Crash and Burn
Exams are over! And we had exactly 2 days to get over them, before starting 12th grade today! So some of from class went and saw the Oscar nominated film Crash.
The movie addresses the issue of racial discrimination in the US. Every example in the movie represented a different section of society – Hispanics, Persian immigrants, middle class blacks, blacks living on the streets, white politicians, cops, asians… - all of whom either face discrimination, or who themselves discriminate against anyone unlike them.
There was one scene that I found myself particularly relating to…
A white couple were walking down the street, and the lady sees two black guys walking towards her. The moment she notices them, her first instinct is to clutch her husband’s hand a little tighter, glance at them and then quickly at the ground, quicken her steps a little, and close her car door as fast as possible.
I found myself wonder if I would be open minded to give them the benefit of the doubt. Any girl who has walked down brigade road in Bangalore, or been to an interschool or college festival, knows what it’s like to be whistled at, or have a comment passed… But I wonder if her reaction would be the same to a dark-skinned guy with a cigarette, and a fair blue-eyed blonde. Would I be being honest, if I said that appearances don’t play any part in my judgement of a person?
Do small everyday things, like preferring a Hindu tailor to a Muslim one, buying fruit from the guy who doesn’t wear the tiny hat on his head, making one of the criteria for hiring a maid that he/she has to be Brahmin, being afraid of a dark skinned man, and not a fair one, or just the fact that a race is the first thing to register about a person, also count as racism? Is being a mental racist easier but, in fact, just as terrible as being a loud one?
Just a thought. What say you?
The movie addresses the issue of racial discrimination in the US. Every example in the movie represented a different section of society – Hispanics, Persian immigrants, middle class blacks, blacks living on the streets, white politicians, cops, asians… - all of whom either face discrimination, or who themselves discriminate against anyone unlike them.
There was one scene that I found myself particularly relating to…
A white couple were walking down the street, and the lady sees two black guys walking towards her. The moment she notices them, her first instinct is to clutch her husband’s hand a little tighter, glance at them and then quickly at the ground, quicken her steps a little, and close her car door as fast as possible.
I found myself wonder if I would be open minded to give them the benefit of the doubt. Any girl who has walked down brigade road in Bangalore, or been to an interschool or college festival, knows what it’s like to be whistled at, or have a comment passed… But I wonder if her reaction would be the same to a dark-skinned guy with a cigarette, and a fair blue-eyed blonde. Would I be being honest, if I said that appearances don’t play any part in my judgement of a person?
Do small everyday things, like preferring a Hindu tailor to a Muslim one, buying fruit from the guy who doesn’t wear the tiny hat on his head, making one of the criteria for hiring a maid that he/she has to be Brahmin, being afraid of a dark skinned man, and not a fair one, or just the fact that a race is the first thing to register about a person, also count as racism? Is being a mental racist easier but, in fact, just as terrible as being a loud one?
Just a thought. What say you?
posted by 
@ 4:09 am
5 Comments:
At 1:52 am, March 07, 2006,
Anonymous said…
Prejudice is a fact of life. It snakes its way into the sub-conscious since childhood and we don't even realise it. Colour is only part of the story... think of class, gender, religion or regional stereotypes we live with every day. We make racial jokes, laugh at or ignore images that perpetuate women as sex symbols, aspire to a white, westernised, rich lifestyles without being conscious about it. 'Crash' only highlights what's tragically true!
At 8:23 am, March 07, 2006,
Ranjana said…
Very honest post.
Talking of walking down Brigade Rd and getting whistled at, if I get the internship I want, I'll be working at Brigade rd. I'm used to life in a city where I saunter back at 3 am without anyone saying or doing anything and without getting the creeps too. Bombay is such a safe place I've never wanted to feel worried about things like that.
Talking of prejudice, most human minds tend to work like that. It is but natural for most of us to 'judge' people based on their appearance. Talking of films, have you ever noticed how characters who are meant to be ridiculed or reviled are always dark/horrid/ghastly looking ??
As a dark-skinned person, I've been through a lot of this crap. In my childhood, some of my so-called friends called me quite unprintable things! Even my relatives have done their bit when it comes to trying to get me to use fairness creams that I detest and all kinds of weird concoctions to make me a wee bit 'fairer'. I can't blame them, fairness is the ultimate Indian penchant. Or else, ' who will marry her if she is sooooo darkkkkk ??? ' And all the matrimonial ads we see, Wanted ........should be FAIR, CULTURED blah blah.
Who is to blame? After all, don't we enjoy our 'sardar' jokes too ?
At 9:11 am, March 23, 2006,
sayantoni said…
wow..
read all ur blogs.. loved it.. an everyday affair..
particularly liked the blogs where Nrityagram comes in.. reminds me of how i loved to my dance classes.. and how i regret not taking it up seriously..
At 9:12 am, March 23, 2006,
sayantoni said…
(sorry sorry... !)
particularly liked the blogs where Nrityagram comes in.. reminds me of how i loved my dance classes.. and how i regret not taking it up seriously..
At 8:33 am, April 20, 2006,
Anonymous said…
hey hi.. i read this post after really really looong...hope yu chk my comment.. lol...
personally i don think il make a judgement of a person because of the way they look or race or color..defnitlyy noot!!..its so narrow minded to despise a person for sumthin they are not responsible of..noone decides the race they want to belong to..lol
but dint crash show yu in the end that race dint really matter and all ppl started helpin each other in their time of need??! the police guy helps that gal to get outta the burnin car and stuf lik that....
jan
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