Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication in 'Crash' Movie

Crash is a movie which demonstrates lack of cross-cultural communication in a community and unnecessary comments that are made every day by people which was considered prejudice. Crash is a movie about individuals in Los Angeles who were involved in several cross-cultural conflicts. Even though the concept of cross-cultural conflict in the movie was extremely over the line, people still experience it in one way or the other in present times. It showcases the severity of racial issues among various cultures and the various forms of conflicts these racial issues give rise to. In this paper, I will examine one of the barriers to cross-cultural communication which is prejudice and what gives rise or influences prejudice. This paper will be discussed around the character officer John Ryan and his perspective view and as well examine some effective cross-cultural conflict management techniques.

Prejudice, as defined in the text, is a negative social attitude held by members of one group towards members of another group, and an attitude that biases perception and often leads to discrimination. People are good at tagging positive words with white people than with black people. Most people elicit prejudice behaviour because they have never been victims of prejudice themselves and such act out of negligence (Trenholm, Jensen & Hambly, 2010).

Rogers & McGovern (2002), in their study also examined the role of intercultural communication barriers, affective response, consensual stereotypes and the perceived threat that comes with intercultural communication barriers. The study talks about how prejudice literature has overlooked the role intercultural communication plays in determining people's actual orientation towards other people from different cultures. They examined the intercultural emotions concerning prejudice behaviour. The results showed that intercultural communication emotions concerning prejudice was stronger and unique towards other diverse cultural groups being able to communicate interculturally meant identifying the relevance of difference and diversity.

Officer John Ryan as a character in crash was a racist LAPD officer. Apart from being racist, he was also hungry for power. The way he molested the couple during a traffic stop was way out of the league and one would imagine if he would do the same to any other white couple. Or was it just because they were black and he felt he had an upper hand over them and a such needed to put them in their place. Ryan tries to justify his actions to his partner by saying “wait until you have been on the job a few more years. Wait till you have been doing it a little longer. You think you know who you are, hmm? You have no idea”. What Ryan was trying to say to his partner was basically about how you get to know the world is a boring place and it is someone else’s fault when you get older on the job especially if that someone in question is a black person which isn’t justification enough for being racist.

One main problem every single character in crash had to deal with was the issues of race. Most of the conflicts that happened in crash occurred because each person was miserable in a way or the other and likely reverted into their worst selves to blame innocent people for their misery. One good example was when officer Ryan’s dad was having trouble peeing and he took out his misery on an insurance agent Shanique Johnson just because she followed principles and did make any exceptions for Ryan’s dad. Shanique’s refusal to make exceptions for Ryan’s dad reinforces his racial stereotype. In actual sense, she didn’t deny Ryan the claim to check his dad’s prostate because she was black and he was white but because he was a condescending individual as was miserable in all his actions and speech. Colin and Lund, (2010) in their article talk about how the interactions of white privilege and racism. They raise a very interesting point about how “whites are not conscious of the privilege they hold because of their racial group membership”. They further discuss how people are not able to notice the link between privilege and racism which ends up affecting their attitude towards outgroups.

To overcome prejudice, it takes individual effort to overcome such belief. For intercultural communication to be successful, individuals need to acknowledge the differences and diversity of other cultures that are present and embrace the challenge of learning about different cultures. Challenges of barriers to communication such as prejudice, unfamiliar customs and culture variations must be met by various individuals (Rogers & McGovern, 2002). Actions related to cross-cultural communications helps deal with barriers of communication by making us more aware of our actions and how they can be handled effectively.

Considering how diverse Canada is, one would assume that immigrants and natives enjoy equal treatment but that seems not to be the case. Cross-cultural communication conflict in Canada I would say is similar to the movie. Most cultural groups in Canada view themselves more positively than other outgroups. I had a personal experience when I first came to Guelph when a lady told me her dog was more important than I was because the dog was here before I came from whichever country am coming from just because I felt threatened when the dog was coming to my direction and I was trying to prevent it from coming close. Moreover in my home country dogs are trained differently and I had no idea how dogs are trained in Canada so I was just being careful considering it was my first week and Guelph and I hardly knew how things were done here. I felt the lady’s approach wasn't right considering how diverse I knew Canada is.

Finally, I will discuss some of the effective cross-cultural conflict management techniques. Sometimes, cross-cultural conflict or prejudice occurs when we see other cultures re strange and we feel threatened by them and their way of life but there are several techniques we as individuals can adhere to in order to increase our understanding of intercultural communication differences. Opening yourself up to new contacts is one effective way to improve cross-cultural communication. Usually, people who are involved in prejudice behaviour have actually sense not had any direct contact with their target. By increasing our understanding of the importance of direct contact with other cultures, it will decrease prejudice behaviours in societies (Trenholm, Jensen & Hambly, 2010).

Also, another effective cross-cultural conflict management technique is developing empathy for other cultures. Realizing that not everyone thinks and reasons, as you do, is a way of developing empathy towards others. Putting yourself in other's place and being careful of hurtful comments you make about others. Before you say something or act in a certain way, you might want to ask yourself how you would feel if someone else did or said same to you (Trenholm, Jensen & Hambly, 2010).

Besides, learning about the history and experiences of other cultures is also an effective technique to improve cross-cultural communication. Most people are aware of their history and customs but have not thought of getting to know the customs and experiences of other cultures. When there is a chance of getting to know other cultures and experiences of other cultures, we will then get to know their background. When you are not fortunate to meet them, you can read about their culture and background and their various experiences so you can try to put yourself in their place so you can feel some kind of empathy for them. By getting to know their background and experiences, you will be careful and aware of your tenses and prejudice behaviour when having an encounter with individuals from various cultures (Trenholm, Jensen & Hambly, 2010).

Finally, testing your stereotype is also an effective cross-cultural conflict management technique. In one way or the other, we all have some kind of prejudice. The ones who also talk about not being prejudice are the ones that are usually involved in prejudice behaviour. Being aware of yourself whenever you feel judgmental of other cultural groups, take some time and asked yourself why you are having such feelings and the effect your actions will have on others. After asking yourself these questions and accepting your mistakes when you wrong will allow you to see things objectively (Trenholm, Jensen & Hambly, 2010).

In conclusion, most people are involved in prejudice behaviour because they have not been victims of prejudice themselves. Increasing cross-cultural communication and understanding will reduce cross-cultural conflicts and prejudice. intercultural communication emotions concerning prejudice are stronger and unique towards other diverse cultural groups as compared to ingroups. being able to communicate interculturally means identifying the relevance of difference and diversity. By adhering to techniques such as a test of stereotype, opening ourselves up to new contacts, working on empathy, learning about the history and experiences of different co-cultures and subcultures will reduce cross-cultural conflicts and increase cross-cultural communication.

Reference

1. Spencer-Rodgers, J., & McGovern, T. (2002). Attitudes toward the culturally different: The role of intercultural communication barriers, affective responses, consensual stereotypes, and perceived threat. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 26(6), 609-631. Retrieved from https://journals-scholarsportal-info.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/pdf/01471767/v26i0006/609_attcdtrcsapt.xml
2. Crash. (2005). Paul Haggis. eOne Films. Retrieved from https://media3-criterionpic-com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/htbin/wwform/006?T=CF0717&ALIAS=CF0717_ECC.KF&M=0_wie99ptj&DSTYLE=0#multimedia_resources_CF0717
3. Lund, C. L., & Colin, S. A. J., III. (2010). White Privilege and Racism: Perceptions and Actions. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. pp 91-94. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=973fdcac-ffe1-4e71-85e7-f5d3b2be2fcb%40sessionmgr4006
4. Trenholm, S., Jensen, A., Hambly, H. (2010). Interpersonal communication: A Guide Tour for Canadians. First Canadian edition.