The American movies of the 2000s have been primarily dedicated to such important national and international issues as racism, gun control, poverty, drug abuse and crimes connected with it, as well as ambiguity and, as a result, ineffectiveness of national and international policy that is supposed to solve these and many other social problems. Among the most prominent movies of the decade are the 2000 Steven Soderbergh film Traffic, 2004 Paul Haggis film Crash and 2004 Terry George movie Hotel Rwanda. All three movies are based on completely different stories, but share similar tension born out of the social problems that arise and keep building up during the movies, as well as hopeful atmosphere that leaves the viewer with a sense that every single one of these problems can be solved every human tries to be a better person, helps the others and fights for a good cause even in the most desperate and dangerous situations. All of these three movies have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Academy Awards, with the movies by Soderbergh and Haggis winning four and three Oscars respectively. It is worth noting that while the movies share social significance of their themes, another similarity that unites them is the infamous actor Don Cheadle, who played one of the leading roles in all three movies. Besides being a great actor, Don is also a social and political activist, who attracts attention to many causes, both national and international, and has been a U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador since 2010. Traffic, Crash and Hotel Rwanda attracted major attention and caused heated debated in the U.S. and throughout the world. The themes of these movies are important, inter alia, because the issues they describe have been needing solution for a long time. Although much time and effort has been dedicated to education and raising awareness about racism, ethnicity-related issues, drug abuse and trade, poverty and many other problems, they still remain hot topics and lack effective solution after decades of researches, campaigns, speeches and programs. The topic of genocide and international inactivity regarding this humanitarian tragedy deserve separate attention, as the world community allowed it to happen despite the bitter lessons of the World War II. The importance of the movies lies in their ability to stay relevant and relatable in 2010s and to teach the rising generation the history and lessons through a media they can easily comprehend.
The first movie Traffic is targeting such social issues as drug abuse in the United States that results in the demand for more drugs from the countries that supply the American consumers with cocaine, marijuana, heroin, etc. The movie develops three storylines that encompass people dealing with drugs on all levels and from both sides: the suppliers and distributors and the law-enforcement agencies. The director shows how both fight on drugs and their proliferation are happening on the lowest level represented by the ordinary policemen and lowest management to, and on the highest level represented by the Judge Wakefield as a fighter and Helena Ayala as the new head of the distribution chain for the Obregón cartel (Traffic). War on drugs has been a hot topic in the U.S. society for a long time now and stays a very important and relevant issue still in 2014 with numerous movies and TV series having been released on this topic. Traffic, among all of them, succeeds to explain why war on drugs is extremely hard to win, especially on the example of the Wakefield family, where father is an official working for the U.S. president on the matters of elimination of the drug trade and his own daughter Caroline is a rebellious drug-addicted teen, who lacks parent’s understanding, presence and attention, while being surrounded by material things that are supposed to substitute the missing part of the girls life (Traffic). The movie shows how many young people like Caroline are out there, bored and lacking adrenaline rush in life, something that will make them feel happier, more active, interested. As long as such people, both kids and adults, feel the necessity to take drugs for recreation to stimulate their bodies and minds to feel more alive, drug trade will keep on supplying these types of drugs to the United States, and policemen like Javier, Manolo, Montel and Ray will always have a job to do to stop the drug trafficking. It is worth noting that drugs are usually supplied to the United States, but are not supplied from the United States to Mexico and other countries, and there are socio-economic reasons for this pattern. The underlying reason that drug trafficking exists is not the existence of drugs themselves and the existence of people, who want to make money by selling them, but the existence of people, who constantly need them and demand their inflow to the country and to their communities and homes, and the director has successfully portrayed this pattern on the example of the family of Wakefields and the policemen and their incessant antidrug activities in both countries. Another two issues addressed in the movie are poverty and corruption. As Helena Ayala has a huge fear of poverty because of her past and not having other job options, in particular, due to the social stigma that she now bears as a wife of an imprisoned head of the drug dealing business, she sees her only option for survival in continuing her husband’s business (Traffic). The woman is on the sixth month of pregnancy and is already a mother of a little boy, but she is officially prohibited from selling anything from her house to get money for living and, of course, she cannot use any of her husband’s money for obvious reason, although she is a victim of the circumstances and was not aware about the crimes until the husband’s attorney told her about them. For this reason, while the government is doing the right thing by prohibiting the families of the arrested criminals to gain money from selling property of the criminal, it overlooks the fact that such families are usually threatened by people or by their fears and see no other options but to start obtaining money illegally. The movie also questions traditional gender roles. Helena’s introduction in the film shows her as a non-working mother, who has been relying on her husband’s income and was enjoying the abundant life. At first, the viewer gets to know her as a chatty and careless woman, who tells her friends during lunch at a country club that she took two glasses of wine during pregnancy after the doctor allowed her to have one (Traffic). This vulnerable and dependent woman, who is, nonetheless, happy and satisfied with her life, will have to change the lifestyle she has been leading for a long time, after her provider and defender, her husband, gets arrested. At first Helena does not know how to handle the situation, but realizing that she is the only one to take care of the family, she breaches the traditional gender role stereotypes and becomes a composed, coolheaded businesswoman, who will have to be strong and prove to the Obregón brothers that she can do business just as professionally as her husband or any other man. Her new traits are clearly portrayed in the scene, where she meets with Juan Obregón and firmly establishes her rules and conditions of their cooperation, and seeing her hold her ground, he agrees to conduct business with the woman. The last most important issue is corruption and lack of faith in possibility to solve the drug problem in the law-enforcement agencies. As long as people like General Arturo Salazar are on top positions and are not reported by their colleagues, the drug trafficking elimination is impossible as it has allies in the government. At the same time, many officials, who met with the Judge Wakefield, also lack faith in their cause. They do not believe that the war on drugs can be won and openly tell so to the Judge. While they are not allies of the drug bosses, such people are certainly aiding them with their inactive position of the bystanders.
The movie Crash is a beautifully shot picture that enhances the viewer’s feeling and alertness by beginning with the end of the story and proceeding with chaotic scenes that are gradually become connected with each other. The word “crash” in the title of the movie is symbolic, as it means a car crash that is actually happening several times in the film, as well as crashes between people, who usually try to stay far from each other, sheltered in their private spaces and, thus, filled with stereotypes and prejudice due to the lack of interaction with people that are seemingly very different from them, but in reality can be very similar. The movie is primarily focused on discrimination based on race, ethnicity and nationality. It is wondrous that while most viewers expect that the Hollywood film will portray racism through discrimination of the colored people by the white people, but the director wisely takes racism and discrimination to the new level. Haggis smoothly installs ability to discriminate into almost every character, as they are shown both discriminating and being discriminated in the subsequent scenes. The central social issue that attracts attention in the movie is the change in social constructs of racism and prejudices based on ethnicity or nationality over the last decade, as nowadays people of all skin colors and background can discriminate others based on social stereotypes that are primarily imposed by media. Vivid examples are a Persian man called Arab and Osama and presumed to plan jihad simply based on his looks and lack of perfect knowledge of English (Crash). The same exchange of prejudices phrases happens at the beginning of the movie, as an Asian and Hispanic women judge each other and their abilities based on the looks and knowledge of English, as well as accent. Thus, the director emphasizes not only the deep, embarrassing ignorance about other nations and cultures that prevails in the society nowadays, but also the importance of having specific neutralizing attributes that can make one fit in and not be feared. However, at the same time, while one can try being as race and ethnicity-neutral as possible, his or her attempts might still fail when faced with that same ignorance. The example is an affluent African-American couple, who do not know how to behave like a “black” and act normally, and Cameron, a television director, even tries to be as less “black” as possible to be appreciated by the colleagues, but is still racially profiled by the policeman John Ryan. Thus, the director of Crash shows how deeply the stereotypes have penetrated the society to the extent, when people got accustomed to being judged based on their looks, background or level of English knowledge. Another important social issue is traditional gender roles. The behavior of men and women in the movie helps the viewer question the existing stereotypes. One of the most vivid scenes is the encounter of Cameron and Christine with the Officer John Ryan, who molests the woman while frisking her right in front of her husband’s eyes (Crash). During the process she stays inactive waiting for Cameron to protect her, as she expects that this is the part of the man’s role. However, Cameron fails to intervene and is judged and accused by his wife for his failure. His wife doubting his masculinity, Cameron nearly gets shot in an attempt to be more manly and aggressive, although these features are not the most prominent in his nature. Later, Christine is saved by the same police officer from a burning car, and he acts as a savior and protector, as these features are one of the underlying reasons why he chose his profession. Meanwhile, the two other female representatives, Lara and Dorri, the daughters of Daniel and Farhad, respectively, voluntarily take active position, as both females become the protectors of their fathers through their actions. The other discussed interconnected social issues are poverty, ineffectiveness of health care system, gun control and hardships of people attempting to quit the poverty cycle during the upward mobility.
Hotel Rwanda is based on real events that happened in Rwanda in 1994, as Hutu people created a final solution plan similar to the one existing during the World War II, this time to wipe out the Tutsi minority in the country. What is the most striking detail of this genocide, however, is its similarity with the Holocaust, and the difference in reaction of the world community. While people learned about the Holocaust long after it has begun, the genocide of Tutsi by Hutu was announced, planned and conducted in full visibility for the international community. Yet, the latter, in particular, the United Nations that were created as a response to the World War II after its end, decided not to interfere. There are many reasons for such inaction, in particular, lack of economic interest in this poor country, lack of finances for the provision of aid, etc. Nonetheless, although the community and President Clinton did not recognize that Rwanda massacre was genocide for a long time, they have been informed about the daily number of murdered Tutsi. The major theme of Hotel Rwanda is, thus, the selective nature of international politics, with the world strongest countries being able to operate with the stipulations of the official documents of the UN in such fashion, which would be most suitable for them in each separate situation. The movie emphasizes that no person should be waiting for big help, but should rather rely on oneself and friends in such situations that touch other people’s lives. The main character in the movie is based on a real person, a manager of the Belgium-owned luxurious hotel that was predominantly visited by white people before the conflict. The man and his friend from the UN troops had to make hard choices and sacrifice their safety to help those threatened by genocide. These men made their moral choices and decided to stay and do their best risking their lives to save as many people as possible. While these men are internationally recognized for their actions, it is the embarrassment of other countries like France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the USA and others, as they failed to act collectively to stop the cruelty, because of their personal interests that did not coincide with the appeal for aid by Tutsi. Nowadays, there are several ongoing crises and conflicts throughout the world that did not get international attention at all or were reluctantly paid attention to by the international authorities, and the movie reminds the viewers that inaction can lead to the very similar consequences.
The three acclaimed movies are representing the most important social problems of their times, but yet stay relevant today, as these social issues have not been resolved by now. While many movies on the same topic are biased, these three masterpieces are marked by the fresh points of view on the problems, and although they do not offer immediate solution, they all show that its roots can be found in the human nature. Each movie ends with hope, as the characters make self-sacrifices in order to help the others in their lives. The movie also shows how big fights in life are sometimes less important than the small actions that can save one or a thousand of lives immediately.
Works Cited
Hotel Rwanda. Perf. Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte. Lions Gate Entertainment, 2004. Film.
Crash. Perf. Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Peña, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe. Lionsgate, 2004. Film.
Traffic. Perf. Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas, Luis Guzmán, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Universal Pictures, 2000. Film.
