Societal Issues in Crash and to Kill a Mockingbird

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Abstract The movies Crash and To Kill a Mockingbird both have themes throughout of racial prejudice, injustice, crime and violence and poverty. While there are many things in common between the two films there are also many differences. The time periods in which the movies are set in are two totally different eras and many changes have occurred. The issues in these movies are prevalent in our everyday lives and affect us all in different ways. I will explore these issues as I compare and contrast the two films. The movie Crash combines the many struggles met by today's racial stereotypes into a collection of several related social problems faced by the film's cast. The movie is set in present-day Los Angeles, a city with an ethnic mix of every race. Their stories link during two days in Los Angeles involving an assortment of characters, two car thieves who are constantly speculating on society and race, a bigoted cop and his younger partner, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter, the white district attorney and his wife, a police detective with a drugged out mother and a mischief younger brother, a Hollywood director and his wife, and a Persian immigrant father. To Kill a Mockingbird deals with many basic lessons in human nature. The movie exposes many issues that affect most people throughout their lives such as poverty, discrimination and prejudice. It tells the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer appointed to defend a black man accused of raping a white young woman, and his two children Scout and Jem. It is set in Maycomb county Georgia during the Great Depression. Both of the films have recurring subjects of racial prejudice and stereotyping, during the first five minutes of Crash, a white woman is disrespectful to a Chinese woman, blaming her driving for a fender bender. She makes an offensive remark characteristically specific to the Chinese

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