Ever since American History X, no other movie besides Gran Torino has captured the true racism among a “melting pot” society. Bobby Rice explained with his article, Gran Torino goes from a “haunting” movie to a sad, “heartfelt American tale.” He talks about how Walt Kowalski, (Eastwood) can be prejudice towards minorities, and then accept a group of innocent Hmong people. Walt seems to be prejudice towards anyone who is not white, but really, he only dislikes arrogant, asshole gang members. Rice explains how Walt’s racism is almost justified because the Asian gang in the movie terrorizes the Hmong group living next-store to Walt.
After watching Gran Torino and Color Adjustment, it seems as though there is a modern day war going on in America with racism. Color Adjustment is a documentary about television’s first shows and how blacks are subservient to whites. It is about their struggle to be on the air and create successful shows that the general public enjoyed. In Gran Torino, Walt fought in the Korean War and now, years later, he had to fight for the Hmong family. He literally died for them so they would not have to be harassed and attacked anymore by Asian gangs. In Color Adjustment, the blacks were fighting for equality on television during the civil rights movement. In both movies, minorities are struggling to be an equal part of society among whites.
Gran Torino expresses an issue that has been one of conflict in our society today; racism. Walt’s attitude towards minorities seems very prejudice and close-minded, however, how is he supposed to react when gang members attack his close friends? The gang justifies how Walt feels through their actions. Minorities who act like the gang members in the movie, do not help the cause against racism. If they want to be accepted by people like Walt, they should act like respectable, all around nice people. The Hmong group did, and they proved that if they come to America to embrace it and not to exploit it, racism will no longer exist.
I agree with you that Gran Torino did a good job of emphasizing the racism that exist today in America. You make a lot of valid points, however after watching this movie I was a little skeptical about the transformation that took place in this movie. I think that the overall impression I got was that because he met friendly Hmong family he was no longer racist, a little like the the saying "I have a minority friend, I'm not a racist." Perhaps this is because I saw this movie in theaters my judgement was skewed, however I felt that the derogatory language throughout the movie was used almost as a comic relief at times. When walt would say something incredibly racist the audience would laugh (now as to whether they were laughing at his small mindedness or at the things he was saying I'm not sure). A good example of this is when his will is read aloud. While he does give his Gran Torino to Thao he also as a joke calls his a derogatory name. This underplays in my mind the effects of these names, and almost makes it acceptable. With media texts like these I wonder what harm the interpretation of these messages really can cause. Is it acceptable then if you are friends with a minority to make racist jokes with them? Just some things to consider. Overall though I think that you make a good point that this movie (for better or worse) really sheds light on the racism that still exist today.
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