Crash...of course

All of the buzz this year was around the movie Brokeback Mountain and the fact that it was breaking down a barrier that many in the entertainment industry felt needed to be torn down. One should not be surprised that in a group of films about homosexuality, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and abject cruelty that a film about the universal problem of racism won the day. All of these films may have been great but Crash was not only an extraordinary cinematic achievment but a film that challenged all of our assumptions about how we are doing when it comes to issues of race and difference.
The complaint of many is that Hollywood has ignored the mainstream and that it honors films that don't really connect with those of us in the real world. While they may not be commercial successes in the way that Star Wars and others are, these films, but especially the winner of Best Picture this year connect with human realities in a way that is too real, too close to home, and downright disturbing. And of all of these "disturbing" films Crash has the most universal application.

The plight of an Israeli revenge bomber and the experience of two gay cowboys simply don't connect in the way that the interwoven broken lives of two LAPD officers, an artist, a shopkeeper, a district attorney's wife, and a locksmith do. No one gets out of Crash unscathed, not even the audience.

Good art inspires and disturbs us. Zombie movies are disturbing but not inspiring. The best movie this year won because it was well written, well acted, well done in everyway. It also won because it disturbs us the right way.