"...Nobody Touches You..."

So this post is about the award winning movie, Crash!

The 3-time Oscar-winning movie had a slew of super stars in its cast, and their talent, in combination with an awesome screenplay, is the reason that it became so successful. Set in L.A., the movie breeches the fence which separates us from them and we are able to connect with the characters and understand each one's personnal struggles with stereotyping and discrimination.

Here is my favorite line, performed by Don Cheadle in the opening scene of the movie, "It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something." This idea circulated over and over as the two days played out, as we met each character and got a sense, not only of who they were, but what they believed. When they started crashing into each other we saw their pervading ideas turn into words and actions. The reason the movie was so effective was its realism and the way emotions were framed. It took ordinary L.A. situations and turned them into a cohesive plot where each character was interrelated with the people they despised the most.

L.A. was the perfect setting for the movie because there are so many different ethnicities crammed into the city. Unlike Hawaii where we accept and embrace the beauty of diversity, Los Angeles seems to have a lot of trust issues between races. People go about their daily lives, ignorant to their own ignorance, avoiding each other so that they don't have to attempt to understand each other. When they finally make connections, they do it in grand fashion, choosing to careen out of control and explode in each others' faces. I have never lived on the mainland (although I did live in Orange County when I was 1) so I was doubtful as to whether I would understand the stereotyping going on in the movie. To a certain extent I feel that I understand the feelings being exchanged--just not on a personal level.

Hawaii does an exceptional job of preparing us for the world where understanding is a "street smart". Although stereotypes still exist in Hawaii, they are less prevalent in the way our society works. We may have deep-rooted traditions but feelings of stereotypes have really lessened and, sort of, faded from our way of life. Tolerance is part of Hawaii's quintessential citizen, a convenient truth planted in all of the "touching" that we do. There are rarely crashes here because of the habit we have made to reach out to one another and embrace diversity. If only Los Angeles had a little of Hawaii's cohesiveness, they'd be a lot better off...