Good Morning Ms Benjamin and fellow students, To begin, I strongly agree that journeys have the ability to challenge our thinking as they have the power to change our pre-conceived perspective and reaffirm our existing viewpoint. Paul Haggis’s film crash and Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I rise’ reinforces that journeys have the ability to challenge our thinking by focusing on events highlighting the overcoming and confrontation of obstacles like racial stereotypes and discrimination that eventually leads to a greater self awareness and provides opportunities to broaden our understanding of others and the world. Journeys empower us to change our perspective on preconception which then leads us to new insights of people and the world. This is demonstrated …show more content…
The close up shot of the hug and close proxemics of the two emphasises Jean’s relief and her overcoming racial prejudice towards Maria. Jean’s emotional and inner journey demonstrate ability to change our existing perspective. The existing perspective of Jean was that she is a really blatant and racist white person, this is shown when she stereotypes the locksmith. However, the experiences and challenges she encounters changes her racist view towards Maria. Hence, our existing perspective of her from shift from negative to positive. Jean’s transformation leads to greater self awareness and broadens her understanding of others and the world. Similarly, in the poem, Angelou overcomes racial prejudices by confronting racial comments made towards her from white people. In: “You tread me in the very dirt"-Metaphorically, Angelou is saying that people treats her with no respect. This is so relatable to us. In some point of our life or journey, we all come to a point where someone doesn’t treat you with …show more content…
Her strength retaliating against people who look down on her exemplify how a person can overcome the obstacles that they face throughout their physical and inner journey. Moreover, ‘Crash’ explores how the Journey isn’t just about overcoming obstacles such as racial stereotypes. It could involve the person having to confront and acknowledge it. Racial stereotyping is addressed in the scene where Anthony and Peter walk out the cafe and Anthony goes on a rampage about the service they just received because they are black. Anthony confronts stereotyping of himself by acknowledging the fact that they were poorly treated because the black waitress assumed they wouldn’t tip due to their race. The medium shot of Anthony and peter shows the audience their unsatisfying experience at the cafe. This challenges our thinking by altering our perspective on Anthony. Initially, we wouldn’t assume Anthony to be so self aware and to be stereotyping himself. Now, our perspective on Anthony is that he’s really
People talk behind the speaker’s back and spread whatever rumors they can conjure, even to the point of ramming her face in the mud and really making a picture of her as a dirty, good-for-nothing person. Yet despite that, she still walks with her head high, knowing they're not true. And when people can't seem to understand why she’s not upset, they'll continue putting her down. And she'll just laugh it off, not really caring about what they say or do. The last stanza shows that even if she had a checkered past and no matter what she may have done before, she can still rise, she can still stand up, she can still look the world in the eye and tell them, “I will rise.” In lines 21-24, Angelou states, “You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.” This shows that no matter what came Angelou’s way, she still rose to the occasion and made a difference. Thus, the racism that Angelou went through left its footprints in the making of her poetic
Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and Welty’s “A Worn Path” are both written during a time of racial and sexual oppression. Both authors were African-American females who grew up during extreme racial subjugation. Angelou speaks about overcoming oppression and prejudice in her poem, “Still I Rise”. She carries a confident tone, assuring that she will overcome her troubles, asserting, “Just like moons and like suns, / With the certainty of tides, / Just like hopes springing high, / Still, I’ll rise” (Angelou 10-13). In “A Worn Path,” the narrator, also an
Journey is an expedition, as much as it is physical, it is also emotional and imaginative. In the process of embarking on a journey an individual must discover something about themselves or the society which is found through obstacles. As such, the radio drama ‘Flowers for Algernon adapted by Bert coules and written by Daniel Keyes, displays that the strength of the human spirit is essential for the journey if an individual is to overcome the obstacles and gain new perspectives and understanding of themselves and the world. Contrastingly, in ‘Flowers for Algernon’ directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris , the strength of the human spirit is essential for the journey, if individuals embark on a physical journey to guide themselves to reflect
The movie Crash shows the hostility between characters of different backgrounds, primarily through their interactions and dialect, to prove that everyone experiences discrimination and racism in their lives no matter their race, religion, sexual-orientation, age, etc. Director Paul Haggis focuses on language, behavior, and stereotypes to convey the different kinds of communication used between the diverse races and ethnicity groups that are shown throughout the film. The textbook, Understanding Human Communication, defines human communication as the process of creating meaning through symbolic interactions, but this process is much more intricate than this definition makes it out to be (Adler, 5). Through my own analysis of the plot and various storylines, I will discuss the concepts and principles of communication used to portray the injustice of racial stereotyping and persecution in today’s society.
In the early scenes of the film, we are introduced to two black individuals, Anthony and Peter, who get into an argument about the stereotyping of the black community. Anthony displays concepts of reflected appraisal as he places the assumption that all white individuals are racist toward other black individuals. Reflected appraisal, in the communication process, is essentially an individual’s perception of how others view or evaluate them. Anthony supports this claim by expressing how the waitress in the diner they just left did not refill his coffee but refilled the coffee of other white customers. His friend Peter points out that his coffee was not finished and the diner was packed, indicating that there were other logical reasons besides Anthony’s claims. However, Anthony is insistent
When you’re walking down the street and see a group of tattooed men of color and your first instinct is to cross the street is this due to internalized racism or does past experiences validate your prejudice? Or when you sit with a group of people all speaking a common language other than your own, is your discomfort and insecurity rationalized? The film Crash explores the lives of different socio-economic groups and their experiences dealing with prejudice and stereotypes or being on the other end of it. The concept of various “American Identities” are explored within the film. We see the white woman who fears people of color. The African American male who’s so anti-white he becomes the stereotypes he’s supposedly against. The Latino male who based on appearance is profiled and many more characters. All these individuals created these identities for themselves to exist in America. In Bharati Mukherjee’s “Two Ways to Belong in America” we see this theme being shared when Mukherjee and her sister Mira arrive in America and must find their own way to exist in this new country.
The first example of this is seen at the very start of the movie when: Esposito’s character, Maria, or Ria as she calls herself getting into an accident with an oriental woman who makes the statement that the accident was Ria’s fault because “Mexicans do not know how to drive and she did not see her “blake” light.” And she responds with equal racism. “Maybe if you see over steering wheel, you blake too.” The next example of racism involves a Mexican man named Daniel and my least favorite racist of the movie, Jean, who hates anyone who isn’t “like her” aka any ethnicity except Caucasian. He is fixing her door and she automatically assumes that he would sell the key and demands to have her door re-keyed in the morning based upon the Mexican stereotype he is a gangbanger who is going to sell her key so that the house can be broken into.
The movie Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socioeconomic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. In this brief essay, I am going to discuss the impact racism and stereotyping have on the lives of some main characters in the movie, considering the development of the storyline and the impact of various incidents that change their perspective towards themselves and each other. Martin and Nakayama define racial identity as being based on physical characteristics, but they are also constructed in fluid social contexts (pg. 105). The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife constantly scared of "the other"; two African American thieves, a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife, a non-racist police officer, a Latino lock maker. The plot of the movie intersects all characters ' lives and their attitudes towards each other, while making the audience question the validity of prejudices and racial stereotypes.
The movie “CRASH” is an inspirational film which deals with the lives of many interesting, if not desperate, citizens of Los Angeles. This movie takes place in a thirty-six hour period and shows that the characters in this film are all affected and defined, in one way or another, by racism. This movie is not like other Hollywood movies which follow a norm and a certain dialogue pattern. Crash, on the other hand, show distinct characters whose actions are determined by sheer accident and coincidence. One of the events which is constantly present in this movie, is when people’s assumptions and prejudice prevent them from seeing the real person in front of them. Some of the characters in this film, such as the district attorney’s wife and the
A journey can be physical, within the imagination or an inner progression. Every journey enables the traveller to gain a sense of enlightenment and deeper understanding of their world. This is evident in Atwood’s Journey to the Interior, Eliot’s The Journey of the Magi, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which prove every journey, if truly a journey, profoundly changes one’s perspective on certain aspects of life.
”-Anthony. Like most of my classmates, I thought that the movie Crash was going to be a fun and comedic film, but in reality Crash was a serious movie that was filled with plenty of life lessons. In the 22 years that I have been alive, I sure am glad to have never faced racism as bad as portrayed in this film. The purpose of this paper is to you about the movie Crash. I will include details on what some of the main messages in the film are and how they are parallel to what we have been discussing in this course.
According to Anthony, you could not find a more white, well-lit place in town. "We the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger-happy LAPD. So tell me, why aren't we scared?". Peter- " cause we got guns?". Anthony- "you could be right". They then pull out their firearms and approach the couple, robbing them of their SUV at gunpoint. In the end, was the woman wrong to make such an assumption? Yes she was. Did her assumption turn out to be a correct one? Yes it did. Anthony again reinforces another stereotype given to his race. By acting the way he did he proved the woman to correct in her assumption. If he did not want the woman to be afraid of him, then why did he steal her car? What will she think of
Racism has played a major factor throughout society. Being prejudice and being racist can be expressed interchangeably with each other since they both are defined in nearly identical ways: having hatred or looking down on one of a different race or nationality. Resembling its counterpart, racism has occurred in the years leading all the way back to biblical times. In Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise”, Angelou uses diverse literary elements while writing, such as similes, tone, imagery, symbolism, repetition, and allusions to allow the poem to have an overall sense of racism and how she possesses a strong willingness to rise above the issue.
For centuries, the African American community has faced the oppression of those that do not understand or accept their different culture and morals. The exploitation of African American citizens has been documented through a plethora of works of poetry and various other art forms, but each represents the hardships in a different way due to the different experiences and perceptions of the authors. Interaction in the civil rights movement, in particular, played a large role in the sculpting of poet Maya Angelou’s work. Angelou’s personal experience allowed for her to connect with other African Americans and to learn how the travesties of persecution and racism affected them. Throughout her poem “Still I Rise”, Maya Angelou exhibits the determination of African Americans to overcome the adversities brought on by the oppressive nature of society in the years leading up to the civil rights movement.
African Americans have been oppressed for centuries. Despite this discrimination, people of this race have fought hard for their freedom and respect. This pursuit of equality is evident inMaya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise”. Angelou integrates numerous literary ideas such as various sounds, poetry forms, and key concepts.The poetic devices incorporated in Maya Angelou’s work, “Still I Rise”,heightens the overall effectiveness of the poem.