...because I didn't see any easy answers in "Crash" at all. I saw a lot of questions, and I saw a lot of severely conflicted people doing bad things for bad reasons, bad things for reasons they thought were good, and occasionally, good things...sometimes for bad reasons. Kinda like life in general.

"Easy and self-congratulatory liberalizing"? Not the movie I saw.

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Just one example: Thandie Newton had no sympathy for the position her husband took, shutting up to keep alive and keep his job, and then was forced to confront her own willingness to compromise when it came to her immediate survival. And that rescue scene caught Matt Dillon off guard and touched his conscience, and it seemed to me it made him realize for a moment just how atrocious his actions were, because she would at first rather have died than accepted his help.

In other words, it's like what the last person said, there are no easy answers, things aren't black or white when it comes to good and evil. Painting evil done as only by people who are completely evil makes it too easy to believe if we aren't monsters, we are okay. What Crash does is show that there is both evil and good in all of us.

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I saw Crash and I thought it sucked. On NETFLIX I gave it 3 stars out of 5. While I have yet to see Brokeback Mountain, I know enough about it to believe it should have been the winner for best motion picture of the year. The Academy and Hollywood in general had the opportunity to make a strong political statement to the bigots and hate-mongers but they blew it. IMHO it could be one of two things: Either the Academy has a lot of closeted homophobes or the Academy is much like the Democratic Party, spineless.

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Richard Kim and those of his ilk, you don't get it...racism is an emotional, not logical, state of being...when a racist puts aside that emotion and can actually be a human being toward someone s/he supposedly hates, a crack is rendered in the racist emotion...that's what I saw on "Crash." And none too soon for the white, entitled, establishment to finally recognize that their racist emotional power IS the basis for the mess it has made of our country's citizens--for centuries now.

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I must say, I agree with truthtopower and bc9 and tbalx -- and disagree with Richard Kim. A movie that portrays real, flawed people as, well, real and flawed does not necessarily condone those flaws. I think it would've been a much weaker film if it had been just another preachy, moralistic piece.

There are no cowboys on white horses. The bad guys don't wear black masks. We live in a world of a million shades of grey -- and isn't that what progressivism takes pride in recognizing?

If a film depicts a slice of reality, that doesn't make that film guilty of the sins of its characters.

I discussed Crash with a person who has displayed some tendencies bordering on those of Sandra Bullock's character. My companion squirmed and ultimately criticized her (Sandra Bullock's character) -- which suggested to me that the film was a success.

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First, I appreciate everyone's passion on this issue. Please remember that although my tendency is to re-post blogs I agree with, I am not the generator of the original idea. I post blogs that are like the vaunted late night Garden Weasel™, they churn things up.

Second: M.O.P. (Mother of PEEK) agrees with you:

Evan,

One of the reasons I liked Crash so much was the fact that it was not black and white, (forgive the pun) but, like most people a mix, effected by their own baggage.

Love,
Mom

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I hope it didn't look like I was flaming you, Evan--I certainly wasn't. I was just rather flabbergasted by that review of "Crash"...just couldn't believe it.

How an intelligent being can watch that movie and come away with the thought that there were any "easy answers" portrayed there is beyond me.

Thanks again for your fine work on the Peek, Evan.

Bill

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I was pleasantly surprised that "Crash" won best picture honors. As good as the other films were, and I think the subjects tackled in many of them were relevant and intelligent for a change, This particular film addressed the human condition that affects all of us. There were certainly no easy answers and each individual was fully realized with their biases, fears and ultimate humanity. There were no bad guys, just bad actions from flawed guys. The punishments delivered were self-imposed, as it is in reality when you commit deeds that are at complete odds with your moral compass. Hatred abounds, cuts thru races and classes, and no one is immune. Recognition of this innate hatred is vital if we are to ever stem the problems we face in our society. "Brokeback Mountain" was indeed a beautiful film and Mr Lee was most deserving of his best director statue, but the movie-going public seemed to allow the 'gayness' to cloud the true message of intolerance. Movies have, from the inception, been agents of change. Every generation (mostly) has had it's voice heard through movies, be it racism, anti-semitism, pacifism and, in times of great peril, patriotism. Since this mendacious & hypocritical administration has been at the helm here, the divisions in this country have been picked sore, like a scab. We need voices of sanity to scream out the message of unity and the futility of waging hatred and separatism. Hollywood may not be the perfect answer, but, when they get it right, it does make a positive difference. Viva "Crash".

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I don't get it at all that this was a "conservative compassionate" movie. It wouldn't have been my choice for the winner, but who cares....most people won't even see most of these nominated films. As for Brokeback Mountain, some people are actually "afraid" to see it, and others who only know that is about gay love are happy to pronounce proudly that they will never go to see it. Not much love in this country!

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Anyone who does not share Evan Derkacz' narrow view of the movie "Crash" is a "compassionate conservative"
Talk about an elitist snob analysis.

"Crash" was a very powerful movie for any thinking person who believes that racism is still the biggest problem not only in this country, but throughout the world, is living in fantasy land. What do you think all the fighting in Iraq is about?

People have narrow, pre-conceived views of people who are different from them. Until we all really look at others and see them as indivi duals and not as stereotypes, we will have a world of misery.

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Here's an idea - let's pit white liberals against black liberals by making 'Crash' the winner of the 2006 Academy Awards! Let's make white liberals so upset that a supposedly 'groundbreaking' film - Brokeback Mountain - gets snubbed in favor of a film with racism as its theme - Crash. Hmm, let's pit homosexuals against blacks and watch them tear each other apart while the powers that keep both groups down watches from the sidelines with fiendish glee.

Amazing - it worked.

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I noticed that the film CRASH left out the most insideous form of intolerance: gay bashing. Funny these writers didn't think that this was worth including in all the racial examples of intolerance. Brokeback Mountain should have won best picture.

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