What Have We Become

It’s been said, “Never judge a book by its cover.” However, we live in a society where looks are everything. Two important ideas, in our opinion, that emerge from the stories in the movie, Crash are that our looks define who we are and that we’ve helped society stereotype us. Our looks are what get us friends, jobs, and stereotyped. We assume that all blacks are African American, all Latinos are Mexicans, or that all Middle Easterners are terrorist, but this is not true. Due to the lack of communication, this has led us to act judgmental and ignorant about other cultures. Society has led us to this and we have not done anything to correct it, instead we encourage it.


The film Crash displayed various situations that dealt with stereotypes from people of different cultures and people who are not accepted in our society. The world we live in has showed us that our appearance is important because it’s the key to our success. This has led us to look for imperfection in others and to label them into stereotypes. These stereotypes have been around us for so long that we believe they are true and that they define people’s cultures. For example, Jean Cabot saw that Daniel, the locksmith was bald, tattooed and Hispanic, and instantly assumed he was a gang member that was up to no good. She believed that Daniel would give the spare keys to one of his “homies,” so that they could break into her house. Jean defined Daniel by his appearance without knowing he was a loving father and husband. Our personalities, morals, and cultures originally defined who we are; instead our image has become our identity. We have accepted this, which has led us act how society portrays us.


Although, we have fostered the bad concepts people have about us, we expect them not to judge us. For instance, Jean Cabot felt uncomfortable in the presence of two African Americans, which led her to grab hold of her husband for safety. Anthony, one of the guys complains about people thinking stereotypically about him because of the color of his skin. Yet, he steals cars and trucks to sell in order to obtain money. In doing this, he fits into the stereotype people have about African Americans, which is that they are lazy, criminals, and dangerous. We have not realized that we have done this to ourselves and that we need to change those bad concepts people have about us.


The movie Crash shows how we have fallen into society’s trap. A trap we have created because of our insecurities and misunderstandings. Our lack of communication has created a boundary between us that does not let us realize that every human being is unique in their own way. If we could only comprehend this, the world would be a better place. Let’s not allow our looks to define us or to fall into people’s stereotypes because we are much more than that, we each are extraordinary individuals.