Q: What do you get when you mix Crap and Trash?
So I finally saw Oscar's movie of the year, Crash, last night. Who was it that said that the worst movies are the ones that have so much wasted potential, that come close to being good (or great) but contain flaws so fundamental that it completely destroys the film? Maybe nobody said that, but I'm sure I heard at least a paraphrasing of that once.
Crash is by no means one of the worst movies ever, but it is extremely frustrating. There are some truly intense scenes with loads of dramatic impact, but inevitably these bits of drama come screeching to a halt as the viewer's suspension of disbelief is destroyed by a hackneyed cliché or trite revelation by a principal character that "hey, maybe my judging [Black/poor/immigrant/Arabic/Mexican] people isn't right". There are no characters, merely coins with two opposing sides. A police officer is a racist, but he has to look after his ailing father. A Persian shopkeeper is suspicious of foreigners but has to endure prejudice on a daily basis. A young Black man gets bent out of shape at the subtle signs of racism he sees all around him, but we learn he lives up to all of those stereotypes. Nobody likes Sandray Bulluck, but we feel slightly bad for her when she falls down the stairs.
Writer/Director Paul Haggis throws all of his character coins up in the air and lets them scatter, collide (oops, I meant "crash into each other"), and finally settle on the ground. We get to witness their interactions and the dust they kick up. If you think my coin metaphor seems heavy handed and contrived, let me just say that I feel inspired by Haggis himself. I have to admit, I am a bit of a sucker for nonlinear storytelling, and I'll grant that Haggis does a capable job of weaving the numerous storlylines together. Yes, at times everything just comes together just a little bit too well and too cleverly. At times serendipity seems to be the strongest force in his universe. But this is one area where I'm willing to cut him some slack. Let's not let realism get in the way of a good story.
But enough of the apologist stance. Where I can't suspend my disbelief is when it comes to the revelations that each character seems to have. Are we to believe that one event--dramatic though it may be--can erase years of enforcing their own stereotypes? I guess if we can believe any of this schlock can actually happen, why not?
The worst part of all is just how self-important all of this feels. Haggis is using this as a vehicle to provide a capital-M Message. Racism still exists! It can be found everywhere! Everyone's a racist! No two people are not on fire. I mean racist. Thanks Paul, I needed your dumb-ass story with it's over-the-top use of manipulative music to tell me that.
Dumb ass.
Crash is by no means one of the worst movies ever, but it is extremely frustrating. There are some truly intense scenes with loads of dramatic impact, but inevitably these bits of drama come screeching to a halt as the viewer's suspension of disbelief is destroyed by a hackneyed cliché or trite revelation by a principal character that "hey, maybe my judging [Black/poor/immigrant/Arabic/Mexican] people isn't right". There are no characters, merely coins with two opposing sides. A police officer is a racist, but he has to look after his ailing father. A Persian shopkeeper is suspicious of foreigners but has to endure prejudice on a daily basis. A young Black man gets bent out of shape at the subtle signs of racism he sees all around him, but we learn he lives up to all of those stereotypes. Nobody likes Sandray Bulluck, but we feel slightly bad for her when she falls down the stairs.
Writer/Director Paul Haggis throws all of his character coins up in the air and lets them scatter, collide (oops, I meant "crash into each other"), and finally settle on the ground. We get to witness their interactions and the dust they kick up. If you think my coin metaphor seems heavy handed and contrived, let me just say that I feel inspired by Haggis himself. I have to admit, I am a bit of a sucker for nonlinear storytelling, and I'll grant that Haggis does a capable job of weaving the numerous storlylines together. Yes, at times everything just comes together just a little bit too well and too cleverly. At times serendipity seems to be the strongest force in his universe. But this is one area where I'm willing to cut him some slack. Let's not let realism get in the way of a good story.
But enough of the apologist stance. Where I can't suspend my disbelief is when it comes to the revelations that each character seems to have. Are we to believe that one event--dramatic though it may be--can erase years of enforcing their own stereotypes? I guess if we can believe any of this schlock can actually happen, why not?
The worst part of all is just how self-important all of this feels. Haggis is using this as a vehicle to provide a capital-M Message. Racism still exists! It can be found everywhere! Everyone's a racist! No two people are not on fire. I mean racist. Thanks Paul, I needed your dumb-ass story with it's over-the-top use of manipulative music to tell me that.
Dumb ass.