Crash

While I initially didn't feel the need to write about this film, the things I'm reading on other blogs makes me want to explain just why I dislike this Oscar winner. Crash is a mediocrity- to call it anymore is simply ridiculous. The film won because of its sugar-coated ending and its big bright message of 'You're a racist, but don't worry! So is everyone else', Haggis tries to tackle a complex idea and then completely butchers it by giving into soap opera antics- the fact is that the idea that we all harbour some prejudices is hardly groundbreaking and the film's focus on such broard examples of racism simply ignores the fact that most of this racism occurs in far more subtle ways, and the film simply allows that sort of subtle racism to permeate by ignoring it as an issue. Crash's popularity seems to stem from the fact that, unlike the other big issue movies of 2005 (Brokeback, GNAGL, Munich, even Capote with the death penalty), Haggis can't grasp how to present his agenda with subtlety and through his story without being condescending to his audience. Lee, Clooney and Spielberg all manage to tackle BIG issues in their films without having the films BECOME about the issue, instead presenting different view points through subtext. Crash, on the other hand, takes its agenda like a big mallet into its hands and bangs it repeatedly on your head until the message of the film is DEAFENINGLY clear. Also, how can anyone respect any film that rips off an entire sequence (that would be the one pictured above) from another film? Replace 'In the Deep' with 'Wise Up' and the snow with the frogs and you've got Magnolia. Another thing, I'd be hard pressed to find a more hysterical moment in cinema last year than when Sandra Bullock takes her magical tumble down the stairs to find... she's not a racist anymore!

Now go google "I'm glad Crash won" and see what happens..