I went to the movies
Just watched Crash.
And I write this in the quiet gush that follows after watching something stunningly evocative. I don’t think I will catch the next person on the road and tell them to watch this film. I will not SMS in frenzied urgency. I will wait because my time to recommend this film and my turn to say why will come. Not tomorrow perhaps, not next year perhaps, but much, much later.
Maybe fifteen years later, when my children get involved in a group that insults foreigners...or maybe when they are the outsiders that people insult...maybe then, I will tell them about this movie. Until then, I'll probably live that story.
About how discrimination begins at home, how angry people beget angry reactions, and scared people hate. How the weak person can be strong. How the timid can be fierce and the loud can be dumb. How sometimes you let the authorities molest you and how sometimes you watch and let it happen. How the molester is probably a guy with a sick father who helped the voiceless get a good life.
How exploitation or fairness is not a legacy but a choice. How you could give a chance to a person one time and wrench away one from another.
How a prejudice is like a limitation…argue for it and it is yours.
It's a movie that will mature in the mind. Because its horrific how you can identify with the perpetrator as easily as you can with the victim. How you can have three experiences and dismiss off a race as acne. How bias is the truth, the lie, and everything in between.
About how you can miss out so much about a person because of the notion that they are wrong. Not your type.
About how you can think of a person as vile because he sullied you and be right. How you can thank him for being a savior and be right about that too.
I’ll tell my children how, when everything's said and done, people come home. How they look out the window and see where they belong and where they don't and they see the same place.
About how you will live in this world and learn that perception is reality...and how it isn't.
And when I'm done saying this, I'll tell them about the spectacular scene where Matt Dillon rescues the woman from the upturned car as gasoline scorches around them.
And how I almost missed Crash because I thought this was an action movie..the wrong movie for me, not my type.
And I write this in the quiet gush that follows after watching something stunningly evocative. I don’t think I will catch the next person on the road and tell them to watch this film. I will not SMS in frenzied urgency. I will wait because my time to recommend this film and my turn to say why will come. Not tomorrow perhaps, not next year perhaps, but much, much later.
Maybe fifteen years later, when my children get involved in a group that insults foreigners...or maybe when they are the outsiders that people insult...maybe then, I will tell them about this movie. Until then, I'll probably live that story.
About how discrimination begins at home, how angry people beget angry reactions, and scared people hate. How the weak person can be strong. How the timid can be fierce and the loud can be dumb. How sometimes you let the authorities molest you and how sometimes you watch and let it happen. How the molester is probably a guy with a sick father who helped the voiceless get a good life.
How exploitation or fairness is not a legacy but a choice. How you could give a chance to a person one time and wrench away one from another.
How a prejudice is like a limitation…argue for it and it is yours.
It's a movie that will mature in the mind. Because its horrific how you can identify with the perpetrator as easily as you can with the victim. How you can have three experiences and dismiss off a race as acne. How bias is the truth, the lie, and everything in between.
About how you can miss out so much about a person because of the notion that they are wrong. Not your type.
About how you can think of a person as vile because he sullied you and be right. How you can thank him for being a savior and be right about that too.
I’ll tell my children how, when everything's said and done, people come home. How they look out the window and see where they belong and where they don't and they see the same place.
About how you will live in this world and learn that perception is reality...and how it isn't.
And when I'm done saying this, I'll tell them about the spectacular scene where Matt Dillon rescues the woman from the upturned car as gasoline scorches around them.
And how I almost missed Crash because I thought this was an action movie..the wrong movie for me, not my type.
Comments
Oh and the bad cop who saves the woman is Matt Dillon, not Ben Stiller...and yeah they both starred in 'There's something about Mary'.
"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
It really feels that way when you live in American suburbia for a long time. More so in LA which was completely built around the car. There are places (and I'm not making this up) where one needs a car just to cross the street, because there are no pedestrian crosssings for a mile on either side. I could never live there.
I like movies that make you think. That life is full of contradictions. That there is no absolute right or wrong. That there are shades of grey we must learn to appreciate.
phoenix is right. Its Matt Dillon, and he's nominated for best actor in a supporting role at oscars for this movie.
Still make themselves the measure of Mankind;
Fondly we think we honour Merit then,
When we but praise Our selves in Other Men.
Alexander Pope
All the characters drew me in as each one had something unique about them, all of them so fallible and human. The actor who plays Thandie Newton's husband is Terrence Howard. He is even better in the movie hustle and flow. He is nominated for his role in it for an Oscar. If you get a chance to watch it please do.
PS: The NY Times did a piece on India's new rich. Link to it along with my take on it is on my blog. If any one cares to visit/comments/flames..its all welcomed. karmic musings..
Making a movie of this calibre needs some serious thought process and playing with the minds twisting the storyline.
Thanks to "Paul Haggis" for scripting and filming such a wonderful story.
Turned out to be a solid idea!
Am completely certain now that I want to watch Crash as soon as I can.
That's a lovely verse. Thank you!
Hey Rabin,
Well, some people do laugh at racial slurs, so I suppose the movie could be comical...but I'm pretty sure that's not what it set out to be. :-)
Hey chai,
You watched it on DVD?
Hi Jay,
I agree. Terrific cast - all of them! For once I even liked Brendan Fraser. By the way, read your post. Liked it very much. :-)
Hi anonymous two,
Yes, wonderful bit of storytelling. I like this, you know, when sub-plots weave into one another.
Hi Gitika,
Of course! I'd love to be around...by the way, how long is the wait? he he! Not that I have plans or anything. :-D
Yes, do watch it and tell me if you liked it.
Hey shub,
Yes...watch. :-)