Socialization in Crash

When watching a movie that is as emotionally charged as “Crash”, one can only wonder if our society is that stereotypical. I chose the movie “Crash” as one of my media portfolios because I felt it represented so much as to what we are learning in Ethnic Studies. The issues acted out through out the movie was hard to take in because you really do not believe that the societies we live in truly act that way. Furthermore the reason I chose the movie “Crash” was because through out the entire movie there was one scene that stood out in relation back to class when we discussed socialization.
In the beginning of the movie “Crash”, there is a Persian family trying to make a living with their own store in Los Angeles. With Los Angeles being one of the most unsafe cities to live in, the father of the family decides to purchase a gun to off protection for him and his family. While at the gun store, the father refers to an incident a while back when his wife could have been killed and he does not want to take that chance again. The father and his daughter are asked what kind of ammunition they would like with their gun. Not knowing much about guns, the father and his daughter begin to discuss what type of ammunition they would like in their own language. The white man behind the register begins to grow impatient and refers to the father as “Osama”, and to hurry up. The father immediately takes offense to this name calling and creates a scene attempting to reach the white man in English language. The white man takes offense to the way he is being talked too and insulting him again asks if that is the closest he comes to English. With the white man telling the father to get out of his store the father reacts with saying he has rights just like him and he is an American citizen. The white man does not agree accusing him of flying planes into buildings and killing family and friends. The situation dies down when the father is escorted out by a police man. The scene in this movie was difficult to watch but yet related back to what we discussed in class. Socialization is the social norm in society. With the father being of Persian descent and resembling the image of Osama Bin Laden, the white man treated him unfairly. The white man already had a picture in his head of what the father was like because he wasn’t of the social norm in Los Angeles.
When I was watching the movie I felt horrible for the father. Here is a man trying to buy a gun to protect his family and he is unable because someone else views him in the wrong way. Not only was the white man stereotyping the father but insulting him in front of his daughter. It troubles me that even in our united country, we have a social norm and those who are not apart of that social norm are stereotyped and ultimately have their rights and privileges take away.

-The movie “Crash” was directed and written by Paul Haggis.