Crash - what a movie!

Last week I saw the movie Crash with Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe and Jennifer Esposito. Wow, that movie was a ride! You never knew what was going to happen or who’s the good or bad guy, in one moment a hero, in the next a criminal. Sometimes it felt really uncomfortable, because it plays with a lot of our emotions and presuppositions. Scary! It also made me think about how often we view each other as characters more than real people. The images we make of our family and friends are stuck in our minds and are hard to get rid of. If you look one way, you’re supposed to act that way. If you’ve done that, you are like that! There is of course some truth in this, but at the same time: We are incredibly complex and consist of layers and layers inside; of emotions, of thoughts and of diverse roles and expectations. With one person we behave in one way, with another we act differently. I’ve often experienced that some think of me as a quiet and an almost shy person, while others think of me as a crazy, talking machine :). What’s the truth? Perhaps both, depending on the situation or the person I’m with? Maybe we’re supposed to live in that tension, not knowing 100 % who we are or how we are perceived? All in all: the movie shows us real people in real situations, and it shows people, all of them – that are in need of grace – from each other and from loving arms at the end of the road. I guess that's where we all need to be, knowing that each individual's life is a mix of being heroes and villains in the confusing state of living.