it's you.

i just watched a movie called "crash". no, not the david cronenberg flick where ppl get all turned on by car crashes. the one i'm talking about is based around racial tensions in multicultural societies, namely the U.S, specifically L.A. There are several narratives running in parallel, based on people whose lives are inextricably linked, forged by their cultural allegiances and prejudices.

in multicultural, or "melting pot" societies, we like to pretend that it works. that people from all over the world prosper in harmony or at least hegemony in one "united state". this movie dissects that myth, and although it works in overwhelming generalizations, it does make several valid points. you have to see this movie, again and again. it makes an point, which at the same time reverses on itself, and despite being contradictory they're both valid.

case point. graham is a police officer whose brother peter has a predilicton for crime, i.e. stealing cars. apparently in L.A. if you've been caught for stealing cars three times, you're up for a life sentence. and to save his brother, graham compromises his morals, and a criminal investigation (also deep rooted in racial issues which are far too complicated for me to summarize here). Their mother is constantly worried for peter, her baby boy, and begs graham to bring him home. in the end peter is killed. the mother goes into hysterics, and graham pledges to find the killer. the mother turns to her remaining son, and says it's not necessary. she tells him "it's you" that graham killed his brother because he never brought him home like she asked. beyond the responsibilities that graham bares as the older sibling, he also bears teh weight of his race. she tells him that before peter died, he came home and brought groceries. it was all graham. it was always graham that took care of his mother, but in the end it was always peter she spent endless nights crying over.

you think you know how the story is how going to end, but the movie plays on unexpected twists. which is like a parable for the price we pay for exercising predjudice. we make assumptions, and more than often we get it wrong.

racism exists everywhere. the movie seems to say that pretty much everyone is racist, whether they're aware of it or not. even in japan, the land of mono-culture they are racist. and i don't even mean towards foreigners. i met a japanese girl today, and she spent 5 years in ottawa as a TA. well educated and fluent in english. but she can't find a job teaching english in kagoshima. every company she interviews for tells her they want someone "caucasian". i was aware of this kind of discrimination, but i'm spared from the brunt of it due to this cushy little bubble called JET. but i know that even me, as a full out Canadian would have trouble landing a private english teaching job. i just don't have the golden haired, blue eyed "exoticness" that is so admired by the japanese. i don't want to sound embittered over this, more rather...realistic. i know racism is real where ever you go. i know its part of the human condition, and we'll always make assumptions based on stereotypes. because isn't that what gives man domain over every single living creature on this earth? our "intelligence" is based on awareness and ability to discern fundamental differences. i think therefore you are