A STUDY OF PREJUDICE REFLECTED IN THE PAUL HAGGIS’ FILM CRASH

A STUDY OF PREJUDICE REFLECTED IN THE PAUL HAGGIS’ FILM CRASH

THESIS

This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

By:

Fitria Hari Utami 07360119

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

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MOTTO AND DEDICATION

MOTTO

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must

keep moving.”

(Albert Einstein)

DEDICATION:

I dedicated this thesis to:

My beloved father and mother,

My sister and my brother,

My beloved friend.

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A STUDY OF PREJUDICE REFLECTED IN THE PAUL HAGGIS’ FILM CRASH

ABSTRACT

Prejudice is prejudgment, which means determining something without knowing the proof and it often leads to negative. It may cause certain act toward the group which lead to social conflicts. This matter is often found in the social life. Therefore, it inspires the film makers to take it as the theme of the films. One of them is Crash, directed by Paul Haggis.

The objectives of this study were to know the prejudices are reflected in the Paul Haggis’ Crash film, to find out the reasons of the prejudices are reflected in the Paul Haggis’ Crash film, and to describe the effects of prejudice are exposed in the Paul Haggis’ Crash film.

The design of this study was descriptive qualitative because the data of this study were not presented in number but in narration using words. Besides, this study deals with human behaviour in social phenomena, in this case is prejudice reflected in the Paul Haggis’ Crash film, the reasons of prejudice contained in the Paul Haggis’ Crash film, and the effects of prejudice exposed in the film. The writer used objective approach because she only studied the content of the film itself. In collecting the data, she watched the Crash film for several times in order to understand the story of the film well, paid attention subtitles which were presented on the screen to examine the dialogues of the characters, identified the dialogue and the action of the film which were categorized into prejudice, and rewrote all of the data which were considered as prejudice reflected in the film.

The finding showed that Black Americans’ Prejudice toward White American was that White Americans humiliated Black Americans. White Americans’ Prejudice toward Black American were that Black Americans were carjackers and not skillful. While White Americans’ Prejudices toward Black Americans were because White Americans felt disadvantageous to cope the problem and White Americans disliked to Black Americans. The prejudices between Black Americans and White Americans brought the effects that they became hostile to each other and the occurrence of murder done by a White American toward a Black American.

In conclusion, Paul Haggis’ film Crash described negative prejudices which occurred between White and Black Americans. Prejudices which they had were mostly based on dislike feeling each other. So, the prejudices brought negative effects between them. In this film, prejudice caused hostility between White and Black American, and murder.

Keywords: Prejudice, and Film.

The Advisor I, The Writer

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillah, all praise to Allah, the Mercifull and Charitable. Because of the guidance and blessing, the writer can finish this thesis.

The writer would like to express her deepest gratitude to Drs. Jarum, M.Ed, as the first advisor and Rina Wahyu S, M.Ed, as the second advisor, who have given the patience guidance, encouragement, advice, correction, and suggestion for the completion of this thesis.

Her sincere gratitude and appreciation are also extended to her beloved father (Moerni Niti Rogo), mother (Sri Hartini), sister (Sri Ekowati), her close friend (Nurul Huda), and her classmates (Icha, Ony, and Nissa) for their encouragement, love, care, and pray so that she can finish this thesis.

Malang, October 2012 The Writer,

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ... i

LEGALIZATION ... ii

MOTTO & DEDICATION ... iii

ABSTRACT ... iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2 Problems of the Study ... 4

1.3 Objectives of the Study ... 4

1.4 Significance of the Study ... 4

1.5 Scope and Limitation ... 5

1.6 Definition of the Key Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 6

2.1 Film ... 7

2.1.1 Elements of Film ... 7

2.1.1.1Dimension of Space... 7

2.1.1.2Dimension of Time ... 9

2.1.1.3 Dimension of Sound ... 10

2.2 Prejudice ... 11

2.2.1 Definition of Prejudice ... 11

2.2.2 Kinds of Prejudice... 12

2.2.2.1 Prejudice as Positive Affect ... 12

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2.2.3 Reasons of Prejudice ... 14

2.2.4 Effects of Prejudice ... 15

2.2.5 Reducing Prejudice ... 16

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 20

3.1 Research Design ... 20

3.2 Approach ... 21

3.3 Object of The Study. ... 22

3.4 Data Collection ... 23

3.5 Data Analysis ... 23

CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION... 24

4.1 Research Finding ... 24

4.1.1 The Prejudices Reflected in The Paul Haggis’ Film Crash ... 24

4.1.1.1Black American’s Prejudice toward White American ... 24

4.1.1.2White American’s Prejudice toward Black American ... 27

4.1.2 The Reasons of The Prejudices Reflected in The Paul Haggis’ Film Crash ... 35

4.1.2.1 The Reasons Why Black American Have Prejudice toward White American ... 35

4.1.2.2 The Reasons Why White American Have Prejudice toward Black American ... 37

4.1.3 The Effects of Prejudices were Exposed in The Paul Haggis’ Film Crash ... 41

4.1.3.1 Being Hostile to Each Other ... 41

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4.2 Discussion ... 44

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 47

5.1 Conclusions ... 47

5.2 Suggestions ... 47

REFERENCES APPENDIX

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REFERENCES

Adeleke, D. A. Nordic Journal of African Society 12 (1): 49 – 56. 2003. Culture, Art and Film in an African Society: An Evaluation. University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Ary, D., Jacobs, and Razavieh, A. 2002. Introduction to Research in Education Sixth Edition. US: Thomson Wadsworth Inc.

Kennedy, X.J. 1984. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama Third Edition. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.

Klarer, Mario. 2006. An Introduction to Literary Studies. Second Edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Kupper, Bick & Zick, Andreas. Prejudice and Group Focused Enmity. (www.uni-bielefeld.de/ikg/zick).

Lee & Woon, 2010: Understanding the Effects of Prejudice, Discrimination and Inequity in the Body. Journal of Biology of Personal and Social Traumas. Nelson, Todd, D. 2002. The Psychology of Prejudice. Boston. A Pearson Education

Company.

Ponterotto. 2006. Understanding Prejudice and Racism. www.ponterotto.qxd. Zastrow, Charles and Ashman, Krist. 2001. Understanding Human Behavior and the

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background of the study, the statement of the problems, the purposes of the study, the significance of the study, the scope and the limitation, and the definition of key terms.

1.1 The Background of the Study

Film is a new form of literary work. It differs from other previous literary work, such as novel and drama. Film has more special characteristics than novel and drama. It can be played at the same time in different cities and can be replayed many times without involving the actors again. Film spends less time to see the description through its depictions. Therefore, watching film is more comfortable than reading novel containing hundreds of pages or watching drama which cannot be replayed when the viewers miss parts of the scenes. But, film has also the sameness with drama and novel because it uses actors as a major means of expression. Many film makers may also get inspirations from drama or novel to be filmed.

Film gives a new color for literary work because it is a new media to convey the message that the author has through its photographic depictions. Film has also the elements of literary works, such as: the plot, theme, setting, and character and dialogue. Besides, there are elements which include camera angle, editing, mise-en-scene, montage, etc. (Klarer, 2006: 57). Those elements support

2

the atmosphere of the scene. These elements make the representation of this audio-visual literature form becomes an interesting form of artwork to enjoy.

Since film is included literary work, it may represent the reflection of human life. Viewers can take the lessons from it. Therefore, it can be one of media to teach social, culture, moral, or behavior such as prejudice. Gardner, in Nelson (2002: 7), states that the word prejudice can be taken literally to indicate a prejudgment about something. He suggests that it is an evaluation either positive or negative toward stimulus. But, since prejudice is prejudgment, which means determining something without knowing the proof, it often leads to negative. Thus, although prejudice can be positive, prejudice in many cases may cause certain act toward the group which lead to social conflicts. It is in line with what Zastrow and Ashman say (2001: 207) that prejudice is a combination of stereotyped beliefs and negative attitudes.

Based on the experts’ opinions about prejudice above, it can be concluded that prejudice is a negative attitude because it is a prejudgment based on less or no information about something. This matter is often found in the social life. Therefore, it inspires the film makers to take it as the theme of the films. One of them is Crash, directed by Paul Haggis.

Crash is a film which tells about many characters who come from various races, such as: Chinese, Arabian, Mexican, Caucasian, White American, Black American. They deal with the tense of prejudice because race relations. For instance, there is a wife of Caucasian lawyer who goes by a car, then the two black men have carjacked her because the two black men have prejudice that white people hate the black men like them. The two black carjackers steal her car

3

because they think that although they do not do a crime, she certainly thinks bad about them. This negative attitude and violence is an example of prejudice, which is known as a negative feeling and behavior toward a group or a member of that group. It is an issue that always exists in humanity.

This film shows viewers the different point of view of people in society. It invites to see and understand how negative attitude, like prejudice, can go along and affect people in plurality (multi races people). This film teaches viewers the important lesson of life about the prohibition of having prejudice toward other which can cause conflicts. That is why the writer chose thisfilm to be analyzed in term of prejudice.

Related to this study, there was a previous study conducted by Unniyasari (2010) entitled An Analysis of Elizabeth’s Prejudice to Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Novel “Pride and Prejudice”. She focused on Elizabeth’s prejudice to Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”, the reason of Elizabeth’s prejudice to Mr. Darcy and the effects of her prejudice toward herself. The finding showed there were three negative prejudices that Elizabeth had to Mr. Darcy, namely Mr. Darcy was arrogant and cruel. He also saw someone from his or her economic status. Those negative prejudices had two reasons. The first reason is emotion because those prejudices derived from Elizabeth's dissatisfaction feeling and anger to Mr. Darcy's attitude. The second reason is social because it related to the different of social status between them. Then, prejudices belonged to Elizabeth toward Mr. Darcy brought two effects. Those were feeling embarrassed and feeling regret.

4

The writer was interested in conducting a research on prejudice reflected in Crash film because prejudice is prejudgment which can cause the conflict occurs in the multi races society like reflected in this film. In the writer’s view, people are better informed and educated to understand that their actions should not be prejudice to all races or ethnics because prejudice can be destructive force both in the world and in individual society, especially in diverse ethnic country like in Indonesia. Therefore, this study is important to conduct.

1.2 Statements of Problem

1. What are the prejudices reflected in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash?

2. What are the reasons of prejudice contained in the Paul Haggis’ film

Crash?

3. What are the effects of prejudice exposed in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash?

1.3 Purposes of Study

1. To know the prejudices are reflected in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash. 2. To find out the reasons of the prejudices are reflected in the Paul Haggis’

film Crash.

3. To describe the effects of prejudice are exposed in the Paul Haggis’ film

Crash.

1.4 The Significance of the Study

The result of this study has significance for several parties. The first is for readers of this study. The readers can take the lesson about prejudice, which can

5

bear the conflict between human because of having prejudice each other. The second is for English Department Students. This thesis is advantageous for literature field because prejudice is one of problems occurs in life which expressed in the literature by an author. In addition, since film is included literary work, it is also expected to encourage students to study much more about film which has given many lessons about social or moral. The third is for lecturers. The lecturers can use this study as reference when they teach social and moral aspects, especially about prejudice or film. The Fourth is for other researchers. It is hoped that this study can be an inspiration for them who are interested in analyzing films or other aspects of life.

1.5 The Scope and Limitation

The scope of this study is focused on prejudice which includes positive and negative prejudice. Prejudice studied here is limited on prejudice among the major characters which is exposed in the Paul Haggis’s Crash film. The major characters here are limited on White American and Black American and vice versa.

1.6 The Definition of the Key Terms

Prejudice is a prejudgment about something (Gardner in Nelson, 2002)

Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California.

x

REFERENCES

Adeleke, D. A. Nordic Journal of African Society 12 (1): 49 – 56. 2003. Culture, Art and Film in an African Society: An Evaluation. University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Ary, D., Jacobs, and Razavieh, A. 2002. Introduction to Research in Education Sixth Edition. US: Thomson Wadsworth Inc.

Kennedy, X.J. 1984. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama Third Edition. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.

Klarer, Mario. 2006. An Introduction to Literary Studies. Second Edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Kupper, Bick & Zick, Andreas. Prejudice and Group Focused Enmity. (www.uni-bielefeld.de/ikg/zick).

Lee & Woon, 2010: Understanding the Effects of Prejudice, Discrimination and Inequity in the Body. Journal of Biology of Personal and Social Traumas. Nelson, Todd, D. 2002. The Psychology of Prejudice. Boston. A Pearson Education

Company.

Ponterotto. 2006. Understanding Prejudice and Racism. www.ponterotto.qxd. Zastrow, Charles and Ashman, Krist. 2001. Understanding Human Behavior and the

1

This chapter presents the background of the study, the statement of the problems, the purposes of the study, the significance of the study, the scope and the limitation, and the definition of key terms.

1.1 The Background of the Study

Film is a new form of literary work. It differs from other previous literary work, such as novel and drama. Film has more special characteristics than novel and drama. It can be played at the same time in different cities and can be replayed many times without involving the actors again. Film spends less time to see the description through its depictions. Therefore, watching film is more comfortable than reading novel containing hundreds of pages or watching drama which cannot be replayed when the viewers miss parts of the scenes. But, film has also the sameness with drama and novel because it uses actors as a major means of expression. Many film makers may also get inspirations from drama or novel to be filmed.

Film gives a new color for literary work because it is a new media to convey the message that the author has through its photographic depictions. Film has also the elements of literary works, such as: the plot, theme, setting, and character and dialogue. Besides, there are elements which include camera angle, editing, mise-en-scene, montage, etc. (Klarer, 2006: 57). Those elements support

2

the atmosphere of the scene. These elements make the representation of this audio-visual literature form becomes an interesting form of artwork to enjoy.

Since film is included literary work, it may represent the reflection of human life. Viewers can take the lessons from it. Therefore, it can be one of media to teach social, culture, moral, or behavior such as prejudice. Gardner, in Nelson (2002: 7), states that the word prejudice can be taken literally to indicate a prejudgment about something. He suggests that it is an evaluation either positive or negative toward stimulus. But, since prejudice is prejudgment, which means determining something without knowing the proof, it often leads to negative. Thus, although prejudice can be positive, prejudice in many cases may cause certain act toward the group which lead to social conflicts. It is in line with what Zastrow and Ashman say (2001: 207) that prejudice is a combination of stereotyped beliefs and negative attitudes.

Based on the experts’ opinions about prejudice above, it can be concluded that prejudice is a negative attitude because it is a prejudgment based on less or no information about something. This matter is often found in the social life. Therefore, it inspires the film makers to take it as the theme of the films. One of them is Crash, directed by Paul Haggis.

Crash is a film which tells about many characters who come from various races, such as: Chinese, Arabian, Mexican, Caucasian, White American, Black American. They deal with the tense of prejudice because race relations. For instance, there is a wife of Caucasian lawyer who goes by a car, then the two black men have carjacked her because the two black men have prejudice that white people hate the black men like them. The two black carjackers steal her car

because they think that although they do not do a crime, she certainly thinks bad about them. This negative attitude and violence is an example of prejudice, which is known as a negative feeling and behavior toward a group or a member of that group. It is an issue that always exists in humanity.

This film shows viewers the different point of view of people in society. It invites to see and understand how negative attitude, like prejudice, can go along and affect people in plurality (multi races people). This film teaches viewers the important lesson of life about the prohibition of having prejudice toward other which can cause conflicts. That is why the writer chose this film to be analyzed in term of prejudice.

Related to this study, there was a previous study conducted by Unniyasari (2010) entitled An Analysis of Elizabeth’s Prejudice to Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Novel “Pride and Prejudice”. She focused on Elizabeth’s prejudice to Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”, the reason of Elizabeth’s prejudice to Mr. Darcy and the effects of her prejudice toward herself. The finding showed there were three negative prejudices that Elizabeth had to Mr. Darcy, namely Mr. Darcy was arrogant and cruel. He also saw someone from his or her economic status. Those negative prejudices had two reasons. The first reason is emotion because those prejudices derived from Elizabeth's dissatisfaction feeling and anger to Mr. Darcy's attitude. The second reason is social because it related to the different of social status between them. Then, prejudices belonged to Elizabeth toward Mr. Darcy brought two effects. Those were feeling embarrassed and feeling regret.

4

The writer was interested in conducting a research on prejudice reflected in Crash film because prejudice is prejudgment which can cause the conflict occurs in the multi races society like reflected in this film. In the writer’s view, people are better informed and educated to understand that their actions should not be prejudice to all races or ethnics because prejudice can be destructive force both in the world and in individual society, especially in diverse ethnic country like in Indonesia. Therefore, this study is important to conduct.

1.2 Statements of Problem

1. What are the prejudices reflected in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash?

2. What are the reasons of prejudice contained in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash?

3. What are the effects of prejudice exposed in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash?

1.3 Purposes of Study

1. To know the prejudices are reflected in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash. 2. To find out the reasons of the prejudices are reflected in the Paul Haggis’

film Crash.

3. To describe the effects of prejudice are exposed in the Paul Haggis’ film Crash.

1.4 The Significance of the Study

The result of this study has significance for several parties. The first is for readers of this study. The readers can take the lesson about prejudice, which can

bear the conflict between human because of having prejudice each other. The second is for English Department Students. This thesis is advantageous for literature field because prejudice is one of problems occurs in life which expressed in the literature by an author. In addition, since film is included literary work, it is also expected to encourage students to study much more about film which has given many lessons about social or moral. The third is for lecturers. The lecturers can use this study as reference when they teach social and moral aspects, especially about prejudice or film. The Fourth is for other researchers. It is hoped that this study can be an inspiration for them who are interested in analyzing films or other aspects of life.

1.5 The Scope and Limitation

The scope of this study is focused on prejudice which includes positive and negative prejudice. Prejudice studied here is limited on prejudice among the major characters which is exposed in the Paul Haggis’s Crash film. The major characters here are limited on White American and Black American and vice versa.

1.6 The Definition of the Key Terms

Prejudice is a prejudgment about something (Gardner in Nelson, 2002)

Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California.