Crash

1. In the film, it's very obvious that people's stereotypes get in the way of truly getting to know other people. In the scene where the Hispanic locksmith is working for the Persian man, we can easily tell that the Persian man sees the Hispanic differently because of his race. This is ironic though, because we have seen the Persian man get treated differently for the same reason when he was trying to buy a gun. In this situation, he doesn't realize how he's be hypocritical; his racism overshadows it. It's extremely obvious too, because the locksmith is completely cordial to the Persian man, even though he's yelling at him, saying that the locksmith is trying to cheat him. Later however, when the Persian man goes to the locksmith's house with a gun and tries to shoot him, he seems to realize that maybe he was wrong. This act could have had dire consequences, but he was lucky, and he only has to live with the guilt of what could have been.

4. One of the most prominent stereotypes in the film is the two black men. They essentially create this stereotype for themselves, like when they steal the District Attorney's car. They are aware of how they are viewed, and complain about it, but they only perpetuate this stereotype because of how they act. In the beginning, we view them as criminals for stealing the car. But as the film goes on and we get to know them a little better, we can almost sympathize with them. I think the real "twisting" happens with one of the black men gets picked up by the cop, Ryan Phillipe. It seems as though because the man is black, the cop is more cautious, and gets extremely nervous when they start to argue. And when the man reaches into his pocket, the cop automatically assumes he's pulling out a gun, and he shoots him. I think this is one of the most surprising parts of the movie. It makes the viewer realize that you really can't stereotype people, no matter what, because you never know when someone can surprise you.

What Would You Do?

When we were watching the clips in class focusing on racism, what struck me the most were the clips from ABC News about how people handled racism in an upscale store and a restaurant. I was shocked that more people didn't respond to the blatant and uncalled for attacks on the African American women by the store worker. So many people were too consumed looking for things to buy than to help someone who was being verbally abused. It seemed like many of them had the same attitude as the worker, that the woman had done something wrong or deserved to be harassed. Many people seemed too distant, uninterested, or too intimidated to react. This is unsettling, as civil rights have made so much progress, and yet an African American woman can still be abused in a store, and no one will do anything about it. The same goes for the Hispanic day laborers at the restaurant. There were a lot of people who automatically assumed that the men were illegal immigrants, and told them they didn't have a right to be there, or order food. The fact that people wouldn't even give them a chance because they didn't speak English shows so much intolerance. However, the people who did stand up for the men provided a better outlook. They didn't seem to be concerned with the fact that the men could have been in the country illegally, they were just human beings. In our world today, we sometimes forget that we are all people, and deserve to be treated with the same respect and equality as everyone else.

Fair Treatment in Schools

I went to a middle school where there was a high population of Hispanic students. To me, it was obvious that the people I hung around with were many times separated in higher classes. I was in accelerated classes, and it was rare that a Hispanic student was in one as well. However, I still got to know some of these students in classes like gym and art, and knew that many of them were capable of doing the work that I was doing. Granted, some of them just didn't apply themselves, but in a lot of cases, I thought, it was because of the kids in their classes. The students who could be smart, but weren't in the right classes, were hindered because of the fact that they were distracted by the other kids in these core classes. I believe that if they were in the classes they should have been in, they would have succeeded. It also seemed difficult for them to be put into higher classes in the first place. It was always just recommended what classes they should take, which didn't give them a chance to improve their skills in any way. The activity we did in class reminded me of this, and how these types of problems still happen today. Everyone should have the right to be treated fairly when it comes to their education, because it truly is what you make of it.

Sociopoly

When we were playing sociopoly during class, it was very eye-opening to how definitive social class is. I was the upper-upper class, and I didn't have to worry about money during the whole game. I was basically given wealth from the beginning, so I had it easy. It's just like real life. People in the highest classes inherit things from their parents, so they don't really have to worry about their financial situation. And when I was sent to jail, it was very easy for me to get out, because realistically I would have a good lawyer or be treated differently due to my situation in life. I almost felt bad when people had to pay me when they landed on things that I owned, because I was taking what little money they had. I also felt that though I was at the top of the spectrum, everyone else had much less money than me. There was a significant jump from the upper-middle class to me. And although no one went into debt or went on welfare, the lower classes barely had any money, and had to basically only save, and not spend. They had to keep what they had just to stay in. I felt like this game was such a good depiction of today's social class system, because it was so easy to see how the system stays the way it is.

http://insideandout.chicagopublicradio.org/content/marcus-run

I read this story about a 14-year-old named Marcus who had been getting involved with the wrong kind of people. He was into gangs (because he got encouragement from gang members) and running away from home for extended amounts of time. From this, he acquired a stigma of being a troubled kid, and was then constantly viewed this way at school. He grew tired of getting into trouble, and said he just wanted to learn, and liked to write. But he was getting wrongly accused of things at school because of his reputation. His mother would try to set limits for him, but they weren't strict enough, and he ended up running away again. He ran away for months and at the end of the article, he hadn't been found but when he is, he will be arrested, because he was already put under house arrest several times.
This kind of story is frustrating to read, because you realize that if Marcus had been growing up in a more nurturing environment, he wouldn't have had such troubles with the law. He had realized he had done wrong by participating with the gangs, but felt as if there was no true way out. He felt alone, as no one would believe him when he said he wasn't guilty of something at school. The stigma he carried, the one he got at the age of 14, affected the rest of his life. Now, I realize we can't simply eliminate gangs and bad influences in neighborhoods, but I feel like if kids were provided with people at school who gave them a chance and didn't judge them, they maybe wouldn't get into such trouble. No one really believed in Marcus; no one gave him an alternative to getting into trouble. If we would only give kids this chance, and try to understand them, I think more kids would be able to stay out of the court systems and make something of themselves.

Gender Roles, According to Who?

Media has everything to do with the way we behave and the kind of people we've become. Its influence is immense, and is seen as the be-all end-all of what we are. We see it as if we see other people doing something, it is OK for us to do it. This is especially true in regards to gender roles in today's society. This has changed a lot over the years, but we still see the typical husband/wife roles in almost every kind of TV show. These stereotypes are only enforced and perpetuated when we watch these shows. It's like people morph to resemble these people on TV, rather than the shows adapting to how real people actually act. We especially saw this in the episode of According to Jim, where Jim was the insensitive, rude, messy one and his wife took care of their social lives and took care of the house. While this may be true in a great number of households, times are still constantly changing and the media should be adapting to this change. They shouldn't portray women as images of perfection (or make them strive to be so) and men as lazy womanizers. They should take advantage of the huge platform they have and sell positive images that actual people can relate to.

Consuming Kids (Figuratively)

When we were talking about how marketers cater to childrens' wants and desires, I couldn't have agreed more with many of the people in the video who made the argument that this type of advertising and product placement is having a truly negative effect on today's youth. Children are extremely impressionable and vulnerable, and for marketers to be taking advantage of this is wrong. Sure, they need to make money and have jobs, but there are ways they can still do this without sacrificing ethics. We know that kids love junk food and toys, especially with any of these involving their favorite characters from TV and movies. And it's not necessarily wrong to include these characters in certain products. But marketers should consider which characters they're pushing on kids. Certain products can seem like the most innocent things, but when you really think about what they're promoting, you question what kind of message this sends to kids. Characters like the Disney princesses seem harmless, but what do they really teach girls? That being pretty and finding Prince Charming should be your only goals in life? Also, companies use these characters to sell all kinds of junk food, when they should really be using this technique to sell good, healthier things. It's as simple as that, but then it's about giving people what they want. There is a fine line between the two, but for anything to change, people sometimes have to do what they believe is right, not what is popular.