Using the film Crash to Promote a Multicultural Identity in Students

Authors

Richard P. Long

Abstract

This review demonstrates how the film Crash can be used in the classroom to show students a nonthreatening way to reconsider stereotypical views of racism. Until the film Crash was released in 2005, Hollywood timidly made movies such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and To Kill a Mockingbird, in which the underlying theme was that other people are racists, not us. Crash, literally and figuratively, questions that stereotypical view of racism. Crash suggests that each of us is indeed racist and, when placed in a threatening situation, these prejudices control our behavior. Using selected scenes from the film, students have the opportunity to define or redefine their multicultural identity as they explore the dependent, independent, and interdependent relationships of a carefully portrayed, culturally representative cross-section of human interactions and reactions in 2005 Los Angeles.

Author's Biographies

Dr. Richard P. Long is a Professor of Counseling at Columbus State University in the Department of Counseling, Educational Leadership and Professional Studies and a member of the College of Education Diversity Committee. He wishes to acknowledge the research assistance of Jennifer McGhee and the assistance of the editorial board for their help in preparation of this review.

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Recommended Citation

Long, R. P. (2006). Using the film Crash to Promote a Multicultural Identity in Students. Perspectives In Learning, 7 (1). Retrieved from https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/pil/vol7/iss1/14