Crash Wildcard: Transformation

After a car accident, people change. Why do they change? Is it because the shock of the crash caused fear and panic? Or Because of the money that has to go into fixing the car? No matter the reason, and no matter who is at fault, a definite transformation occurs when people crash into one another.

In the movie Crash many of the characters go through transformations as their lives intertwine. When these exchanges occur, change is inevitable. The only question is, is this change for the better or for the worse?

We begin examining these character transformations with Jean (Sandra Bullock), the wife of the district attorney. Jean starts out as a very cold character that is preoccupied with material things. She thinks that wealth and superficial objects bring happiness. We are introduced to Jean when two black men, who proceed to steal their car, hold her and her husband at gunpoint. This incident caused an already insecure woman to be even more skeptical and stereotypical of minority groups. Some examples of Jean’s stereotypical manner after the incident include her treatment towards the locksmith, and her housekeeper. The Latino locksmith comes to change the locks on all of the doors in Jean’s house. She freaks out to her husband, accusing this man of being in a gang and says he is going to sell copies of their keys to his gang friends. This irrational behavior shows that she is stereotyping a man she doesn’t know based on his looks and his tattoos. Also, throughout the movie Jean is very disrespectful towards her housekeeper.

Although Jean seems pretentious, her transformation occurs when she reveals the truth about her life. During a conversation she is having on the phone with a friend, jean tells her friend that she wakes up angry everyday and she doesn’t know why. Her friend abruptly cuts her off and ends the conversation. Soon after, she falls down the steps and needs medical care. The only person she was able to get a hold of to take her to the hospital is her housekeeper. During the end of the scene, Jean hugs her housekeeper and says the housekeeper is the best friend she has. This shows her transformation from an angry, materialistic person to someone who realizes that money and wealth do not define who she is. She realizes that her best friend, and the person who is ultimately there for her in the end, is the housekeeper, who deserves more respect than jean gives her.


One of the characters who is responsible for stealing Jean’s car is Anthony
(Ludacris). Anthony’s first appearance in the movie indicates his severe racial views of the world. When noticing that Jean was afraid of him and his friend, he states that if anyone should be scared and nervous it should be him and his friend. Just after complaining about others stereotypes of associating fear, violence, and guns with black men, he and his friend hold Jean and her husband at gunpoint. The two men eventually steal their car and sell it to a chop shop.

Throughout the rest of the movie Anthony continues to make very racist and stereotypical remarks, most of which make no sense at all. Anthony’s transformation in the movie comes when he tries to steal a car from a black man but fails (something Anthony specifically said he would never do). The man tells Anthony,“ You embarrass me, you embarrass yourself”. This quote makes Anthony think about his way of life and his racist views. Anthony’s defining moment comes when he steals a van and takes it to the chop shop. When he gets there he realizes that the van is full if Asian immigrants. The chop shop owner offers him $500 a piece for each immigrant. Instead of selling them, he sets them free in an Asian-cultured area. This shows that a man the audience saw as a racist thief, does have a kind heart and is willing to do the right thing, even when it involves members from another culture.


Another character in the movie who verbally shows his racist views is Officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon). This man is portrayed as one of the most racist characters in the movie, as he verbally and physically commits acts of racism against an innocent black couple. His maltreatment causes his partner to feel uncomfortable and Officer Ryan warns this man that he will one day be racist, just like him. He also yells at a woman from the insurance company because his father’s HMO plan will not cover further treatments on his illness. When Officer Ryan discovers the woman’s name is Sheniqua, he immediately assumes she is black and racially assaults her as well.
Officer Ryan’s transformation begins as he comes upon the scene of a crash. The woman inside the upturned vehicle is the same woman he racially violated earlier. When the woman realizes that the man who molested her is trying to save her, she begins to scream and cry. Officer Ryan has a transforming moment as he realizes the consequences of his actions. We get to see a softer side of him and we hope that from then on he changes the way he treats people of other cultures.



Officer John Ryan’s partner is Officer Tom Hansen (Ryan Philippe). He experiences one of Officer Ryan’s racist and bigoted moments, and promptly asks to be removed from riding with him. He will not tell the head officer his reasoning, which shows how cowardly he is. He holds so much racism and prejudice inside, but he wants to act like he is open-minded and impartial to race. He tries to exemplify this by letting a black man off with just a warning after he resisted the officer’s commands. We see officer Hansen’s stereotypical views as he picks up a black man who is hitchhiking. When this black man begins to comment on Officer Hansen’s country music, and begins to talk about writing a song, the Officer laughs at him, thinking it is a joke. The Officer then proceeds to get angry in thinking that the black man is mocking him as he laughs about something to himself. The Officer then gets upset and asks the black man to leave the car, and when the black man went to pull an object out of his pocket, the Officer shot and killed him. The officer is stereotypically and habitually assuming the object was a gun. He then disposes of the body and burns his vehicle. This shows Tom Hanson’s transformation takes a turn for the worse, as his seemingly innocent personality is ultimately destroyed when he kills a black man through his stereotypical views.


Similar to Officer Hansen, Farhad, the Persian storeowner,uses a gun in his own rage and defense. When Farhad discovers a broken lock on the back door of his shop, he realizes the danger and buys a gun. When he calls someone to fix the lock, the repairman informs Farhad that the lock is not the problem, but rather the door is, and in order to fix the problem so that his door shuts and locks, he has to buy a new door. Farhad believes the locksmith is trying to cheat him and these two men get into a verbal argument until finally the locksmith storms out. The next morning Farhad arrives at work to find that his shop is broken in to. His shop is completely robbed and destroyed, left with verbal slander on the walls and trash scattered on the floor. Farhad is livid when he finds out the insurance company isn’t going to pay for any of the damage because the locksmith told him that he needed a new door.
As a way of revenge Farhad goes to the locksmith’s house and points a gun to his face demanding money. Just as this is happening, the locksmith’s daughter jumps into his arms to protect him and Farhad fires the gun pointed directly at the girl. After seeing that the girl was not wounded from the bullet, Farhad believes she is an angel. This moment transformed Farhad, causing him to be at peace with himself and the situation that fate brought him.

Although many of the characters transform by the end of the movie, we still do not see how they act upon their changes. We only hope that the characters previous notions on race and life will change forever because of all the “crashes” that occurred in their lives to cause change. Just when the point of hope comes at the end of the movie, when Anthony commits a selfless act and frees the Asian immigrants, we see another crash. This crash symbolizes the circular pattern of events that occur and the blindness and racism that goes along with it. Although this pattern may continue, we can only hope that with every crash comes a transformation. And with every small change, progress can be made towards and culturally accepting world.

“It’s the Sense of Touch. Any real city you walk, you know? You brush past people. People bump into you. In L.A nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much that we crash into each other just so we can feel something.”

Post by: Daniel Jackson, Micheal Viox, and Ashley Woltermann