할리우드 다문화주의의 한계

The Limitations of Hollywood Multiculturalism: A Study on Crash

This paper examines the version of multicuralism depicted in the film Crash. Produced in 2004, only three years after 9/11, the film pronounces the message of tolerance for other races and cultures. Racism on Hollywood screen has been witnessed since the early years of the American film industry. Nevertheless, Hollywood films made gradual progress in terms of their racial representation for the past century, and seemed to have reached a general consensus about respecting multiple racial identities up until 9/11. Crash, standing at the recent end of such history, were hailed as the representative film of liberal humanism, winning the best picture award at the Academy ceremony in 2006. Regardless of the laurel, however, there are opinions that this film may reflect the regression not the progression of Hollywood racial politics. What causes such diverged evaluation on this film? What does it talk about Hollywood and American society after its traumatic experience? This paper discusses the problematic way in which Crash represents racial issues, and diagnoses the current status of Hollywood multiculturalism and its limitations.