Alexa Hanson Wagner

Psychology 1010
Justice Morath
Inexplicit and Explicit Stereotypes
When I was a little girl, my best friends were two Hispanic boys who lived next door. We
played together practically every day and sometimes we would go over to their house and eat
dinner. Our cue was the scent of freshly made tortillas by their mother and we would enjoy these
flavorful and deliciously prepared meals. I then grew up thinking that all Hispanic families were
kind, great cooks, and happy people. I generalized an entire race of people off of one family.
Everyone, at least subconsciously, makes generalizations like these, opinions based off of
memories, we cant help it, and we cant always control whether these opinions of ours are fair,
kind, or even realized. Generalizations that come from our past are sometimes very prominent in
our beliefs, but also sometimes hidden in our subconscious, either way, we act on these beliefs
whether we like to or not.
In the movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, there are many different stereotypes and
generalizations that are explicitly and inexplicitly portrayed. The difference is that explicit
stereotypes are conscious generalizations made while inexplicit stereotypes are subconsciously
made and usually based off of past memories that may have been forgotten or put into the back
of the mind. Whether the generalization is conscious or subconscious can have a major impact on
a persons actions, such as a consciously made stereotype would be acted on more verbally and

more prominently, while a subconsciously made stereotype will be acted on over a long period of
time and not be as prominent. An example in the movie of when an explicit stereotype is made is
when Sandra Bullocks character, Jean, is upset about having a gun pointed at her and having her
vehicle stolen. Her anger is then transferred to the Hispanic locksmith who is only changing out
her locks and not making any threatening actions. She yells at her husband the DA in their home
and says that she wants the locks changed again the next morning. Jean accuses the lock smith of
being a gang member and bases this off of his race, shaved head, the pants around his ass,
and his prison tattoos. She is scared that he will use a matching key to bring some of his
friends to break into the house later. In reality, his pants are pulled up, and as stated by her
husband, the tattoos are not prison tattoos, and he probably did not even consider breaking into
their home. Sandra Bullocks character would probably normally not make these explicit
accusations, especially in her home where staff, detectives, and her children are, but because she
is in a frightened, shocked, and protective state, her actions are far more based off of how she is
feeling rather than how she would normally react.
Sandra Bullocks character makes highly explicit stereotypes, based on how prominent
she makes her opinions in front of many people, including the stereotyped individual. This is
compared to the inexplicit stereotyping done by Ryan Phillippes character, Officer Tom Hansen,
who throughout the whole film, is either disgusted by racist actions (when his partner sexually
harasses an African American woman), or tries to show how he is not racist through his own
actions (when he defends the African American husband of the sexually harassed woman in front
of his colleagues.) Despite his actions throughout the film, at the end, he thinks that an African
American man is making fun of him by mocking his stereotypical white interest in country
music, and in return scoffs when the man says he understands the country music. He then again

thinks that the man is making fun of his St. Nicholas figure on the dashboard, and when the man
turns to his pocket to show why he is laughing, Ryan Phillippes character shoots the African
American man because he thinks the man has a gun.
These two examples of Inexplicit and explicit stereotyping are also examples of of the
Fundamental Attribution Error. Sandra Bullocks character makes her assumption, while based
on the real personality of the locksmith presented in the movie, I would make the assumption
that his tattoos are related to his caring feelings about his daughter and wife, and that he has a
shaved head simply because he likes the way he looks. I make this assumption because I know
more about the lock smith, I have more information and a different point of view to analyze and
consider, compared to Sandra Bullocks character who only has his appearance to go off of. If
Sandra Bullocks character was instead in my shoes and analyzing from my point of view, she
would probably make a less stereotypical and error view. Ryan Phillippes character is too quick
to thinking as well. When he thought the man was pulling out a gun, the man was really pulling
out an exact replica figure of the one he had. Both show how either explicit or inexplicit
stereotyping can be a victim of Fundamental Attribution Error.