In the 2008 movie Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, a retired autoworker who is recently widowed. Walt lives in what once was a thriving middle class, predominantly white, Detroit neighborhood that now is run down, ran by gangs, and has violence crime. Walt’s neighborhood is also has a large Asian community. A lot of this movie focuses on racial prejudices he has towards the Asian people living next door. Walt is a Korean War veteran and often recalls the horrific treatment of the Asian people that he witnessed. After returning from his wife’s funeral, there’s a gathering of family and friends at Walt’s house. He’s not happy that everyone is there and when the doorbell rings, he grumbles even more. It’s Thao (played by Bee Vang) his Hmong teenage neighbor. This is the first time we’re introduced to this character and see how prejudice Walt still is when he refers to his neighbors as “chinks, gooks, and zipper heads”. The neighborhood is controlled by gangs and one of those gangs is trying to recruit Thao but he doesn’t want anything to do with them. One member of the …show more content…
Walt could have easily just continued to stay away from Thao and sat back and watched him give into the peer pressure. He did give in when he tried to steal Walt’s car but after he was unsuccessful, he didn’t try again. This was because Walt stepped in and provided a different way of life. Walt had him helping around the neighborhood doing cosmetic repairs to some of the houses around there. He started with a neighbor across the street and eventually Walt was able to secure a job for Thao based on his performance with the things he was doing to revitalize the area. Walt helped Thao get the necessary tools and supplies he needed for his job. Had it not been for Walt’s intervention, Thao could have given in to the
Racism causes Walter’s to think different about the world. As a teen Walter started to realize racism would always be apart of his life. At school Walter only found white authors and white people that made history. Cabs didn’t stop for “colored” people so the had to take the train. “We did not get many yellow cabs coming to the street, because downtown cabs did not stop for black people” (Page 59).
The movie Gran Torino from 2008 stars Clint Eastwood as a Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran. The film starts at his wife’s funeral and when he goes back home, he notices his neighbors, who are Hmong. Walt’s displeasure with them is clear as he spits when he sees the grandmother of the family. That night, the Hmong boy Thao tries to steal his Gran Torino as an initiation to join his cousin’s gang. His attempt is fruitless and caught by Walt. Thao then tries to avoid joining the gang, but they come back to force him. At this point, Walt comes out to stop the ordeal by threatening to shoot. Slowly, Walt shies away from his racist ways and becomes a mentor and friend to Thao and his family. He teaches Thao and gets him a job, but the gang beats Thao up, shoots up his house, and beats up his sister. Walt was not going to allow this to continue, so he decided on a plan. He went to the gang’s house where he let them kill him. Finally, the gang goes to jail and Walt grants his Gran Torino to Thao instead of his family in his will.
The movie “In and out” was first released in September 19th, 1997. To my opinion this film portrays our gender-coded society and I also noticed how open the characters were even if it was in 1900’s. I say that because our society has just started to adapt with the fact of having gay,lesbian,transexual,etc, amoung them without making a problem or treating them any differently.The movie used many different types of stereotypes especially for men. During the entire film, the protagonist was hesitant because he never explored his true sexuality, he was just following what his parents and what he thought would keep him away from all the drama and mistreatment from society.The movie is about a guy named Howard Brackett , he’s a middle class english
(4) Conventional is easy. Whenever an idea is generally perceived by society as standard or traditional it becomes very easy to display to the public without the raise of an eyebrow. This is the basis on which stereotypes appear in films. You’d think in the 21st century where what once were radical notions like same sex marriage and recreational drug use are being legalized that something uncalled for like the constant portrayal of character stereotyping would come to an end. Alas, stereotypical characters continue to emerge in film and unfortunately have become a staple of Hollywood because they’re simple and straightforward, requiring little effort on the part of the writers or thinking from the audience.
The movie “Gran Torino” has many instances of inequality. Inequality in the United States of America is a problem that has been around and will continue to be around until the United States no longer exists. Since Clint Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowalski, is a racist, inequality abounds in this movie. The movie shows the interactions Walt has with his grandchildren and, more importantly, the Hmong people. Walt has a problem communicating with any non-white person. He is wildly inappropriate and seems to enjoy being that way. He is the stereotypical, racist white man that sits on his porch yelling and screaming at everyone that walks on his lawn. He has no use for anyone except himself.
In the movie “crash” people from different racial group crash in to each other and at least two of the characters come to recognize how their prejudice and stereotyping is based on their accidental encounter with members of other social groups.
Stereotyping by nature can sometimes prove to be accurate, but nonetheless a generalizations and can derive from traits of prejudice and racism. Some examples of these in the film that deals with racial stereotypes are the Asians driving a Honda or Japanese vehicle with a spoiler on the rear of the car. We see the Hmong gang riding around in a “jap burner” or “rice burner” vehicle with a spoiler or tail wing on the back. This proves to be only a culture stereotype when Walt gives his 1972 Gran Torino to Thao. Thao is shown driving the vehicle with Walt’s dog Daisy, his Labrador retriever in the final scene in the film. Another common stereotype presented to us was simply the African American men harassing women in the neighborhood. This is shown in a scene where Sue and her white male friend are being harassed by a group of three African American men. Sue positions the fact that they are illustrating African American stereotypes by harassing her sexually and putting their hands on her. They continue to make sexually accused remarks to Sue and call her profane terms like
The movie Crash was directed by Paul Haggis is a powerful film that displays how race is still a sociological problem that affects one 's life. It also focuses on how we should not stereotype people based on their color because one may come out wrong in the end. Stereotyping is a major issue that is still happening in today 's society and seems to only be getting worse. This movie is a great way to see the daily life and struggle of other races and see how racism can happen to anyone, not just African Americans which seems to only be seen in the news and such.
Gran Torino embodies racial slandering, stereo typing, and discrimination to a high degree and unfolds into a beautiful picture of friendship, true family values, and retaliation at its finest. Racism is an obstacle for potential relationships. This film is a prime example of how race sometimes gets in the way of friendships. Clint Eastwood plays a war veteran who appears to have been forced into racism after serving in the war. A silent racial segregation exists in society today and this segregation is present throughout the film Gran Torino. We find ourselves grouping together
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...
In Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino (2008), the main character Thao Vang Lor struggles to fulfill the male role in a Hmong household, and initially Thao is introduced washing dishes, considered “women’s work”. To obtain his masculinity, Thao has two paths to choose. The first is to join his cousin’s gang, which will inevitably lead to jail. The other option is to accept the tutelage of his neighbor Walt Kowalski, who will teach him to be a self-sufficient American man. Thao accepts his help, and Walt guides him to manhood, by teaching him work ethic, and by giving him a job and a car. Through Walt’s sacrifices and teaching Thao now possesses the ability to live free from gangs and delinquency.
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.
For the third and final paper film review, I decided to watch “Gran Torino” after I heard our class hyped it up and classmates said it is the best film about Hmong that has ever been released. I believe the representation of the Hmong characters in “Gran Torino” are closely aligned with stereotypical representations of Asian Americans. For instance, Sue and Thao, part of the family that live next door to Walt Kowalski, and most of the members of the Hmong characters in the film, are depicted as people who are unable to care for and protect themselves and thus desperately need Walt’s intervention.
Today’s society is brimming with discrimination, violence and prejudice between races and cultures. The critically acclaimed drama, Gran Torino does an exceptional job in tackling these issues head on. Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski, is angered by the ongoing cultural changes throughout his neighbourhood. However, as Walt develops a strong relationship with a Hmong family, he recognizes the importance of acceptance in society, while overall enhancing his character development. Through Clint Eastwood’s film, the viewer is able to trace Walt’s character development in order to learn valuable lessons and create a new perspective on appreciating differences as this class embarks on the study of world religions.
The ‘Gran Torino’ symbolizes Walt's belief that hard work and integrity earns you what you want in life. Ironically, Thao Hmong, a neighbour of Kowalski, attempts to steal this symbol, and in doing so puts in motion his eventual earning of its inheritance. As the the pair bond, each begin to understand each others’ values and beliefs. Aside from symbolising the unity of multiculturalism, this relationship allows Thao to learn that the car represents the integrity and respect that comes from those who earn it, not demand it. As Walt begins to see this change in Thao, he rewards him by slowly trusting him with the Gran Torino, washing it, driving it on a date, an obviously symbolic gesture of trust. Finally, Walt handing over his legacy, the Gran Torino, to Thao near the end of the film, is a symbolic gesture of his acceptance of multiculturalism. He became more open to a racially equal neighbourhood, and a racially equal America. Meanwhile, the film showcases the power of the individual by introducing new meanings to one’s salvation that can be realized through America’s multicultural promise.