Gran Torino Themes

After losing his wife, Walt Kowalski was left with spoiled children and grandchildren, cigarettes, Pabst Blue Ribbon and his 1972 Gran Torino. Walt was retired from the military after serving in the Korean war. In the beginning of the movie Walt appears to be disgruntled, racist and tough-minded. He was not ecstatic that a Hmong family was moving into his deceased neighbors house. Meanwhile, the Hmong family next door faces some challenges of their own. Brother and sister, Thao and Sue are settling into their new lives in America, when their cousin, gang member “Spider”, starts harassing Thao. Spider pushes Thao to initiate into his gang by stealing Walt

Getting old and aging are things that have become difficult points for many and despite

There have been many stories written about gruesome battles and heroic feats, but there are few that center around a carton of a dozen eggs. City of Thieves by David Benioff is a tale about how two lone characters are thrown together to achieve an incredible feat. By themselves, the two men would have had no chance whatsoever of completing the task set before them, but together they form a much stronger bond, a friendship of sorts, and are able to overcome hardship and grow personally. By starting out needing each other just to survive a friendship soon blossoms and becomes one of the most recurring themes throughout the book.

There are age related conflicts, cultural conflicts, religious conflicts and value based conflicts.  This movie is a film highlighting many cultural conflicts.  These conflicts continuously erupt in a working class Michigan neighborhood.  We will first examine a scene with religious cultural conflict. In the same scene we will see age based cultural conflict as well.  Next, we will examine a racial cultural conflict between the Hmong people and an American. After examining cultural conflicts, we will show two examples of popular culture in the film.  Then, we will provide the conflict management styles we would have employed to bring the same result as the current ending without the bloodshed and a general opinion of the film.

At the beginning of the movie we are shown an opening sequence introducing the main characters in the movie. We are briefly introduced to each character’s situation and the goals they are trying to achieve but we soon

In the book Devil in the White City Larson’s use of themes greatly impacted the flow and message of the book. Themes such as evil, existing anywhere and everywhere in the world with those committing these acts of evil usually hiding behind a facade of goodwill and well meaning intentions. Another theme that was a key concept in the book, was that of delusions and the consequences of them. As the book progressed, the characters that represent the themes delved deeper into the depths of what these themes really represented until their whole essence is what they represented. The themes that Lason used are independent to one another but in their extremes they morph into a similar if not just one an over arching theme. This is the same for

“Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with? That's me.” (Walt Kowalski, Gran Torino, 2008) After watching the movie Gran Torino, I certainly can agree with Walt's perspective on himself. Gran Torino was produced in the year of 2008, written by Nick Schenk and directed by Clint Eastwood. In this particular movie we see the cause and effects of several social issues, how through socialization these social issues can be resolved and perspectives can be altered. Previously watching this movie I believed most individuals values were set in stone from experiences learned through the journey of life. However, I now believe that anyone can change their beliefs, forming new attitudes, setting new values

Walt and Frank have trouble communicating with their parents, and the children show difficulty in handling their stress. Walt begins to speak with his family, and performs a song called “Hey You” in his school’s talent show. Walt wins first place in the talent show, and receives praise from his family. However, the school found that that he did not write the song, the school calls Walt’s parents in to have a meeting with just the Joan and Bernard. In this meeting, the principle

Walter seems to be overcome with a search for power and a drive to become wealthy and leave the life of being a worker behind him. It also shows that he cares for his family seeing how he is striving to give them the best, but that aspect is overshadowed by his greed. I feel the scene also shows the Younger family at its lowest point in the movie. Walter is on the complete edge and is thinking of stealing a community's money and the rest of the family, besides Momma, seemed to lose their faith and trust in him. When things seemed hopeless with the loss of the money, they only became worse as a loss in more than money occurred. A loss in their character, faith, history, and respect for each other overcame the family, particularly Walter and Beneatha. Nevertheless, Momma soon sets Beneatha straight with an emotional and positive speech about how there is "always something left to love" and sets the standard that the family should adhere to. It marks the turning point at the end of the movie

The movie Gran Torino, is an American film directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars as the main character. The movie was set in Highland Park, Michigan which was a nearby suburb of Detroit. In prior years, Highland Park was populated by white families that had come to the area to work in the Ford car factories, but over time, “the damn chinks” moved into the neighborhood as Walt Kowalski would say. This show was the first American film to show Hmong Americans, which were war refugees that had resettled in the U.S. following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975 (Yuen). The main character, Clint Eastwood is a widowed Korean War veteran who often shows bursts of racism and anger towards people of different race, especially the Asian immigrants in his neighborhood. His neighbor, Thao Vang Lor, a young Hmong teenager becomes a key character in the movie after he gets pressured into stealing Walt’s 1972 Gran Torino in an attempt to be initiated into a Hmong gang in which his cousin is involved with. While attempting to steal the car, Walt catches Thao and is sure to prove a point that he is not going to take any slack from him and or the Hmong gang members.

The opening of the film introduces us to WALT KOWALSKI at the funeral of his wife. The opening scene and the next (the wake) show us that Walt has no desire to belong either to his family or to his religion. Everything jars with Walt, from the young priest giving the eulogy to his granddaughters belly button ring, from the Japanese car driven by his son to his granddaughters crass selfishness. He perceives his family as selfish, materialistic and shallow. His family also reject and are intolerant of him. He also rejects the ties of belonging represented by religion though we only learn the real reason for this later. It’s quite plain he thinks

Many people say that old people fear change as they have grown so accustomed to their old ways, however, in Clint Eastwood’s meaningful and captivating drama Gran Torino, it is exemplified that anyone is capable of change. Gran Torino shares a story about tolerance and cultural differences, but also one about hope, self-sacrifice, and unlikely relationships. In the film, an abundance of cultural diversity is met with much resistance, stereotype, and prejudice by the movies’ main character, Walt Kowalski. Walt’s world is changing; his wife has died, his Detroit neighbourhood is deteriorating, his relationship with his two sons is distant, and his Korean War memories continue to affect his ability to fully enjoy life. Through an unlikely bond with the Hmong family next door, Walt finally receives redemption by coming face-to-face with the same destructive prejudices consuming neighbourhood teenage gang members that have consumed him. Through the devices of characterisation, symbolism, and dialogue the viewers will witness Walt emerge as a more compassionate individual who becomes more accepting of other cultures and ethnic backgrounds around him.

For this assignment, I chose to watch the movie Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood. Throughout this movie, I noticed there are a numerous amount of value and ethical issues that are present. Within the NASW Code of Ethics, there are values and ethical responsibilities that each social worker is to be held up to. All throughout the movie, Clint Eastwood portrays an excess amount of racism, particularly towards the Asian, specifically Hmong community. When I first started watching the movie, I recalled that the NASW strongly values the dignity and the worth of a person. I started closely paying attention to Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood. Considering how Walt Kowalski acts throughout the entire movie, he noticeably does not share the value of respecting the inherent dignity and worth of the person. As stated in the NASW Code of Ethics, social workers are expected to treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, regardless of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Adding on, when referring to the Hmong community, Kowalski continuously uses many derogatory racial slurs. A few of the slurs he uses include, “Gooks,” “Zipper heads,” and “Fish heads.”. By addressing the Hmong community with these slurs, it violates section 1.12 of the NASW Code of Ethics, which is Derogatory Language. According to the Code of Ethics, it is required to use accurate and respectful language in all communications. The use of this language is also a violation to

Values are principles that a person lives up to. It shapes and defines who they are. Moral refers to issues of right and wrong and how individual people should behave. Moral values are one of the most important things that we human beings live for.

Edmonson, J. (2009). Let's be clear: How to manage communication styles. T & D, 63(9), 30-31.