA. And the rich versus poor divide is always there.

There were 2 protagonists who were characterised very interestingly - the racist white cop and the racist black mugger. Both are portrayed as extreme cases of bigotry, who see the entire world through some invisible coloured glass, where any incident can be traced to some problem caused by the 'other' side. We have frightening similarities amongst our communal Hindu and Muslim brigades, and its a divide that seems to be deepening each day. There is also Sandra Bullock's character, who is a closet racist, who is surrounded by all kinds of immigrant population who are the domestic help, who finally shows her true colours once she is mugged by a black and uses that excuse to come out in the open with her parochial views.

There was another interesting sequence in which an episode of a soap was being shot and the director asked for a retake because a black guy didnt talk 'black' enough. Made me think of how bongs are portrayed in movies and tv. I mean how many bongs do you know who says 'Oooribaba, arey tumi kya kaurta haay'. Bongs and Tambis have been stereotyped for ages now. Padosan was one of the roots for the anti hindi movement in the south. There were other scenes in the movie where Americans are ridiculing arabs or chinese people for their accents and grammar (as if those fuckers speak english) and this was also portrayed as one of the factors why immigrants dont feel they belong.

All in all, I felt that the movie was really balanced. It managed to portray both sides on the picture without trying to analyse who is at fault. And even though I generally think the average american is an arsehole, I can kind of understand the situation they are in. True, when their economy was booming they had welcomed all kinds of immigrants to do their dirty jobs - mexican gardeners, puerto rican housemaids, indian coders, chinese cooks etc etc etc. Now that they have a job crunch they are cribbing about outsiders taking their jobs. But dont you get it? Its their bloody country and they have every right to give out AND take back jobs when they want. There was a scene in which a Syrian is ranting and raving to the authorities after his shop is burgled. I mean, why dont you go back to fucking Syria then? There you will be lucky to have a slum to stay in. How would you feel if Bangladeshi illegal immigrants staged a dharna in Calcutta because they dont like the conditions of their settlements? Forget about immigrants, how would you feel about your countryman who is studying in AIIMS because his grandfather washed toilets, or a muslim who has 4 wives and 20 children who feels muslims in India are persecuted?

THINK.