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Erick J. Saidi
02/05/15
Psychology 1010
Justice Morath
Crash: Understanding Stereotypes

Have you ever been stereotyped or witnessed this unacceptable

behavior? Well, in the
movie Crash, 2004, featuring Sandra Bullock, is a film that underlines the
stereotypes that every
ethnic group experiences and portrays the perspectives of the victim and the
aggressor.
Stereotyping is classified in two different forms: implicit stereotyping-is one
that occurs outside
of conscious awareness and control, and also, explicit stereotyping-are
directly stated or overtly
expressed. Both of these forms of stereotyping are analyzed by selecting
only one of the many
occurrences that the film reveals.
As the film plays, it doesnt take long before the explicit stereotyping
emerges. A foreign
Male accompanied by his daughter enter a gun shop, select a gun to
purchase, and bicker in their
language about which ammunition to pick. The white shop owner gets
frustrated and overtly
states: Yo, Osama, plan a G-had on your own time! The employee
stereotyped the customer as
being a terrorist solely based upon the purchase of gun, even though many
customers walk in
and out of the shop with guns. How does a man that plans to unleash a Ghad even look like?
Two attributions that formulated this stereotype was the mans lack of
English and his physical

Appearance. Despite having the right to obtain a gun in a legal manner, as

the third amendment
states, the customer was kicked out of the store followed by insults of
aggression regarding the
catastrophic 9/11 attack. As we observed, the altercation was in a private
place, but do you
think the results would have been the same in a public place? In conclusion,
this occurrence
supports the Fundamental Attribution Error, because the mans intention of
purchasing a gun
was not to unleash a G-had, but rather to protect his business and family
from potential robbers.
Some other explicit messages that we see in the film are these: Mexicans
dont know how to
Drive, white people get served faster, cops are pigs, all Hispanics park
their car on the
lawn, hes talking a lot less black lately, etc. Explicit stereotype happens to
everyone, but this
is only one form, as the film continues, we reveal implicit stereotyping.
There are times when we stereotype without even intending to do so
(Implicit
Stereotyping), which we see an example of this in the film: 2 black men were
standing on the
sidewalk as a white couple were approaching them from the opposite
direction, as soon as the
wife spotted the two black men, she grabs hold of her husbands arm and
draws closer to him.
Why did she do that? Today, society tends to label black individuals as being
violent, loud, and
criminals, so the wifes body language surely indicated that she felt
threatened and scared. The
main attribution that formulated this stereotype was the individuals
ethnicity followed by

their attire. In this example, the stereotyping was done in a public setting,
but blinded by
societys assumptions, nobody really notices. Do you remember of a time
when you implicitly
stereotyped? This event surely supports the support of the Fundamental
Attribution Error,
because these men were judged based upon societys views rather than on
their own character.
Overall, everybody gets stereotyped whether its in an implicit or
explicit manner;
weve all gone through a stereotype. It feels terrible to have your actions
judged, when it doesnt
actually reflect your own character. Lets move away from all of these hurtful
actions, and
begin to invest that energy in creating a more positive and understanding
world. After watching
this film, it has allowed me to be more cautious of the things I say verbally or
nonverbally about
someone. Were all different, but were all human, so lets stop this
unacceptable behavior.