Crash: A look at the movie

Films are something that have the power to change how we think, that have the opportunity to educate and inspire us. Most of the time, the movies that come out are a waste of time. They're made to entertain, and that's all.

Once in a while you get lucky and you find a movie that really impacts you and gets you thinking about things, examining your life. Today, that movie is Crash -- the Paul Haggis one, not David Lynch's flick of a few years past.

If art truly is something that should reflect and examine life as we know it, then Crash is art in its purest form.

How do you market a movie like this, I wonder? With great difficulty, I surmise. Its premise is a hard sell: A scathing look at the rampant racism that exists in American life today.

As a Canadian, it's an interesting dynamic to watch. I'm not saying we don't have racism in Canada -- we sure as shit do. Racism is as much a part of the human condition as laughter or love. Racism is perhaps the wrong term. Maybe "prejudism" is more correct.

Crash takes a look at the lives of a dozen or so people as they rather unluckily intersect over a 48-hour period. It looks at the judgments we make of others through what we perceive them to be based solely on their outward appearance -- black, brown, white, tattooed, wealthy, whatever.

It's a difficult premise to explain, but the acting's incredible, the stories are oh, so tight, and the issues are ones we're all familiar with.

I suspect that I'm probably a little more liberal-minded than most people, but I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't prejudist. A right fucking liar, but at least I'm aware of it. I'm not prejudist in that open, obvious kind of way. No, I have more respect than that. I'm prejudist in ways that I don't really know how to change. I see tattered, torn, dirty clothes, and I assume the person is uneducated and lacking in class. I see an Asian kid driving a $50,000 car and I automatically assume he has no respect for money and is a spoiled little shit. I see an old person and I assume they're slowing down mentally and will be a hassle to deal with.

I'd never say anything to another person's face, but I've made comments about Asian drivers, I've made assumptions about immigrants taking advantage of the system, I've held my money closer to me just because of a person's demeanour on the street as they're walking towards me.

Do these things make me a bad person? Probably not. They probably make me just like anyone else. Most of us have these same sorts of assumptions. If you claim you don't judge someone on how they dress, the manners they display, their grasp and command of language, then you're probably a liar. It's what we all do, but it doesn't make it any more correct.

I think everyone should see this film. I've meant to for some time now, and even had the rental kicking around for the last three days, thinking "Oh, it's probably not as great as I've heard, and it's probably not as profound as Oprah made it sound," and all that, but for once, Oprah's got it right. It's very likely the most important movie of 2005.

You got to give it to Don Cheadle, too. The man's played in two of the most important movies two years running -- Crash and Hotel Rwanda. I love an actor who wears his values on his sleeve. I love an actor who realizes the power of his medium, and Don's that kind of a man.

It's tragic that slapstick comedies draw so many people, and films like Crash languish in the box office. Considering this day and age, the incredible shallowness of our society -- just look at the Paris-fucking-Hilton obsession -- you'd think that examining ourselves would be a more pressing need. I'm tired of the largely vapid media out there in the world, and films like this remind me why I tend to want to shy away from the mainstream.

Art should fill the soul, make us aspire for greatness, cause us to want to change. And sometimes, it does just that. I'm glad I saw this movie so close to New Year's Day. I'm glad I've got food for thought. I enjoy the challenge it presents -- that of looking at life below the surface, taking it at more than just face value, and perhaps that's something I can aspire to do more of this year. I like to think I do it already, but I'm certain I could do it better.

Anyhow, I highly recommend Crash. See it with someone you can talk to about it. I didn't, and now I'll be wandering around, listening to my iPOD, and pondering life for the remainder of the afternoon. But that's all right. I do it well.