Grand Torino Analysis
Cultural Diversity Through Interpersonal Communication
Margaret Heinsohn
Florida International University
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to study the interpersonal communication taking place in a cultured shocked neighborhood. The findings of these studies are applied to the film Grand Torino. In addition, this study will discuss the communication styles applied by the characters of the movie. I believe they are essential to understanding the reasons why in general individuals are racists, stereotypical and unable to adapt to different cultures as well as living with those who are different to us. We will first examine how Walt’s character adapts to the cultural
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As a consequence, he avoided the Hmong family. He even expressed distaste for them to their face, not wanting to learn about them or their culture. After much conflict, Walt was presented with the opportunity to help his neighbors and to open his mind to adapting to the inevitable cultural diversity in his town.
The Hmong are very persistent and they relentlessly invited him to a party, coincidentally on his birthday. Walt finally accepts the invitation to the family barbeque which was the first step to creating a friendship with someone not of his kind. There he learned many things about the Hmong people’s customs, beliefs, traditions and communication style. He learned that you do not pat Hmong people or their children on the head ever because they believe the soul dwells there. Looking someone in the eye was considered rude; that is why everyone looked down instead of looking Walt directly in the eye. Another example of the Hmong communication style is when an elder from their family offers to “read him”. The elder tells Walt that his main problem is that he has no peace within and that is the reason he can’t find peace with others. There is a meaning to this; the shaman ritual of the Hmong tribe does not only represent a calling from ancestors but a ritual to show their fear towards the outside world.
One scene that accurately shows Walt’s communication style is
As Loren Hall was traveling men tried to jump his claim but Walt wouldn’t let that happen. “He was only a boy, but in the face of the threatened injustice against old lame Loren Hall he felt that he must do something.”(London Paragraph 19). Walt was not going to let the men steal the claim and so Walt took the men's dogs and went to Dawson. On the way the men tried to kill him and get their dogs back but Walt knew how to outsmart them. “He struck at their faces, and men must save their faces with their hands. So there was not shooting just then. Before they could recover from the hot rain of blows, Walt reached out from his sled, catching their wheel-dog by the fore legs in mid spring, and throwing him heavily. This brought the whole team into a snarl, capsizing the sled and tangling his enemies up beautifully. “ (London paragraph 44). Walt knew to be a good friend and keep his promise he had to save the claim. In the end Walt saved a claim, learned how to outsmart grown men that tried to kill him and be crowned king of Mazy May,“And because of what Walt Masters did on this night, the men of the Yukon have become very proud of him, and always speak of him now as the King of Mazy May“ (London paragraph 48).
On some level he knows he can't control others, and that learning fills his edginess. In "The Fly," Breaking Bad's most clearly ruminative scene, Walt miracles provided that he can uncover a way out of the profound mess he's in. “I truly believe there exists some combination of words,” he tells Jesse. “There must exist certain words in a certain specific order that would explain all of this. I just can’t ever seem to find them.” Walt imagines that provided that he can uncover a succession of expressions as flawlessly requested as the gem designs he uncovered in graduate school, he can legitimize all his movements to Skyler and repair his broken family — maybe much adjust the unalterable wrongs he has done. However Nietzsche's cautioning about dialect rings a bell again: expressions can't catch what we without a doubt feel, and we can't control how others will hear even the most.
Walt Masters seeked justice for the claim jumpers who jumped an old man’s claim during the Klondike Gold Rush. This story appears when the Klondike Gold Rush was happening. Next to Walt, there was a neighboring claim owned by an old man by the name of Loren Hall. Loren had to go to Dawson, and Walt looked over the claim while he was gone. Walt had an ambition to serve justice and save Loren when his property was in danger. He is a very brave boy who has experienced things other children haven’t, and he will definitely help when someone is in need. “Last of all, he has a good heart, and is not afraid of the darkness and loneliness, of man or beast or thing” (London). This quote shows that he isn’t afraid of anything and that it will help him when he needs
It is discovered that the main character, whose name is never revealed, has lost both his father and brother. This might be one major reason why the main character and his mother have a strained relationship, as he tells her she has never met his already low expectations of her as a mother, and she responds by saying that she gave what “little” she had left to give. Not only does the main character feel disconnected in all of his relationships, even to his deceased father and brother, both of which he thinks about constantly, but he also feels stuck between two worlds. The main character describes this by saying that “to be a human being is not easy and that “to be an Indian isn’t easy.” The narrator struggles with his traditional Blackfoot culture as well as the the world of white people, which he illustrates as separate from his life but not from his central problems. However, the film also highlights how it is possible to maintain Native American culture even through a sense of disconnection to those historical traditions and while working out a sense of dissatisfaction with
There is a transformation in Walt’s belief. Besides the experiences in Korean War, another reason that leads to his negative attitude toward Hmong people is the language barrier and differences in culture. He had opportunities to understand more about the tradition of the Hmong people when Sue invited him to the party at her house. Sue also explained the negative reactions of the Hmong people with Walt. As Sue said, “Hmong people consider looking someone in the eye to be very rude, and they tend to grin or smile when they are yelled at, this is because they are insecure, not because they are disrespecting the admonisher.” And Walt appeared to accept Sue’s explanation. As he gets closer to the Lor family, his use of racial slurs also changed from the time, the way he used it could not be seen as an insult
His mother cheated and Walt sees this as a violation of social order and knows that cheating is not the right behavior for a married couple. At the same time though his father encourages him to play the field and be with more than one girl even though the father had been cheated on. In the movie it is easily scene that Walt is puzzled by this and pushes on cautiously. He has no concept of the ‘white lie’ or appeasing someone’s feeling which makes sense seeing as the parent lack this as well. Toward the end of the movie he acts with increased knowledge of the morality described as “law and order.”
He also feels like they deserve a better life because of how supportive they have been of him and how they never gave up on him, even when times got bad. Although Walter’s intentions are good, he does not express them so that they sound good. He wastes all of the money that his mother gave him, he focuses too much on achieving his goal that he loses sight of what is really important here, and that is his family. He becomes too selfish and does not think about the consequences that could come back to haunt him and his
Instead of giving up, he stood up for his family by not giving into a white man deal for the money. This shows even if he did almost give into a deal that would break the Younger family dignity. Dignity that they worked in their life, even as. Walter didn’t want that dignity to leave this family but, what hit him the most was his son, seeing him give up like a slave about to be whipped. In those moments he really became a man because used to think about his self (even know he still does).This tells reads that he is arrogant.
Throughout the film however, we see Walt grow more compassionate towards Tao, even after he tried to steal his car. Walt shows care and respect towards not only Tao, but also his sister, Sue. Walt would not have even considered going into his neighbor's household but later as his character grows, he becomes more mature and respects all of Sue’s family at the birthday party. At the end of the film, we see how Walt has grown more compassionate towards Tao especially and how their relationship had grown along with the overall character of
Walt is a modest, spineless, and righteous person. He never boasts about his contributions toward a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he allows his wife to make all the decisions and others to disrespect him, and he never breaks
At his house, in an immigrant-dominated neighborhood, people throng for the after-funeral lunch. Downstairs in the basement, Walt's grandkids look through an old army
In the movie, Walt teaches a boy who named Thao to drive his classic car to go to the movie. Walt is the man who let Thao know how to be a man and is the man who tell him not to live like a coward. After Thao have experienced so many things with Walt Thao knows he must be strong in the world . After the gang event, Walt dose not choose to solve those people violence must be met by violence but
Walt wanted to save something from the robbers because they were going to take the land they were on.He wanted to help hes dads friend because hes dads friend was really old.
Walt’s unique childhood would aid and inspire him throughout his life. Walt’s major childhood influence was his brother, Roy. While he shared the average love-hate relationship with most of his siblings, Walt loved Roy. In turn, his elder brother, Roy, cared about him so much that even as children, Roy bought Walt toys with his own money. This unusual brotherly relationship encouraged the
For Milestone Two project, I have chosen the film Gran Torino starring Clint Eastwood to analyze, this film is filled with a profusion of cultural diversity, which is met with contention, stereotypical actions, and prejudice by the main character, Walt Kowalski. This film begins in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan where the grumpy widower Walt Kowalski is a Retired auto worker and Korean War veteran full of prejudice despising the many Asian, Latino and black families in his neighborhood. Walt’s whole world is altering; his wife died, his Detroit neighborhood is deteriorating, his relationship with his sons and their families is remote, and his memories of the Korean War continue to destroy his ability to fully enjoy life. Walt learns he has more in common with his neighbors than he thought and through an unlikely bond with the Hmong children next door, Thao and Sue, Walt becomes a reluctant hero when he stands up to the gangbangers who tried to force Thao to steal Walt 's treasured car.. This paper will analyze the anthropological themes of intercultural conflict and cultural adaptation, ethnocentrism, and the differences in gender roles that are evident in the film Gran Torino.