I stumbled across this other day and found it quite interesting.  ”Crash,” a movie about race relationships and stereotypes, has received numerous honors, including the granddaddy of them all — an Academy Award for Best Picture.  The movie also is the most watched video on Netflix.  This lead me to think about why it is #1.  After all, Netflix has a database of thousands of films, including dozens of Best Pictures.

My theory is people are more likely to watch this film on Netflix because there’s a stigma behind learning about race or embracing other cultures.  Let’s face it, lots of White people wouldn’t rent “Precious” from Blockbuster, but they’d rent it from an online movie-rental site.  My theory is bolstered by the fact that the #3 film is “The Blind Side,” a movie about a White couple that adopts a young Black man from a troubled background.

I’m glad that people are interested in watching films that cause them to leave their comfort zone, but it’s done in vain if it’s secretive.  There’s nothing wrong with being the only White person in a theater for a film with a majority-Black cast.  In order to truly identify with someone that doesn’t look like you, you’ve got to get from behind your television set and face the world as it is.