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importance of intercultural communications
importance of intercultural communications
multicultural communication issues
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An American drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood which has gained recognition worldwide particularly because of Clintwood’s appealing directing style. It was recognized by the American Drama Institute as one of the “Ten Best Films of 2008”(Gran Torino, 2013) and debutedthe writer, Nick Schenk. Clint Eastwood demonstrates, through Mr. Walt, that if your past negatively affects your life and the way you see things, then its best to let go of it and start a new beginning. An intense film told with great humor, Gran Torino is a cinematic masterpiece. This film succeeds in its development in portraying the negative aspects involving multicultural communications and the bond formed by people from two extremely different generations.
Walt is an arrogant racist Korean War veteran with his prized possession, a Gran Torino.In the beginning in his wife’s funeralit can be seen that the relationship between him and his children was weak.They later wanted to send him to an old age home, which he thought was ridiculous. He hates the fact that the neighborhood was filled with Hmong people. The state worsens when Thao (Bee Wong) his young Hmong neighbor falls into the wrong company of his cousin and tries to purloin the Torino. But things start to change whenWalt mistakenly saves Thao’s lifewhile the gang was forcefully taking him away to do unacceptable things that he had rejected to,after realizing that stealingWalt’s car was just wrong.Walt wanted them off his lawn andhad no intensions of saving anyone’s life.Sue (Ahney Her), Thaos sister, is a wise young girl and tries to converse with him but the guilt of the Korean Warpulls him aback. It gets better when he progressively overcomes this guilt by giving Sue a chance to introduce...
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...and discipline, whichhelped strengthen their bond.
People like Walt still exist. They might not be able to open up and end up being isolated. It becomes our responsibility to be like Sue and Thao and make their life bearable. Help them forget the traumatic scenes of war, be open-minded and help them realize that having a multicultural neighborhood decreases stereotyping and racism.After all, they are soldiers and the guilt of killing people always haunts them.
Works Cited
Eastwood, C., (Director), Lorenz, R., Gerber, B., (Producers), Schenk, N.(Writer),. (2008). Gran Torino[Motion Pictures]. United States: Village Roadshow Pictures.
Schenk, N. (writer), Eastwood, C. (Director & Producer).(2008). Gran Torino [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros.
Gran Torino. (2013, November 28). Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Torino
McCandless’s relationship with his father, Walt McCandless is far from the ideal father-son relationship. Walt, a renowned NASA space engineer, seeks a certain path for his son’s future that McCandless is very stubborn to follow. After an excellent academic record throughout high school and college, his future looks quite promising. However, his want to not follow his path set before him by his parents are made very clear from his youth. In the third grade, when offered to join an accelerated program for gifted students, McCandless refused simply since it would mean that he had to do more schoolwork. Since then it has been clear that “Chris marches to a different drummer” (107), as one of his teachers recalled. The clash between his own desired path and the societally defined path pushed on him by his parents would have created a very significant internal conflict and it would be only made worse by finding out about his father’s affair. When visiting his childhood home of El Segundo, California, he discovers the double life that his father had lived as he was still in a relationship with his first wife, Marcia, even after he had Chris with Billie. At this point, his relationship with his entire family, including very close his sister, completely deteriorates. To McCandless, This serves to confirm his doubts in societally defined path and becomes a major turning point at which McCandless now is steadfast in his plans to escape society and travel into the Alaskan wilderness. Even in Fairbanks, Alaska, right before he makes the final act of journeying into the wild, McCandless still shows the profound influence father as he looks upon a satellite developed largely in part by Walt McCandless. Krakauer emphasizes the extent of McCandless’s disconnection to his family now as he states that “If the
Gran Torino is one of those films with an outstanding and significant topic presented to its viewers. The character of Walt is introduced as a bitter old man who does not seem to have loving emotions. Living in a low income and immigrant populated neighborhood, the audience is exposed to a different and perhaps unknown perspective, such as Hmong’s cultural norms.
Poitras, L, Bonnefoy, M., & Wilutzky, D. (Producers), & Poitras, L. (Director). (2014, October 24). Citizenfour [Motion Picture]. United States: The Weinstein Company.
O Brother, Where Art Thou. Dir. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John
Stereotyping, racial slurs, and labeling and norms are seen and used on a daily basis and can be observed in virtually any aspect of life, from race to religion. These aspects are used repeatedly throughout the popular movie “Gran Torino.” Clint Eastwood plays the raunchy character Walt Kowalski, a Korean War Veteran, whose memories from the war continue to haunt him. His values, and beliefs lead him to pass judgment upon others that he encounters. He doesn’t seem to get along with anyone in his decaying Detroit neighborhood but an unlikely bond with his Hmong neighbors lead him to redemption, coming face-to-face with the same catastrophic bias’s consuming the community gang members that have consumed him.
The use of setting and location in Grand Torino plays a key role in the development of Walt and Thao’s friendship. Due to the age difference and dissimilar lifestyles, normally these two characters would never come into contact. Walt (Walter Kowalski), is an elderly white male who takes much pride in his American culture and is under the emotional burden of his wife’s recent passing. Thao is a young Hmong boy who is very quiet in nature their encounter only occurs because they are both living in a multicultural neighbourhood that is riddled with crime and gang culture. The local Hmong gang is attempting to recruit Thao by kidnapping him but in the process they step onto Walt’s lawn. This in turn provokes Walt to interrupt the kidnapping with
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
Van Sant, G. and Bender, L. (1997). Good Will Hunting. New York City: Miramax Films.
... on, Walt learns about the Hmong culture, and eventually he establishes a grumpy fatherly connection with Thao. Walt develops a relationship with the Vang Lor family and stops the Hmong gang from raping Thao’s sister. Although, Walt is dying from lung cancer, the gang kills him. Walt leaves behind all his inheritance to the Vang Lor family, and most importantly, Thao inherited the prized 1972 Gran Torino.
Elmer, “Walt” was a friend I knew when I lived in California. Despite being a throwback from the 1960’s and a reject from society’s public eye, Walt still lived with a smile on his face and a story in his heart. Walt loved to tell stories and he loved the place where he told them. Walt also loved to drink and toward the end of an evening the bottle had met his lips way too many times. Old hippy ways faded to history for everyone else but Walt.
Clint Eastwood’s film “Gran Torino” traces the end of the life of Walt Kowalski. He has recently gone through a lot – the death of his beloved wife, his distant relationship with his son, his emotional scars from the Korean War and his bad health. All these things stop him from living a proper life. He doesn’t care about himself much – he smokes even though he is sick, he doesn’t eat a lot, he refuses to confess even though that was his wife’s last wish. However, all this changes when he meets the Hmong Family that lives next door. At the beginning he detests them because of their similarity to the Koreans, but later, as he gets to know them, they become the family that he was never able to have. The story traces the psychological changes in Walt’s character due to his unusual bond with the Hmong family, which changes are one of the main strengths of the film.
Connelly, Marie. "The films of Martin Scorsese: A critical study." Diss. Case Western Reserve University, 1991. Web. 07 Apr 2014.
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
Gran Torino is a suspense film directed by Clint Eastwood, which portrays the relationship between a 78-year-old Koran war veteran and his neighbors who are from Laos. The main character, Walt is a racist who still has memories from the horrors of war and has a dislike for anyone, including his own family. After his young neighbor Thao is coerced by his cousin’s gang into stealing Walt’s prized Gran Torino, a unusual relationship forms between the pair. Walt starts to respect Thao and his culture while fulfilling a fatherly role that Thao is lacking. Eventually, Walt has to confront the gang knowing that the confrontation will end in his death. Apart from the stereotypical, get off my lawn quote, this film depicts the relationship of family concerning the care for older adults, the struggle with despair and meaning later in life, and the morality of a good death. This paper will address each of these themes.
Gran Torino focuses on the life of Thao as he tries to live a normal life despite being pressured to join a neighborhood gang. Thao’s family moved to America to live a better life and Thao wants to be successful, but the gang in his neighborhood prevents