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THE CRASH FILM RECEPTION

Researchers have long explored readings and interpretations of visual media messages,

in particular, film and television in the audiences. One such area is cognitive responses of the

consumers to media messages. The audience members attempt to make sense of media texts, and

such interpretations are the result of constructions based on their particular perspectives.

Reception Study examines the audience and the media message to reveal the manner in

which an audience makes sense of a media text. This study also supports the notion of an open

media text or “polysemic” where various people differently decode messages encoded by the text

producer in a certain way. Below is a review of the Crash film in different ways.

The first analysis is by Robert Elbert. He says that Crash is a series of closely related

accounts of the African-Americans, Iranians, Koreans, whites, Latinos, the powerful and

powerless, the poor and the rich, criminals and police officers. Racism defines all these people

differently. Sometimes these people will overcome racism although it is usually difficult. The

lives of the characters are understood, but their behavior is unpredictable (Elbert).

Ebert argues that the assumptions of the people blind them so that they see their

colleagues as different from the actual persons they are. Although the Iranians are Persian,

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Shaun, who is an Iranian, is thought to be an Arab. Shaun and the white wife of Sandra Bullock,

the district attorney believes that Michael, a Mexican-American smith is a criminal and the

member of a gang. In the real sense, Michael is a family man (Elbert).

According to Elbert, Matt Dillon is the best performer in the movie. In the film, Matt is

extremely distressed over his father. He is a racist police officer who makes unnecessary traffic

stops whenever it strikes his mind that what that he is seeing is an African-American TV director

offending the traffic rules together with his white wife. However, he does not stop an African-

American or white couple. He goes further to humiliate the white woman by conducting an

invasive body search as her husband watches helplessly.

Elbert’s argument also concludes that, Crash is a film that highlights how people jump to

make conclusions based on race, regardless of their race or out of their fair-mindedness. People

pay a price for that assumption. The characters in the film learn things about themselves as they

bump into each other. The characters have better lives because of their previous experiences.

The second review is by Jensen and Wosnitzer, and they view the film as being white

supremacists. According to the duo, the primary theme of the film outlines that everyone is

prejudiced. Everybody assumes anyone from a different ethnic or racial group. They all carry

the ethnic or racial baggage packed with prolonged-stewing grievances, unfair stereotypes, crazy

fears and raw anger. Sometimes, people think they have made progress, but they constantly find

themselves caught in a very frustrating complex ethnic web from which they do not seem to get

untangled (Jensen and Wosnitzer)

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Some people, particularly the whites, can be uncomfortable both during and immediately

after viewing this film. The design of the film makes the white people feel superior. The film

allows the whites to evade their collective responsibilities for the white supremacies.

The characters in Crash are complex with a diverse collection of flaws. According to

Jensen and Wosnitzer, films should not enhance the political points by using one-dimensional

caricatures. These types of political films seldom assist in understanding the political and

personal struggles.

Jensen and Wosnitzer argue that Crash is not a racist movie because it uses overtly racist

stereotypes. The movie does not show the white characters as always uniformly good. A large

number of the whites are corrupt or clueless. Rather, Crash is a white-supremacist film because

of what it hides from the discussion.

According to Ebert, all the persons involved become better in the end because of their

experiences. He also brings to a close that people jump to conclusions based on race. The two

ideas complement each other, and this aspect convinces someone that the conclusions are right.

On the other hand, Jensen and Wosnitzer conclude that everyone is prejudiced, and people

should confront their prejudices. The whites are depicted as superior. The two facts are

agreeable. However, when they argue that the political films of one-dimensional caricatures

rarely help to understand the personal and political struggles, one is inclined to disagree. This is

because most political settings are one-sided. These two analysis show how different audiences

interpret the film differently.

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WORKS CITED

Elbert, Rodger. "Crash." Rogebar (2005). Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/in-defense-of-the-years-worst-movie>.

Wosnitzer and Jensen. R. '(DV) Jensen And Wosnitzer: "Crash" And The Self-Indulgence Of White America'. Dissidentvoice.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.