CRASH: A Realistic Depiction of how Asians are not Prevalent in L.A.
When art attempts to deal with complex and sensitive issues such as racism, the result often unintentionally harbors racist messages or views. This idea rings true for Crash, directed and partially written by Paul Haggis. To the uncritical and uninitiated eye, this film is an emotionally compelling story that paints an honest portrait of the relations between different cultural backgrounds. Upon further examination, however, the viewer begins to realize the traces of racism embedded into the screenplay and filmic choices of the Academy Award winning picture. Asian Americans, who are perhaps the most underrepresented as well as misrepresented group in the film, are examples …show more content…
This harsh reality is particularly underscored in the scene in which Anthony unintentionally brings in a van filled with illegal immigrants (Cambodian, Vietnamese, who knows?) to the shop owner. Instead of selling the trafficked slaves, Anthony instead drives to Chinatown to liberate them onto the street. Rather than focusing on this novel and interesting piece of information, the film continues to highlight Anthony as a hero, redeeming him of the wrongs he has committed in the past. Like the background of Kim Lee and Choi, the story of the trafficked slaves is left undeveloped. The audience does not know who these immigrants are, why they are in America, what they are going to do now, or how they got there in the first place. They merely serve as a deus ex machina and an excuse for the filmmakers to use more ethnicities in the ‘diverse’ …show more content…
By merely looking at the names of the Asian characters, one can deduce that the director did not try to authentically represent this social group. The name of Kim Lee, which combines the two most common surnames in Korea, for instance is a name unseen and unheard of in this culture. Choi, furthermore, would be the last name of a person and would not be used as a means to refer to someone. When the audience sees any Asian characters speak, moreover, they talk in a stereotypical accent most widely known to Americans. Kim Lee in the car accident yells: “Mexicans! No know how to drive! She blake too fast!” The actress makes the informed choice to replace her ‘Rs’ with ‘Ls’ which is the typical Cantonese accent one would most likely associate as ‘Asian.’ Kim Lee is indeed Asian, but is not portrayed as the authentic Korean female she is. The director must ask himself whether he genuinely researched or even thought of Asian characters when creating this
When art attempts to deal with complex and sensitive issues such as racism, the result often unintentionally harbors racist messages or views. This idea rings true for Crash, directed and partially written by Paul Haggis. To the uncritical and uninitiated eye, this film is an emotionally compelling story that paints an honest portrait of the relations between different cultural backgrounds. Upon further examination, however, the viewer begins to realize the traces of racism embedded into the screenplay and filmic choices of the Academy Award winning picture. Asian Americans, who are perhaps the most underrepresented as well as misrepresented group in the film, are examples …show more content…
This harsh reality is particularly underscored in the scene in which Anthony unintentionally brings in a van filled with illegal immigrants (Cambodian, Vietnamese, who knows?) to the shop owner. Instead of selling the trafficked slaves, Anthony instead drives to Chinatown to liberate them onto the street. Rather than focusing on this novel and interesting piece of information, the film continues to highlight Anthony as a hero, redeeming him of the wrongs he has committed in the past. Like the background of Kim Lee and Choi, the story of the trafficked slaves is left undeveloped. The audience does not know who these immigrants are, why they are in America, what they are going to do now, or how they got there in the first place. They merely serve as a deus ex machina and an excuse for the filmmakers to use more ethnicities in the ‘diverse’ …show more content…
By merely looking at the names of the Asian characters, one can deduce that the director did not try to authentically represent this social group. The name of Kim Lee, which combines the two most common surnames in Korea, for instance is a name unseen and unheard of in this culture. Choi, furthermore, would be the last name of a person and would not be used as a means to refer to someone. When the audience sees any Asian characters speak, moreover, they talk in a stereotypical accent most widely known to Americans. Kim Lee in the car accident yells: “Mexicans! No know how to drive! She blake too fast!” The actress makes the informed choice to replace her ‘Rs’ with ‘Ls’ which is the typical Cantonese accent one would most likely associate as ‘Asian.’ Kim Lee is indeed Asian, but is not portrayed as the authentic Korean female she is. The director must ask himself whether he genuinely researched or even thought of Asian characters when creating this