The Theme Of Racial Inequality In Shawshank Redemption And Crash
Crash was my first choice of movie. Crash was the first movie I watched. It caught my attention because of the title. I read more about it and became eager to see the film. In the beginning of the film, two detectives are involved in an accident with a woman who is elderly and Asian. Ria, the female detective, starts to use racial insults towards other women. The tone is set for the rest of the film, and also foreshadows what will come.
The film switches to show a Persian owner of a store, Ferhad, with his daughter trying to buy a handgun. The white man is selling a handgun to the Persian man. The white man becomes frustrated and insults Ferhad’s race. Ferhad becomes angry when the white man calls him Osama. The owner, a white man, calls the security guards to escort Ferhad out of his shop. He leaves his daughter in the shop, and she decides to purchase the gun. Crash, the film, was made soon after 9/11 occurred in America. The film Crash was filmed shortly after 9/11 in America. In the film, Americans are rude and hostile towards these people who are of a different racial background. They are discussing stereotypes associated with black men. They are being passed by a wealthy couple in Los Angeles. The wife grabs her husband as she passes the men and becomes uncomfortably uncomfortable. They notice her actions when they see them on the streets. The two men hold a gun up to the couple’s heads as they get into their car. The two African American men then steal the couple’s car. This scene shows how African American men and women are subjected to extreme stereotypes.
The film is full of different scenes that show how the society treats different races. Films like this one show how people think they are better than others. The film is not a solution, but it asks that people reflect on themselves and their experiences. The movie shows how each character has experienced racial prejudice, some as a victim and others as a perpetrator.
The movie Shawshank Redemption is a great example of the inequalities that occur and the crimes committed inside prisons. Red is the man who narrates the movie. He was sentenced to life in prison for trying to murder his wife. But he also accidentally killed both a neighbour and a small child. Andy Dufresne, who was sentenced to life in Shawshank years later, also received a death sentence. All prisoners knew Red as “the guy that knows how to get stuff”. Andy approached Red only one month after his incarceration, asking for a stone hammer to resume his old hobby.
Shawshank’s environment is harsh, with guards who are violent, frequent fights, and sexual assaults. Andy is sexually assaulted by “The Sisters” from the beginning of the film. One of the guards tells him about a job on the roof for a week. Andy, who is a former banker, overhears the guard discussing his tax. Andy, an ex-banker, offers his help to the guard in order to earn some protection from both other guards and prisoners.
Tommy Williams is a new prisoner who becomes Andy and Red’s friend. Andy is impressed by Tommy Williams and helps to teach him to read. He even gets his diploma. Eventually, it comes out that Tommy was the man who murdered Andy’s ex-wife. Andy tells the warden the evidence in the hope that he will be proved innocent. To protect Andy, the warden kills Tommy. Andy is put into solitary for 2 months. Andy is not called to the roll after being released. He was on his way out of confinement. Andy had broken a tunnel in the prison’s walls with a rockhammer. Red gets his parole forty years later, and they reunite with Andy.
Social constructions such as race and gender exist. In a scene from the movie Crash, a detective calls his lover Mexican. She replied: “My father’s Puerto Rico. My mother’s El Salvador. “None of them is Mexico”. In the film, we also see men playing their traditional roles as ‘protectors’ and providers’. A black film director, Cameron, is stopped by a John Ryan. Cameron’s partner is present and starts questioning the police officer. They decided to search for weapons. He is calm as the police officer in white touches his wife. She believes that he has failed to protect. Later, she claims that they humiliated him to prevent the business world from’reading about him in newspapers and realizing that he’s black’.
Crash encourages us to reexamine our understanding of the distinctions that exist between masculine traits like aggression and protection, as well as feminine traits like calmness, intuition, and submissiveness. A Persian American proprietor of an all-in-one shop buys his handgun as a way to protect himself, his wife and his young daughter. The gun is a bad purchase for his daughter. The shop belonging to his family is vandalized. He pursues the locksmith who he believes is responsible immediately after the incident. He demands money from the locksmith, and holds him at gunpoint. The daughter of the lock-smith was standing at the doorway and watched her father being shot. When she heard the shots, she ran outside.
The girl is not injured when the gun fires. Dorri’s father had forbidden her to use blanks, but she did. Her behavior in this scene is a good example of “female-like” traits, such as assertiveness. Her behavior shows both calmness and intuition. It shows how people can adapt to any situation and use their strengths.
In Shawshank Redemption there are many prisoners who have been detained for many long years. Brooks was one of the many prisoners who spent fifty years behind bars and had forgotten the world outside. Brooks was unable to resocialize after he left prison. He committed suicide. Every person becomes desocialized upon entering a jail. You are thrust into an unfamiliar world when you leave prison. Correctional facilities are one of the most common punishments for deviance in society. After his release, culture shock played a big role in why he couldn’t adapt to the society. As a prisoner you will inevitably become institutionalized. Within the Shawshank jail, you will find small communities. Prisoner subcultures reveal the different roles that prisoners can play.
The film begins Andy’s punishment by showing one of its many subcultures. A group of men who call themselves the Sisters are in prison. Bogs led the group of sisters, and he targeted Andy as a new prisoner. The dominant group in the movie uses violence to establish their dominance and control over other prisoners. The wardens and guards of the prison used violence to establish and maintain their dominance.
Both movies deal with racial and social inequality, as well as gender inequality, prison reforms, and sexual assault. The Shawshank Redemption and Crash both deal with racial inequality. Racial inequalities have been an issue for centuries. In just thirty-three years, the number of families with negative wealth among blacks has increased by 28.5%. Race discrimination continues to persist in the workplace, education and pay. The top 10 % of White Men earn $117.986 each year. And the top ten % of Asian Men make $133.529. Top ten percent Latino men earn $76,847 while top ten black men earn only $60,502. These numbers reflect the racial imbalance in America. The African American man who is a singer in Crash and Red in The Shawshank Redemption are both examples.
A white woman in America today makes $176 less per week than a man. In the United States, white men have a poverty level of 7.0 per cent. While the rate of poverty for Black Women is 21.4%, that for Latino Women is 18.7, and for Native American Woman it’s 22.8%. In Crash a wife who works for a successful politician and a businessman is expected only to be a mom, to care for her children, to work from home.
Social class hierarchies are present in almost all societies. In America there are three different social classes: upper, middle and lower. Each class has its own characteristics, stereotypes and lifestyles. The upper-class people are the wealthiest and most powerful. The upper class in America is represented by the white families, as shown in Crash. The middle-class is the largest group. The middle-class is situated between the lower and upper classes in terms of both their social and economic standing. Lower class people are classified as those who have an unstable economic situation. There is a hierarchy in The Shawshank Redemption. The guards have more power than the wardens. The majority of prisoner are those in the middle-class, people who belong to an organized group and have served time behind bars. The last class are the lower class who don’t have any power and don’t belong in a group.
More than 1.5 million Americans are held in prisons. According to sentencingproject.org, one out of every ten Black men in his thirties is in jail. One statistic is enough to show that there are problems in the justice systems. Crash shows the injustices of the justice in a very effective way. In the movie Crash, a couple of black people are returning home from a party when they’re stopped by police. The two policemen are white. The couple was asked to step out to be searched without reason. The husband is handcuffed while the wife is sexually assaulted. The scene did not only show racial inequity, but also sexual assault. The Shawshank Redemption shows the sexual abuse of prisoners by their fellow inmates, while guards turn a blind-eye.
The movies both prove that in America, racial discrimination, social inequality, gender inequality, as well as sexual abuse are major issues. Both films are highly recommended to anyone willing to listen, understand and accept these ideas. The movies are not able to make people understand how it is to be in a minority group or sexually abused. The films are a great way to learn about other people’s struggles. The Shawshank Redemption, Crash, and other films that deal with racial injustice, social class hierarchy and sexual abuse in prisons and society are all great movies.
