Questions:
I was having a hard time with the conclusion on this project, any suggestions?
Also do we need a citation page for this memo?
To:
Lisa Blankenship
From: Sarah Dolgas
Date: December 1st, 2011
Subj: Intercultural Memo
Intercultural communication occurs in our everyday lives some more often than others.
Business especially is leaning toward to use of a multicultural society where we must be able to
communicate and accept different cultures. After watching and analyzing the movie “Crash”
(2004) I have found that judgments about different cultures can turn out to be false if we are
not educated about the way each communicates with one another.
Plot, Scenes, and Characters
The plot of this film is that there are different cultures living and working in the city of Los
Angeles. These cultures and ages are both female and male and are all intertwined somehow
through the passing days, but may not know it. Judgments are made and turn out to be false
and others turn out to be true. The whole point of the movie is to show that we must
understand how different cultures interact and to not judge. The main characters include
detective Graham, a Latino woman named Ria becomes affiliated with the detective. Another
important two characters are Jean and Rick a married couple wealthy and judgmental. These
characters are followed closely through the film as others are touched on briefly from an Asian,
Mexican, old, young, female, and male diversity. One scene that I focused on in the scene
where a couple of black men are leaving to grocery where one says to the other that he
believes they were treated poorly for being black. He suggests that they attack a white couple
and steal their car to prove a point. This shows that the communication was dysfunctional
because there are reasons for the erratic actions.
Useful in the classroom
A reason to show this film in a business communications class would be to explain the
importance of understanding different cultures in our own country and outside. This movie is a
great way to show why there needs to be less judgment in our culture. People tend to make
judgments about other cultures based on irrelevant factors. The movie explains how we are all
affected by one another’s decisions and we should learn to communicate together. If there is a
lack of communication across culture it can be taken as rude or that you don’t care to realize
the difference between cultures. This is a great example to show students because it relates to
them and will keep their focus to understand intercultural communication. Some may argue
that the movie focuses too much on the emotional side of learning, but I believe that is what
makes a student want to watch and learn when it relates to them and hits a nerve to make
change in their own communication with different cultures.
Relevance to Intercultural Communication
Intercultural communication is such an important part of business and life there is a group set
up called the Foundation for Intercultural Communication solely based on this subject. The
founder states “We should never denigrate any other culture but rather help people to
understand the relationship between their own culture and the dominant culture. When you
understand another culture or language, it does not mean that you have to lose your own
culture.” (Edward T. Hall) The whole point of this communication is to try and not offend of
discriminate against other cultures when dealing in business and communication. As this is a
business course, it is important to understand how to communicate with each and every person
you are going to be in contact in when it comes to business and networking. The locker text
explains that it is important to understand these if you want to grow in business because most
top management is culturally well rounded individuals.
After explaining the movie and its relation to intercultural communication my hope is that it will
be used as a teaching tool about communication, in life and business. The sources used to back
up my argument are ones that I hope you will look at in making decisions about intercultural
topics and use as reference to explain its importance. The Locker text, the Foundation for
Intercultural Business and the movie are all great resources that should be used more often.