This document analyzes the 2004 film Crash in terms of two communication concepts: stereotyping and punctuation. It provides an example of stereotyping where a character wrongly assumes a locksmith is a "gang member" based on his appearance. It also analyzes a scene where a husband and wife discuss a previous interaction with police, demonstrating how punctuation, or emphasis during conversation, can change the outcome. The document concludes the film is an effective example of demonstrating these two communication concepts.

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Robert Pytell
Lora Wilson
CMST 210 AW
3 March 2016
Communication Analysis of Crash the Movie
Based in Los Angeles, California the 2004 movie Crash is about a diverse group of
strangers affected by an event that sends their lives on a collision course. Over a short period of
time, due to a series of misunderstandings and communication breakdowns, their lives are
changed forever. When analyzing the movie Crash from an Academic viewpoint it can be seen
that it demonstrates the communication concepts of Stereotyping and Punctuation.
Stereotyping is defined as –“exaggerated generalizations associated with a categorizing
system.”(Ronald B. Alder80) This is basically when someone comes in contact with another
person and automatically makes assumptions that may or may not be true and categorizes them
into a certain group which they have already formed an opinion about. There are many examples
of this in the movie.
An example of Stereotyping is when Daniel is changing the lock on the door, Jean Cabot
walks by, she interrupts her husband Rick Cabot who is in a meeting and says “I want the locks
changed again in the morning” (Crash) Rick tries to compose jean but then she starts arguing
with Rick and says “you might mention that we’d appreciate it if next time they didn’t send a
gang member” (Haggis), Rick replies “A gang member?” (Haggis) Jean says” yes, yes the guy in
there with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, the prison tattoos.” (Haggis)She argues that
he is going to sell one of his homies the house keys and basically throws a huge pity party. This
is a prime example of stereotyping, she saw that Daniel was Hispanic, had a shaved head, tattoos,
and wore his clothes in a certain way, she immediately lumped him into a group of people based

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on a split second observation without even knowing anything about him. She basically judged a
book by its cover.
Next we have Punctuation which is defined as “describes the determination of causes and
effects in a series of interactions.”(Ronald B. Alder) Basically punctuation helps emphasize each
person’s point of view. A person can punctuate in verbal and nonverbal ways. For example a
person’s behavior can punctuate another person’s reaction to the behavior. All punctuations have
a demand and withdrawal cycle. How you punctuate a statement can affect the whole
communication. For example you can say: why did you do that? Multiple times with a different
punctuation and it will be interpreted differently each time. The following scene demonstrates
how punctuation works.
The scene takes place at Cameron Thayer’s workplace as he is leaving for his lunch
break. His wife, Christine is waiting for him outside the studio, and politely wave’s hello as the
door is pulled open. Cameron pauses for a moment as if in thought about the coming
conversation. They walk down the concourse between the studios and Christine says-”I tried to
call… Sounded like you were having a bad day huh” (Haggis) he replies “yeah” (Haggis) and
continues walking.
Christine then throws up her hands and says” what... I got scared Cam. Yah know
it’s not like I haven’t been pulled over before Yah Know, But not Like that…. And
yes I was a little drunk and I was mouthing off… I’m sorry… But when that man
was putting his hands on me, I couldn’t believe you let him do that baby! Look I
Know that what you did was the right thing… ok… (Cameron tries to say he
doesn’t want to talk about it.) But I was humiliated… for you. I just couldn’t stand
to see that man take your dignity away.” (Haggis)

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The scene ends with Cameron saying- “Yah, That’s what happened.” (Haggis) They
exchange words a few more times and Cameron walks away and tells Christine to go home. The
way Christine punctuated her sentences directly affected the outcome of the conversation, if she
had said it differently Cameron may not have walked off.
In conclusion it can be seen how the movie Crash clearly communicates both these
concepts. The scene with Jean is a great example of Stereotyping and the scene outside
Cameron’s workplace is a good example of punctuation. Both of these concepts can drastically
affect how we communicate with each other.

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Works Cited
Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. 2004.
"Looking Out Looking In." Ronald B. Alder, Russell F. Proctor II. 14. Boston: Monica Eckman,
2014.