GRAN TORINO

Okay, I know I keep saying I love all the movies when watching, but I truly love the films we have been watching and i’m really able to relate to them on a personal level more and more. In Gran Torino actor and director takes on the roll, story and part in the movie that really test the barriers of racism, parts and even the harsh roll he takes on with a charachter that is so stoic, harsh, to the point but a caring a good man who truly just wants peace for those around him. In a lot of parts of the movie the scenes get so intense and when Thao is walking alone I truly felt the moment of feeling unsecured, scared, worried and just wanting to get home and as soon as the car with the gangsters started coming back my heart sank, I almost felt as if I was there. Along with the harsh racist comments, treatment of people that absolutely shocked me no matter how many different scenarios i’ve seen and just the disrespect for people really makes you think about things that you say, the way you treat others and really how for some people our world hasn’t changed. Even the interactions Walt has with the barber made me feel a little uneasy, but thats coming from an outsider who hasn’t been as surrounded by situations like these. (still planning on adding more)

Click here to view the embedded video.

In March of 1997, yes 1997! President William Jefferson Clinton, first lady Hilary Rodham Clinton, and Vice President Al Gore, were all presented on the cover of National Review in yellow face. The three were also dressed in stereotypical Asian clothing, and drawn with caricatured features such as buck teeth and slanted eyes. I know that I’ve said this in a past blog, but I feel it is appropriate to say again; What does this say about our society? “What does yellow face signify? Race is a mode of placing cultural meaning on the body. Yellow face marks the oriental as alien” (Lee, p. 2). This cover was only from 17 years ago. I guess this proves just how far America has come into putting a stop against Anti-Asian actions and beliefs; not very far.

Another thing I’d like to mention is, racism towards Chinese Americans and capitalism seems to be connected. “Chinese immigration became a metonym for the collapse of time and space produced by a transition to industrial capitalism, a collapse that constituted a boundary crisis within the symbolic or ideological structure of American society. This boundary crisis demanded the transformation of Chinese cultural difference from exotic to pollutant” (Lee, p. 32).  Since the mid-nineteenth century Asian Americans have been seen as a pollutant. This is because the white settlers (mainly in California) felt threatened by the Chinese Americans success and numbers. So in an attempt to lower the Chinese Americans status and quality of life, the white settlers spread lies and racism through song-writing. For example, the song “California As It Was And Is,” blames the Chinese Americans for economic decline and social disorder. The connection between capitalism and racism goes even deeper when one examines the entertainment/music world of the  mid- late 19th century America. During this time period songs were not meant to be just listened to; they were intended to be sung in large groups where the song would then be passed onto a new audience.  This is important to note because not only is this a tactic to spread racism orally around the United States, but also songwriting was a huge profit for it’s white writers. Hence, my connection between racism and capitalism.

(Image found from: http://yellow-face.com/yellowface-politics.htm)

Stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes.

The characters were dull, and one dimensional except Walt who was closer to 1.5 dimensional. One thing that was hard to comprehend was that the “bad cousins” were originally looking out for their family Touh, there was a legitimate care for his outcome and Touh did not thank them or do anything. It seemed that Touh brought on his own misery. Though there was no background established with the Hmung family so I can’t make an accurate judgement.

However later on when the cousins have a bad meet up with Walt they go and shoot up their relatives home, potentially killing them and then raping/beating up Sue. That made no sense to me especially when the Hmung put a big emphasis on family importance. Rather than deal with Walt they just hurt their own blood. This could just be “typical bad guys” just not caring about traditions but that didn’t seem the cases with the beginning of the movie with helping bail out Touh.

Walt had a bad experience with war and worked at an American car company and had a disdain for anyone that wasn’t white. Though he was mostly just a rude dude to everyone. Beyond Walt having a generic racist old person vibe, and the generic outwardly cousins into gang activity trying to coax a sheltered boy into wrongdoings, from the generic “ultimate sacrifice” by Walt in the end made for a very predictable movie but I was still entertained the whole time surprisingly.

He goes into confession and confesses his 3 sins, yet in his mind his views on all kinds of minority groups is completely justified and free of sin. Which seems to me that racism was just forged into Walt’s identity. He gives away his Gran Torino to Touh but his views of all the minorities never really changed, he was the same character throughout the movie without any growth. He makes a new friend and that’s it, he’s still a racist grumpy old man.

As a whole I enjoyed the film. I haven’t seen anything like this before which made it a unique experience, disregarding shoddy character development. I have the privilege of not dealing with any of the problems shown in the movie so I can own watch from an outside lens. Hearing all the racist comments didn’t phase me personally but it was pretty excessive and in poor taste but that was probably the directors goal since people like Walt really do exist (minus the super bad ass racist super hero Jesus martyr qualities).

Sue talking to Walt- “The girls go to college and the boys go to jail.”

Walt watching gang go by- “This kid doesn’t have a chance” (talking about Thao).

Walt has more fun with his hmong neighbors than his “own spoiled rotten family.”

It’s quotes like the ones listed above that showcase Walt’s transformation into a more empathetic character towards the Hmong people; specifically towards Thao. Over time Walt begins showing empathy and kindness towards Thao and his sister Sue. Some ways he does this is through saving Sue from a gang, spending time with Thao even when Thao doesn’t need to work for him anymore, teaching Thao to talk “like a real man”, letting Thao borrow his tools, giving him a construction job and paying for his gear, trying to keep the gang away from Thao, letting Thao use his gran torino car for a date, and sacrificing himself to save Thao and Sue from the gang.  In my opnion the movie was really beautiful especially because of the ending. Knowing what it feels like to live without peace, Walt realizes Sue and Thao will never have peace until the gang is gone. The movie tricks the audience into thinking Walt and Thao are going to murder the gang. However, Walt locks Thao in his basement telling him he doesn’t want Thao to live with blood on his hands like the way he does. This is when the audience is tricked once again into believing Walt will murder the gang. But instead, Walt goes to the gang member’s house and waits until there are witness to fully antagonize the gang. The gang then shoots Walt dead believing him to be pulling out a gun. And because of the witnesses the gang members go to prison. Finally Sue and Thao are free of the gang. As a final act of kindness Walt leaves his gran torino to Thao. Not only was the film about redemption, but the film was also about self-realizations, and acts of selflessness. Another important piece of the film was the characters other than Walt. For example Sue never judges Walt for his racist remarks, she only see’s his inner kindness. Without Sue, its hard to tell if Walt would soften as much as he did towards Thao/ the Hmong people.

This reading as a whole had a broader perspective on the minority groups coming into American and how their problems and triumphs occurred. While a lot of the book was somewhat dull factoids it was interesting learning of how the minority communities saw each other. Particularly the disdain of the Koreans towards Japan, even encouraging America to go to war with Japan even before Pearl Harbor. See the justified hatred from the first generation die out mostly onto the next generations made me realize how much environment has to play on peoples identity. The ultra-nationalist Koreans wanted their American born children to never forget Korea and eventually return there to help insure its prosperity. Though that did not happen and people have the tendency to care more about their birthplace rather than their ancestors origins.

Beyond new interactions I didn’t know of I found the recurring theme of “minorities are not treated the same as whites” extremely drawn out, but that is due to my own bias of reading all about Japanese American bias in fall quarter. As a fresh reader to this content it would of had a greater effect on me but after thousands of pages detailing the injustices of white America to Japanese Americans it just wasn’t surprising. However sad that may be it did increase the knowledge I had that the American Dream for most minority groups was a nightmare.

“Pow, pow, pow.”
-Walt Kowalski towards the Hmong gang members as they rolled past his house.

I’ve heard people talk this film before, but I never took the time to watch it. Now that I have, I’m surprised by what I’ve seen. Clint Eastwood plays as a Korean War veteran who is probably the most racist character I’ve seen so far in a movie. Despite his past, he begins interacting with the Hmong community after saving Thao from being taken by Hmong gang members. He is bitter at first, but starts accepting their gifts after he gets to know Sue, the vocal one of the Hmong community. Eastwood’s role in the movie is more reminiscent of the “mighty whitey” trope, considering he is the only guy in the movie to help the Hmong community, especially with Thao and Sue. When he casually talks with the Hmong people, he does not stop his racial slurs, but this could be due to that his character is used to it ever since his involvement in the Korean War.

For character analysis, the three prominent characters have roles that support each other:

Walt is the protagonist of the movie, represented as an ailing old man who has a past that he can’t forget. He can also be perceived as the wise old man later in the movie. His troubled past affects how he treats everyone around him, especially the Hmong people, which he affiliates with the enemies he killed. Although he is unkind in the beginning, he begins to open up to the Hmong community after they recognize him as a hero, leading up to him starting to give a damn about them. He pulls off a noble sacrifice at the end to guarantee Thao, Sue, and the Hmong community’s future is not plagued by the lowlife scums again.

Sue plays as the link between Walt and the Hmong community. She is a braver woman than her “boyfriend” and is not afraid to say what she wants or talk to whomever. This impresses Walt enough that he likes her enough to talk and make fun of her. This brings a friendliness of Walter unseen by the rest of Walt’s family. She constantly reminds Walt of her brother Thao and is keen enough to see later on that Walt cares more for Thao each day he works at his place. Later on she becomes a victim to assault and rape by the Hmong gang members and is in such a terrible condition that it pushes Walt to his limits.

Thao is basically a walking carpet in the first moments of the movie. He never retaliates much and is not very assertive towards his own goals. While he is nice to his parents and neighbors, he is overly passive that he becomes victim to his cousin’s gang’s coercion. It’s not until he is almost caught by Walt when attempting to steal his Gran Torino that Thao learns life lessons that Walt believes he needs. Thao begins to care for Walt in return, noticing that his health is deteriorating. Walt entrusts Thao a job, tools, and an attitude that should get him through life. After Sue is beaten and raped, Thao goes to Walt and asks for assistance to “take em’ down”. Knowing that Thao is inexperienced with extreme violence, Walt locks him in a basement to keep him safe not only from getting killed, but also from the psychological scars that can be inflicted through killing. In short, Thao is like the son Walt never had.

On a side note though, the actor for Thao, Bee Vang, is older than Ahney Her, the actor for Sue, by just about a year. Just throwing that out there.