Writer-Director Paul Haggis’s Crash

...

When the DA reveals the real reason that Graham is receiving an award, he declines the offer. The DA then blackmails the detective by threatening to turn in Graham’s troubled younger brother if he does not help Rick’s campaign.

The man who is supposed to be prosecuting others for their crimes is ironically engaging in the crime of blackmail for his own self interest and personal gain.

What Graham would have done in this case? Try to save his brother and help the District Attorney’s ill cause or would not help the District Attorney but then his brother would suffer in jail. Lets see it from both Graham’s perspective as well as from the District Attorney’s perspective.

Through concept of Utilitarianism, one would say that Rick did because that would have gave him more pleasure and particularly very less pain.Even being a racist, it would have helped him to image himself that he is non-racist person who just do things based on laws, rules and justice leading to get all the “Black Votes” which would have helped him win the election.Hence Utilitarians would say that his action is perfectly all right. But through Kantian ethics his action was immoral because his action did not served humanity and morality goals as he thought that white people are more superior than the black. He can control them in whichever way he wanted and treat them as such.Now, humanity would suggest that either a person is black, white, hispanic, persian, african-american or of any other race. He/she must be treated equally and they must be treated with same respect as we treat other people which will lead to increase in humanity. Hence this action is wrong according to Deontological Ethics.

But from Graham’s point of view, if he being utilitarian then he would have helped the ill cause of the District Attorney for winning the election because it would have saved his job, he would have obtain some bravery medal, he would have saved his brother from facing jail, also protected his family from any other consequences that may have happened if he had not supported District Attorney. So overall helping Rick would have increase Graham’s pleasure and ultimately decreased. If he being Kantian’s would have thought that being a detective and representing a body which seeks justice tries to remove everything that may harm humans, he should not help the ill cause of District Attorney and try to convey the citizens to the district that the District Attorney is just trying to win election by imaging himself as non-racist but actually he his racist as he wanted to give medal to detective not because of the work done by the detective but only because he would be able to gain the votes of the Black people. Hence he must not support the District Attorney.