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. In the beginning of the movie Walt is attending his wife Dorothy’s funeral. He finds himself bombarded by the young Father, Janovich, who informs Walt that he is there to fulfill Dorothy’s wish, which entails that her husband attend confession. Walt’s responds by insulting and mocking the Father by expressing, “I never really cared for church and I only went because of her.” Then he goes on to further insult him by saying, “I wouldn’t confess to a boy just out of his seminary.” This statement provides the viewer with labeling, there are also obvious cultural differences in this scene as well, which include, age, religion and identity that shadow both the Father and Walt’s realization of each other. Their cultures are very different which presents difficult conversation. Communication between people is the most effective when the other person that we are talking with, suit’s the identity we think is the most crucial at the moment. Distinctly Walt does not think that Fathe... ... middle of paper ... ... The structural functional theory states, the framework for building theory that sees society as complex whose parts work together to promote stability and solidarity. This statement could not be truer when it comes to the movie Gran Torino. From the beginning of the movie to the end you see a character evolve from a racist, selfish and ignorant individual to an understanding individual. All of the aspects in society such as, religion race and culture are truly what makes the world go round. If Walt was never able to put aside his cultural background, views and beliefs he would have never gotten the opportunity to experience the Hmong culture. Just goes to show you that maybe if people made a greater effort to get to know one another through the sociological perspective, perhaps people would be more accepting of one another which in turn would make society stronger.
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
Karl had read the Bible and believed he knew the difference between right and wrong, but was faced with the problem of protecting Frank from a painful future with Doyle. Karl knew that Doyle would manage to poison Frank’s life, or worse, just as Karl’s parents did to him. He tried to reconcile his own simple moral code with everything he had been taught about right and wrong, and must decide whether to stand by and watch, or step in to protect the child. He...
The theoretical frameworks can be applied to movies, like The Blind Side, in order to show how the media portrays people of different social classes. Films also send cultural messages about social class to the audience, thus, reinforcing stereotypes. This essay will analyze how Kendall’s frames depict a lens that will then be applied to John Lee Hancock’s 2009 movie, The Blind Side, which features African American actor Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, the homeless high school boy with the potential to become a football star, and white actress Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, the wealthy upper middle class wife of the football coach. When Leigh Anne is driving home with her husband and sees Micheal walking on the side of the street, she pulls her car over and asks him if he needs a place to stay and takes him in. Throughout the movie, Leigh Anne helps Micheal realize his full potential as a student and a football player. By analyzing scenes in The Blind Side using Kendall’s theoretical frameworks of how the media portrays class, we can see that the media negatively stereotypes the poor in
One of the biggest issues depicted in the film is the struggle of minority groups and their experience concerning racial prejudice and stereotyping in America. Examples of racism and prejudice are present from the very beginning of the movie when Officer Ryan pulls over black couple, Cameron and Christine for no apparent reason other than the color of their skin. Officer Ryan forces the couple to get out of the car
For many year humans have been trying to fight against discrimination in their communities, but it's an uphill battle that doesn’t seem like it’s been fully wiped out yet in our society. Discrimination and Prejudice has been a key issue that has affected many people around the world. In the movie that we saw in class, “My Cousin Vinny” (1992) it focused on these key issues of prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes and even eye witness testimonies. In the movie it focuses on these key issues while bringing a little humor to the viewers. In this paper I will be going into more detail of how this movie really brought to light these key issues.
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
Throughout the entire movie, this torn feeling between their Mexican identity and their Jewish identity is the central theme. As a little girl, Oshi visits a catholic church where she pretends to be catholic and says to herself, "I hope they can't tell I'm a Jew." Similarly, Rifke, as a little girl, demands a Christmas tree and nativity set like all the other kids have.
"Crash" is a movie that exposes different kinds of social and multicultural differences, giving us a quick example of how these conducts affect our society. Two of the behaviors observed, are Prejudice and Stereotyping. Identified as the causes of where all the events eradicate.
It creates such a unique situation for everyone that you would have never known otherwise. Such was the case of Ronald Franz and McCandless, when their paths crossed in January of 1992. In the text, a bit of dialogue was, “When he returned to McCandless’s camp and launched into the self-improvement pitch, though, McCandless cut him off abruptly “Look, Mr Franz,” he declared, “you don’t need to worry about me. I have a college education. I’m not a destitute. I’m living like this by choice” (51). By putting this near the beginning of their encounters, Krakauer is trying to get across a fast-growing relationship between Franz and McCandless. Franz is eager to help out McCandless when he mentions he needs money for his trip to Alaska, but has his offer rejected as McCandless is determined to go to San Diego alone to work for it. Roughly a month later, McCandless reunites with Franz and their relationship deepens, as Franz starts to see him as his own grandson, wanting to adopt him. All of this happening within the span of roughly three months. Like McCandless, I have also formed friendships with others that resulted in nearly becoming family. It wasn’t adoption, but we became so close, it was almost like I’d grown up with them all my life, and am viewed as another daughter. this was all because I had decided to strike up a conversation
In the 2004 film Crash, directed and written by Paul Haggis along with fellow screenplay writer Bobby Moresco (“Crash: Full Cast & Crew”), the entire storyline of the film is heavily influenced by intersectionality and skewed perceptions of other social groups within society. The character that I am choosing to focus on specifically is the character Anthony, played by Christopher Bridges (also known as Ludacris). Anthony’s ...
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.
The White Savior Complex is a damaging subconscious underlay of the Hollywood system, and more broadly all of western society. It is used to further separate the notions of “us” and “other” by creating a firm separation fueled by self-righteousness, and a sense of entitlement. Hollywood attempts to address race relations, but fails because of this trope. Kingsle, from the article “Does My Hero Look White In This?” described that both racism and colonialism are acknowledged, but not without reassuring that not only were white people against the system of racist power dynamics, but also were actively fighting against it in leadership roles (2013). In the remainder of my essay I will be commenting on many modern films and their use on this trope, and why subscribing to this filmmaking strategy is problematic.
Gran Torino is a fascinating film which projects racial prejudice and celebrates the journey in overcoming racism through the development of a personal relationship
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.
In the short story “ A Dead Woman’s Secret by Guy de Maupassant, the basic theme is devoted to family and private relationships. The main characters in the story are Marguerite (the daughter), the judge (the son), the priest, and the deceased mother. Marguerite is a nun and she is very religious. The dead woman’s son, the Judge, handled the law as a weapon with which he smote the weak ones without pity. The story begins by telling the reader that the woman had died quietly, without pain. The author is very descriptive when explaining the woman’s appearance - “Now she was resting in her bed, lying on her back, her eyes closed, her features calm, her long white hair carefully arranged as though she had done it up ten minutes before dying. The whole pale countenance of the dead woman was so collected, so calm, so resigned that one could feel what a sweet soul had lived in that body, what a quiet existence this old soul had led, how easy and pure the death of this parent had been” (1). The children had been kneeling by their mother’s bed for awhile just admiring her. The priest had stopped by to help the children pass by the next hours of great sadness, but the children decided that they wanted to be alone as they spend the last few hours with their mother. Within in the story, the author discusses the relationship between the children’s father and their mother. The father was said to make the mother most unhappy. Great