-Watch the film entitled Crash (2004, Director Paul Haggis) Crash -Make sure to pay attention to how perspectives change throughout the movie.
-Answer the following questions: We have talked a lot about the difference between social identity and personal identity. When inflexible/mindless stereotypes lead to prejudice, discrimination, and extremist actions, what happens is that the individual identity is stripped and the group identity is used to vilify. Deep seated prejudices can often only be changed by taking the time to seek out the individual identity of another. 1. Please reference and understand the DMIS (see attached handout and also your textbook page 165). Which different stages of the DMIS do we see in the movie? Explain 3 of the stages and then for each one give an example from the movie which pertains to that stage. 2. What examples of a change in perspective did you see in the movie? Find and explain 3 examples of characters’ negative or positive changes in perspective towards either ethnocentrism or ethnorelativism. Make sure to describe how they changed. 3. Human beings are constantly trying to make order in the world. We place people and things in groups in an attempt to make meaning and to make sense of situations. We also judge our present interactions (partly) on our past experiences. Why else do you think we might think and use stereotypes? (hint: consider power and resources). In your answer please reference at least one of the following concepts: Intergroup attribution bias; Exploitation, Scapegoat, Authoritarian Personality and/or Structural theories. 4. What is the difference between a stereotype (“inflexible stereotype”) and a generalization (“flexible stereotype”)? How do you think we can successfully continue work in intercultural communication, which requires studying broad group characteristics, while still honoring individual variations? 5. Personal reflection: How can first impressions mislead us? When have you experienced being mislead by a first impression of a person or a culture? How do you think we can be more mindful of our judgments?
