Got to see the movie
Crash with Dave two Saturdays ago. I was shaken, even more so than I was by
The Great Raid, which we also watched earlier that afternoon.
I shall not summarize the movie, for I encourage the readers to go out there, shell out money and watch it themselves. I swear on whoever's grave that it will not disappoint.
Allow me, though, to reflect.
On the first level:
How tragic, the thought that racism spans across the globe, with every race being guilty of it. If you think about it, it's actually true. Racism is not just about oppression; any form of snap judgment made towards a particular individual with the basis being his cultural background, is racism.
I mentioned that every race is guilty of this act; it's true, and the movie reminded me of this. An African-American will brand a Caucasian of branding him; that person therefore tags the Caucasian based on what he knows about Whites: prejudiced. It's a vicious cycle, this hasty judgment.
Knowing this, one has to wonder if all of this is rooted to anything other than the historicity of the issue. Of course, it would be the basis of the whole thing, but one has to consider the fact that this is something that has gone beyond whispers and verbal insults; I am sure that we all know what hate crimes are.
A scene from the movie shows the character played by Ludacris (yes, the rapper) stating that people always connect the Blacks to violence. Why is this so? Not delving into the validity of the statement, I know it is safe to say that Blacks have had their contribution to crimes of violence. But let's suppose that a Black person robs a convenience store. If that man has kids who eat only once a day, we would have to think twice about whether or not he's robbing the store just for kicks. And on a more relevant issue, let's say a Black person kills a White person, seemingly out of sheer spite; he has a gun and he hates White people. We have to wonder why he does this. Is this just a mindless act, or is there something that underlies it? Maybe he's scared. Maybe he's angry not at Caucasians particularly, just that one individual. Or maybe he IS angry at all Caucasians. But whatever the reason may be for this, the fact that all these are possible hints at the notion that these acts are mere reactions.
THEN we go to the second level:
Exactly why do we lash out at people, and how often do we do it without even knowing it? This is something that goes beyond racism; you lash out at people no matter what your color is, no matter what THEIR color is.
It works two ways when it comes to this, I think:
We throw shit at people because we don't want our backyards messy. We throw the shit that has been festering for some time in our own lawns. And we just can't take the stench anymore. In other words, we lash out at them because we can't lash out at our own lives --- and we desperately want to.
Another thing is that (and this is just me surmising) we let ourselves "crash" because it is through this act that we find contact (and for some people, this is the only contact they can attain). This is where will come in those people who act like assholes but ultimately depend on others towards whom they act as assholes. And upon saying this, I start to wonder: during the times when we as individuals crash into each other, do we really unknowingly collide, or do we throw ourselves out to them?
Upon laying down these two thoughts, I (again) begin to wonder about how we as humans deal with pain. Do we run away from something and in the process smash into each other and start beating each other up, or do we completely block out the source of this pain and just start running towards whatever we may find out there? Do we try and escape FROM something, or do we try and escape TO something? And how often have both happened?
Looking at my personal stuff, I for one can tell you right now that it's not an easy task, telling the difference. I have blocked things out more times than I can (or care to) remember, and in the process started running with no direction whatsoever. But then again, maybe the fact that I block things out is my way of escaping FROM them. So maybe I do both.
Maybe it's the same with every other person. And here comes in another point of the movie: how we judge people without really knowing how things really are with them. There are some people who encourage judgment to be made towards them because they wouldn't want others seeing how they really are. They take shelter in these fake facades as if they were their skin, and to strip them off would be to expose the soft muscles and spill the guts out. And of course, some people pride themselves with, well, pride -- for one reason or another.
I think I've gone on about this movie for too long now, so I'll shut up
Just watch the movie, and in doing so, remember where you are in your life, and how you are as a part of other people's. And in the process, should you find traces of what I have just mentioned, please do not feel guilty, because it is what we do. It is an inevitablity because there sits at the pit of our stomachs this weakness that makes us real. We can afford to throw out the years of practice of manners and decencies and eloquence, just to have one moment to scream.
We crash, and we scream, and then we weep, and then we go back to the flow of life. It's what we do, no matter who we are.
Currently feeling: thoughtful
