Barriers to the Expression and Recognition of the Human Soul in Crash

In a tradition beginning with Socrates, Westerners have long held that the human possesses a soul that is interconnected, yet distinct, from the human body. The ability to assert the soul over matter by expanding individual consciousness has often been defined as a distinguishing feature that humans possess. However, the 2004 film Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, examines the physical and societal barriers that modern humans face in expanding their awareness of the world and other human beings. Utilizing the vehicle as a metaphor for the confines of the human body, Crash presents the characters John Ryan, Rick Cabot, and Daniel to demonstrate how race, class, and socioeconomic status can impede upon one’s ability to transcend the limits of the physical bodies expand his or her understanding of others.

In the opening scene of Crash, the metaphorical connection between the vehicles in the film and the human body is established. While investigating a crime scene in Los Angeles, Detective Graham Waters makes the following comment regarding a car crash in which his partner was involved:

In LA, 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 (Haggis). As Waters’s statement reveals, the characters of the movie are in a state of isolation from one another. In the case of a car accident, it is the physical confines of the car that separate the driver from the rest of society. The symbol of the car accident as a transformative moment that releases humans from their trappings repeats through the course of the film. However, the film also expands the physical entrapment that the characters are confined by to include the socially imposed statuses by which the characters define themselves.

The story arch of police patrol officer John Ryan represents the barriers that the concept of race imposes upon humans in their efforts to understand one another. As the film suggests, the inability to transcend racial bias prevents individuals from building the empathy that is necessary in order to act ethically towards others. This theme is underscored in the scene where Ryan encounters TV director Cameron Thayer and his wife Christine as they are driving home. In the scene, the vehicles that they drive separate the characters; Thayer is driving an SUV while Ryan and his patrol partner are driving their police patrol vehicle when they encounter the couple. While it appears that the Thayers have enjoyed an evening of entertainment and are behaving in a manner that is typical of married partners, the separation that is imposed between the characters, both literally and symbolically, prevents Ryan from exhibiting empathy for the couple. Instead of allowing the Thayers a warning for dismissing a traffic signal, Ryan proceeds to frisk the couple while sexually assaulting Cameron’s wife. Even as the physical barrier of the vehicle has been removed when Ryan comes into direct contact with the Thayers, the barriers imposed by Ryan’s conceptions on race continue to thwart his understanding of his responsibilities as a public servant.

The district attorney Rick Cabot further demonstrates how class can provide a fortress for racial misperceptions while also hindering human awareness. In the scene where two African-American males mug Rick and his wife Jean, the fraudulent nature of the couple’s racial tolerance is revealed. Though Rick is well educated and enjoys a professional career, he reveals that the empathy that he demonstrates for individuals across racial and class lines is simply a charade that aids his political career. Further, as the dialogue between the assailants Anthony and Peter reveal, the couple is mugged while they are frequenting a restaurant in a predominately white and upper-class area of town. Though Rick might express a commitment to racial diversity in his professional life, he likely seeks isolation from those who are different from him in his personal life. When Jean expresses her apprehension toward a Hispanic locksmith who changing a lock in their home, she further conveys that her home and social status serve as a fortress that should offer her protection from those who are different. However, in the scene where Jean falls down the stairs and is hospitalized, she reveals that rather than feeling secure, she feels angry all the time. As the scene reveals, class can create a physical barrier that limits the ability of the soul to expand and connect with others, which in turn causes the individual to feel alienated.

Through the story arch of the locksmith Daniel, the film addresses the role that economic status plays in imposing barriers upon others. Because the locksmith is from a lower economic class, the characters that he works under constantly misunderstand him. First, Jean accuses Daniel of being affiliated with a gang and expresses her belief that he may copy the keys of their home for other gang members to use. Second, Farhad, the owner of a convenience store believes that Daniel is trying to swindle him when Daniel requests additional payment to cover the costs of replacing a broken door in his home. While Ryan and the Cabots experience restraints that prevent them from fully expanding their ability for empathy and behaving ethically towards others, Daniel is prevented from achieving his potential as a human being by the prejudices of others. As the film reveals, though Daniel has a stable skilled job, he is unable to afford to live in a safer neighborhood and must worry about the security of his daughter. Further, Farhad’s mistaken belief that Daniel has vandalized his store almost leads to Daniel’s death when Farhad attempts to shoot the locksmith in retaliation. Though Daniel is hardworking and honorable, his economic obstructs him from connecting with characters of a higher economic standing.

In the film Crash, the collision between the vehicles serves as a metaphor for the physical collisions between the characters in the film. While the vehicle separates drivers from one another, the characters are equally detached in their physical encounters with one another. Just as drivers cannot correctly perceive one another from behind the wheels of their vehicles, the characters cannot correctly perceive one another through the barriers that they construct through their racial biases, class distinctions, and economic statuses. Thus, these barriers limit the characters in their ability to expand their awareness of others and meet their ethical obligations towards other human beings. Further, the barriers limit the characters psychologically by alienating them from one another and limiting their ability to expand their understanding beyond their own limited experiences. As Crash demonstrates, the removal of superficial barriers that prevent humans from truly exercising discretion in their behavior and expressing their souls is necessary for full human development.

Work Cited

Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Perf. Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton. Lions Gate Entertainment, 2005. DVD.