It takes two to tango

The other night I watched Crash for what must be the fifth or sixth time since I bought it on DVD. I also saw it at the cinema when I was living in France two years ago as a late showing as it had won the Oscar for Best Picture.

What surprises me about the film is I find myself sympathising with different characters each time I watch it. There is something that makes me despise the subject content of the film, but at the same time, it is something that has been addressed with sensitivity and attention to both sides of the story. Look at the plotline on the part of Anthony/Peter. Anthony portrays himself as the typically opressed black man, expecting to be discriminated against because of his skin colour. Peter takes a more optimistic view, suggesting that Anthony is being oversensitive. When we are first introduced to these two characters, I'm inclined to sympathise with Peter rather than Anthony. Anthony is simply feeling sorry for himself and because of the history of black people, he simply lives up to the stereotypes associated with his race. Especially when he and Peter then carjack Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser's characters.

At this point the shoe is on the other foot. We are not sympathising at all with Anthony, and much less with Peter than before, until Sandra Bullock's near-monologue ranting about how as a white woman fearful of two black youths she feels the need to remain silent for fear of being labelled a racist should she cross the street or look the other way. This, in essence, totally backs up everything that Anthony has already said - particularly when Jean (Sandra Bullock) insists on the locks being changed yet again because the locksmith is not white. But he's not black either. And this really confuses me.

Where is the line drawn? When are the barriers constructed thanks to stereotypes going to be broken down? It is these persisting stereotypes that means the issue of racism persists. But one stereotypical image of racism is very very wrong: that which depicts a racist being white. A racist can just as easily be black. Just look at Anthony in 'Crash' and you'll see what I mean.