Comparative Analysis of Two Films Essay

Stereotyping can be defined as sweeping generalizations ab aside affiliates of a certain sexuality, nationality, religion, race, or other group. social stereotyping has been a worldwide issue for many years. More specifically, stereotypical assertions, establish on two gender and race, engender been a common theme by dint of expose many 20th and twenty-first century films. Both Crash, directed by Paul Haggis in 2004, and Girlfight directed by Karyn Kusama in 2000, cost the issue of stereotyping in their own unique way.Girlfight does this by placing a female in the spotlight of a sport that is predominantly dominated by males, whereas, Crash confronts our occupation with racial stereotypes and racism, and the need to counter them, by focusing on the crash humans experience by encountering people that they actually atomic number 18 already linked to. Throughout the film Girlfight, the crowd may have been against Diana, besides her determination allowed her to fight despatch s keptics outside the ring and her opponents in the ring. Crash is a movie that brings out bigotry and racial stereotypes. date one story revolves around a gender debate, the other approaches the argument from the aspect of race and at long last both(prenominal) combat the greater social issue of stereotyping. The film Girlfight depicts the struggle of Diana Guzman, a high fall apart lessons girl, and how she overcomes gender barriers to dominate the boxing arena. Her mother brained away when she was young, and she lives with her father and younger brother, Tiny. They reside in the projects of forward-looking York City, a tougher area where the ability to defend yourself is basically a prerequisite.Her father forces Tiny to train at the local gym to become better suited to defend himself and that is where Diana is introduced to the sport of boxing. Setting is a primeval aspect of the film and director Karyn Kusamas choice of realistic venues for each and e actually survey ser ve up create a documentary-like atmosphere. One scene that illustrates this quality is when Diana and Adrian learn that they will both be conflict each other in the lowest bout. The scene takes place inside the manager of the rings postal service a small but well organized arrive atice.The camera pans from character to character as they discuss Dianas next fight and the viewer is placed in the back corner of the finishice space. A key detail to be noticed is that the door is open and one can exit that boxers are still training in the background. This gives the audience the idea that what they are viewing is very real, almost like a documentary, and Kusamas film work adds to that with a picture that is both amyloidal and misty. The scene is in like manner full of dialogue, which is a common attribute of any documentary. It seems as if the scene would have occurred even if the camera had not been rolling film.The realistic aspect correlates back to the underlying premise of th e movie, gender stereotyping. At the time, female boxers were a rarity and Diana was an exception not only because of her gender but also because of her skill. The boxers at this gym are all male except for Diana who happens to be the chief(prenominal) character in the film. This creates an immediate gender barrier the second that Diana steps in the gym barely because she isnt of the norm. The film Crash attempts to tackle the issue of racial stereotyping though the stories of several characters who all override out to be connected in some way, shape, or form.Anthony and Peter are partners in hatred who hijack cars for a chop shop. Anthony believes that society is unfairly biased against blacks, and at one point in the film he justifies his actions by claiming he would never hurt another black person. Rick Cabot, regulate attorney of Los Angeles, and his wife Jean are both other chief(prenominal) characters throughout the film. One scene that reinforces the use of stereotypin g is when Anthony and Peter stroll a Los Angeles shopping strip. As they walk along, Anthony explains to Peter how whites are so quick to judge blacks at night.The dialogue throughout the scene is especially important because Anthony quickly changes from complain about racial tendencies around him to hiding behind a handgun as both he and his friend hijacks a car. The audience sides with Anthony, as he begins his rant, but out of the blue, the two men omit a gun on an innocent couple and the audience is left in shock. Anthony states, You couldnt draw a whiter, safer or better-lit part of this city right now, but yet this white woman sees two black guys who look like UCLA students strolling down the sidewalk, and her reaction is blind fear (Crash).This statement draws light on the detail that we as humans tend to jump to conclusions often too quickly. Anthony and Peter had done nonentity out of the ordinary but the town happened to be predominantly dominated by whites and that se t dour a red flag in Jeans mind. Anthony flips the subject based on the fact that they are the only blacks in the area and asks Peter, Why arent we scared? Peter responds, Cause we got guns? and both men proceed to pull out their weapons and hijack the Cabots vehicle (Crash). This scene is greatly deepen by the use of sound.As both of the couples stroll down the boulevard, one can hear a peaceful Christmas carol in the background, but as the men approach the Cabots, the music increases in gaudiness and changes to a more upbeat, edgy track. The film does this in order to create tension between both sets of characters it changes the norm and keeps the audience anxious. To reinforce this, the sound increases once more as Anthony and Peter peel out of the street with the stolen car creating a definitive point in the scene. By transitioning from calm to chaos, Haggis demonstrates how a impartial misinterpretation, a stereotype, could pay dividends in the long run.Jean Cabot had sus pected something was not right as curtly as she locked eyes with Anthony. The fact that Anthony gave a rather thought-provoking talk on racial tendencies shows that stereotyping does not go unnoticed. An act as simple as interlocking arms with your husband as you pass two young, African American teenagers may seem like an act of safety to you but to the teenagers it is offensive. This also proves that this is not a one-sided debate. Both parties are involved and equally held responsible for their criticisms. In suitable Members of Society Learning the Social Meaning of Gender, Aaron H.Devor discusses the distinction between gender and sexuality. Gender is typically based on anatomical differences between men and women, but does not necessarily match with them. In Dianas case, she is a female yet she demonstrates masculine tendencies through her animosity and fury in the boxing arena. gibe to Devor, Diana fails to follow the natural role of her sexuality (Devor 160). Devor states, persons who perform the activities considered appropriate for another gender will be expected to perform them poorly (Devor 159).He point is valid because there are always cases when a male or a female may not fit the norm and fight off a society that is so fixated on masculinity versus femininity. This statement connects with the film Girlfight, in which Diana Guzman distinguishes herself by becoming a boxer, a sport dominated by males. Devor states that even if the athlete does succeed, it is a reward with jeering or scorn for blurring the gender dividing line (Devor 159). The film Girlfight somewhat argues this statement because Diana was cheered as she finished her final bout against Adrian. Adrian was obviously the favored fighter, mainly due the act that he was a male, yet Diana pulled off the victory.The fact is that gender is socially and culturally determined it is not biologically determined. At the time, boxing gurus failed to give credit to Diana by being an underdog and resolute to instead critique and stereotype her based on her sex. like a shot more and more women have become boxers but there are still those that let down upon their presence in the ring. Even though people have become more tolerant, there are still some who are not willing to except things out of the norm, which is why society has not gained the balance it needs and social stereotyping exists.Gender stereotyping is a very serious issue in nows society, but another dilemma just as grim is that of racial stereotyping. Larry Aubrys Los Angeles observation tower article titled, Undoing Racism in American Cities, argues how racism is still very much with us and is still a barrier to the realization of the American dream in the nations cities and towns. His main point is that in order to undo racism one must move from being a part of the problem to becoming a part of the solution (Aubry, par. 3).Throughout the film Crash, the main characters are given various opportunities to combat racism but instead act on poor legal opinion by stereotyping. The fact is that stereotyping never leads to a proper outcome. A proper outcome may not be what either party had intended but most of the time an ethical outcome is best. In Anthonys case, he fumed on how whites were racist yet he became part of the problem by doing exactly what Jean Cabot had foreseen him execute. Anthony stereotyped against himself and further worsened the problem. According to Aubry, there is a consensus that everyone is part of the problem in many different ways (Aubry, par. ).Most people place the blame on others when in fact they escalate the argument. Stereotyping has set societies back time and time again and until society is guided by the fairness of its ideas, its politics, and its culture and not by the fairness of one anothers skin or gender, progress cannot be made. Girlfight attacks the issue from the gender side while Crash from the racial side. Stereotyping is vague in nature but b oth films key in on these issues through their storyline and cinematic techniques. Girlfight did this through a realistic portrayal of the life of a young female boxer and her struggles.Crash unconquerable to create a segmented story in which characters interact through their abuse of stereotyping. If Anthony and Peter had decided not to go through with the car hijacking, both them and the Cabots would have been closer to the realization that they were in fact, out of line. In Dianas case, the public is against her, even her father is against her, yet she knows she can fend off the skeptics. Social stereotyping is pervasive and without both parties grasping that fact, both racist and gender stereotyping will continue to exist.