Analyse how the interaction between a hero and a villain reinforced or challenged your ideas about justice in the visual text.

As child we are only taught to see in black and white, good or bad. However as we know having grown up in such an advanced world, nothing is simple as that. ‘Crash’ reinforced my belief that the world is as corrupt and judgement as it ever was, yet it also challenged my tendency to judge a book by its cover so to say. In this case, the villain becomes the hero through his rocky personal journey. Officer John Ryan battles with struggles in his dad’s unpredictable health care system and long shifts on the job. All of this came together to form his journey which we follow through the movie and which challenges me while enforcing my initial ideas. 

Bad – BP1. When you hear the words Sexual Assault what comes to mind? When Officer Ryan sexually assaulted Christina Thayer on the sidewalk of a gloomy street in LA, many events were set in motion and the first thoughts of disgusting and bad, would be moved aside when we later find out the extent of the effects his actions had on Christina’s Life. Officer Ryan sparked a chain of events which ultimately led to a life threatening crash, and a lifetime of pain. The law enforcement is at the pinnacle of societal justice and are employed to enforce the restraint of crimes such as this. Yet in this instance it has granted the power for an evil man to be charge of his own offences and inflict pain on others from his position. The childhood belief in good and bad begins to fade as we enter the real the world and Officer Ryan is a symbol of a pure contrast between what is seen as good but bad lays just beneath the surface. This could be seen as an Allegory to the justice system, the soul influencer on the fate of billions of people, which is seen as the ultimate good yet corruption and illegitimate dealings lie so very close to the surface. 

Good – BP2. Officer John Ryan has battled with his father’s health care for years, and lose everything when the Black’s gained advantage through the new laws. His life had recently been ruled by loss and hardship and although this does not in anyway justify his actions but it gives a background to his actions. Having to deal with a racist and corrupt police force through his career he passes a sentiment of know ledge down to his young partner, “You think you know who you are? [Officer Hanson nods] You have no idea.” The world twists, chews and spits us out but it is how you recover that shows the true character. John Ryan, despite Christina screaming and swinging at him, he persists and saves her from her ticking time bombing, the burning gas tank above her. He dives back into the car after being pulled out, never giving up the slight chance he could save the life of  a woman who could ruin his own life. His journey from villain to hero from his true character yet as we leave him, he is shown from a low angle, with light beaming from behind him symbolizing a hero but his face telling a story of inner turmoil. Justice has been served to Christina but at what cost? Officer Ryan challenged me to see the best in people and the best in the justice system, a hope to believe that the ones that enforce the justice in our world can bring the best out in themselves and become the Hero. 

Challenge and Reinforce – BP3. My decision of the true character of John Ryan was continually challenging and reinforcing my view of the Justice System of today. On one hand, the initial experience of meeting John Ryan in a heated call, and then following him to a scene of sexual assault that he committed and came away clean from was too much. This confirmed all of my inner belief that the world is lead and controlled by corrupt people, and the justice system serves nothing but injustice to its citizens. Although, as the story line progressed and the light shone down on John Ryan as he became a hero, he also began to challenge me. The constant protrial of his heroism through the high lighting and low angles, showed a different side of John Ryan which got me thinking about the good side of people. If the world constantly assumes the worse, it will create the worst. 

2 thoughts on “Analyse how the interaction between a hero and a villain reinforced or challenged your ideas about justice in the visual text.”

  1. Good, Otto. I am hoping the other body paragraphs would cover cinematography techniques (as they are lacking in this paragraph).

Leave a Reply to Gena Bagley Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *