Last night we watched Crash, an older movie that I’ve always really liked. The movie follows an extremely disparate group of characters who are all drawn together by circumstance, by chance, and by their actions. Everything that each of them does affects another in some way.
For me, this is almost what I mean when I speak lightly of karma. I think that every act, from an unkind word to a vicious act, has consequences. Ripples spread from everything that you do, everything you say. An over-officious medical receptionist blocks a cop’s request for a cancer test for his father, just because she can. He then goes out and commits an act of racial harrassment, because he’s hurting and the couple he’s pulled over are affluent and in love. The husband, shamed by allowing his wife to be molested by the racist cop, goes on to try to initiate a violent showdown. Everything we do, good and bad, affects the world around us.
If you haven’t seen Crash, you should rent it – it’s quite a profound movie. it is also a very “Los Angeles” movie, at least for me. LA was the most racially tense place I’ve ever lived in. Lovely and hateful all in turn.