Stereotype in Crash

Stereotype is everywhere! It’s on the television, the news, the movies, out on the streets, in the work places, in the schools, it’s even in your home. So what is this stereotype then? According to Encyclopedia Britannica, stereotype is define as “any theory or doctrine indicating that that actions of an individual reflect on his or her whole culture, sex, age, race, class, or nationality” (“Stereotype”). To put it plainly, stereotyping is a tool that we use to label people. Stereotyping takes away the identity of the individual and replace it with a generalize characteristic that are often negative and demeaning. It would be a perfect world if no one stereotype, but we don’t live in a perfect world and here is where our problems lie. Stereotype is not just wrong, but it robs people of their right to be individuals.

The movie Crash is a great showcase of the stereotype and prejudice seen in everyday life. Throughout the movie, stereotyping and prejudice can be seen as the causes of all the problems in the movie. A great example would be when the Persian store owner attempt to buy a gun in the firearm store. The owner was a white male that present a negative attitude toward the Persian customer because of his middle-eastern background. Without even getting to know the Persian customers, the store owner immediately associated them with the Al Qaeda terrorist group, which was responsible for the suicide bombing on 9/11 that have killed thousands of Americans (Crash).

Any person that stereotypes could be considered as a prejudiced person. A prejudiced person does not take the time to understand another as an individual. Instead, they make preconceptions about another, regarding their age, sex, race, nationality, class or culture. In the previous case, the store owner was prejudiced against the Persian customers. It is an issue that although it has always existed throughout history, it would be thought to have dissipated in the 21st century. Taking in count that now a day we are better informed and educated to understand that one group's actions shouldn't be applied to stereotype the whole race.

The link that connects a person who is prejudiced and a person who stereotypes is that fact that they both are negative and demeaning. They violate the rights of individuals by forming perceptions about people based solely on their membership in a particular group. Consequently, they failed to judge people based on their merits and individual traits but on generalized notion derived from popular culture.

Some would think that stereotyping is a subconscious or instinctive action from within, and that may be considered true, only to a certain degree however. There is a fine distinction between innate behaviors opposed to conditioned behaviors. Instinct is an innate behavior which is part of our natural intuition from the point of which we are born. Stereotyping would not come as an automatic reflex action in any situation, thus it can be said that it is not an instinctive behavior. It is an action which is learned and conditioned through periods of time, just as racism, sexism, and ethnocentrism, etc.

There are some cases when stereotyping could indirectly act in one's favor, however the amount is quite