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Examples Of Stereotypes In The Movie Crash

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Crash is ridden with prejudice and stereotyping. I specifically chose to analyze the scene in which Jean confronts her husband about Daniel, the locksmith. In the scene preceding, Jean and her husband are victims of a carjacking wherein two African American men are the perpetrators. Following the event, she allows the stereotypes of Daniel’s physical appearance (his tattoos, shaved head, and clothes) to guide her perception of him. Jean demands that the locks be changed again, because she is afraid that he will “sell the keys to one of his gangbanger friends.” She goes on to say that she was initially suspicious of the two African American men before they stole her car, but failed to act because she did not wish to seem racist. Use of stereotypes and prejudiced behavior is influenced by many factors, two of which will be addressed here: activation and application. Her heightened desire to apply stereotypes is why she then jumps to stereotypes when perceiving Daniel. …show more content…

Jean’s exposure to the stereotype of Hispanic men with tattoos and African American men is apparent from her conversation with her husband. Society and the media love to use stereotypes when portraying characters. This can be seen in the scene where Cameron, the director is instructed to reshoot a scene with his African American, making him say “don’t be talking bout that” instead of “don’t talk to me about that”. The cultural exposure of Jean to stereotypes of Hispanics and African Americans readily allowed activation of stereotypes. The strength of her personal stereotyped associations was incredibly strong in the locksmith scene. Having been held up at gunpoint, the recency of the stereotype reinforcing event makes her activation of stereotypes easier and increases her motivation to apply stereotypes in any potentially threatening

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