Crash (2004) - 7

This film is amazing. It was written by Paul Haggis, who also wrote Million Dollar Baby. It deals with the hard issues of race and the emotional intensity of anger that can accompany it. There are quite a few characters and stories that have similair themes and are brought together at the end of the film. It is an easy film to start conversation and dialogue about the issue of race in America and how that defines a lot of reality. The film gets at some of the complexity of racial issues by showing both the personal and some of the institutional ways that it effects people's behavior. It begs the question: How do you actively pursue good? Or, put differently, is it possible to do anything that is not racist? It seems as though perception is everything in our current culture. If this is the case then no real solutions to the problem seem to be with in our grasp. On the other hand, our perceptions often fail to tell us the truth, and the problem may lie in the inescapable human condition. The film implies that humanity is going to need something outside of itself if there is to be any hope for true flourishing as human beings. This film is challenging , but also gives hope that there are indeed miracles, which might be the only thing that keeps humanity from destroying itself.