the man got run over by a van, and it was played for laughs, in the boys' dilemma of whether to just drive off or to pull him out. the discovery of the people in the back of the van in that "auto-shop" also seemed like it was played for laughs to me. And the woman arguing insanely at the beginning as also such a joke. I'll admit, I maybe overly sensitive because I'm Asian. That is entirely possible but doesn't change the fact that I was annoyed by those characterizations. In spite of them, I still liked the film.
I share starboard's sentiment, guess because I am Asian too.
I watched Crash before Brokeback Mountain, and quite liked the movie and its attempt to address the racial discrimination (subtle or unsubtle) and people’s indifference. But I always feel the stories are fabricated, especially the characterization. Maybe that’s the drama element, I don’t know, but I just hate any kind of generalization.
And I will let my darkest secret out, I think the story will look less fabricated if the shop owner did kill locksmith’s daughter, not a blank shell. I know it’s really an evil thought as I don’t think I can accept such a horrible ending, but nonetheless, it’s more likely to happen in reality. To make it otherwise, seems to me that Paul Haggis got soft and wanted to make a movie that makes people feel good to acknowledge the issue, but not really confronted with the harsh reality.
If I want to see a movie that makes me feel good, I will see “Happy Endings”, which is another movie that touched on some social issues and pretty much everyone got happy ending at the end.
