The movie, set in Los Angeles, addresses how several characters of different racial backgrounds, culture, and class crash into each other constantly in auto accidents, carjackings, and shootings, but do not realize they are connected and must help each other in order to succeed at their individual goals.
The different stereotypes society creates for each person’s background affect judgments, beliefs, and actions. In turn, each person thinks of him/herself as an individual separate from others in society. This causes tense confrontations and intolerance for each person, which is a collective problem. Even when a person has a change of heart to help another in need, the other person may push away the help thinking that someone is an enemy instead of a possible friend. As a result, Crash suggests that violent contact is the only way left to connect with others.
Crash reveals the division in judgments, opinions, and arguments that many attorneys see in their daily work. Like in Sandra Bullock’s character, such division may leave a person angry all the time without understanding why.
There are those who believe anger and society division may be transformed. S. Leonard Scheff, a practicing attorney in Tucson, Arizona, discusses transforming anger in his writings.
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (Center), a non-profit organization which works to integrate contemplative awareness and contemporary life, helps create a just, compassionate, and reflective society by holding programs in social justice and law. It also sponsors retreats for attorneys that assist them to use compassion, listening, and right speech to connect with others.
.jpg)
Comment Preview