James S.Drumm
Class Time; 9:00, a.m.
2nd Paper
Sociological Movie Review of Gran Torino
This is a selected sociological movie review, of the movie, Gran Torino, staring Mr. Clint
Eastwood .He represents as character a Polish American ethnic background. His occupation,
after serving in the United States Army, within the distinguished 1 st Calvary Division, as a
sergeant in the Korean War. He dedicated his life to his wife Dorothy, 50 plus years of hard
work, and love to his wife and sons. One of his sons is pushing the wrong buttons trying to get
him into a Rest Home Community , to take control of his property. He was never to close to his
two sons.He survived the Korean War, has lived for almost fifty, years in a neighborhood. At the
beginning of the movie, after his wife funeral Walt enjoys shooting the breeze at a local bar
drinking Pabs’t Blue Ribbon beer, speaking in white racial overtones, about different ethnic
people, at a local bar. He has resent medical diagnoses of cancer. That he Walt, has learned he
has from a replacement doctor, of his terminal cancer. He worked as a Ford Automobile
assembly line retired worker, for fifty years. Bitter and sweat in Korean War, surviving the war,
getting married to a beautiful woman and having sons that today ignore him. He slowly bonds
an ageing White knight to the neighbor girl Sue, and acts a strong role model to her young
brother. Thao .He is invited to eat a meal during his birthday at the Hmong household for
defending the neighbor families several times from gang activities.
His pride and joy, his internal soul embodiment Values, Mores center on hard work to have
created the 1972 Gran Torino, a classic car. The car is his part of Walt, he put the steering
wheel. A strong machine, both Walt, and the Gran Torino. He takes great pride in waxing the
Gran Torino. He feels the car is his Emblem, his value of Right and Wrong center on what
represents descent families from the gangs. The car is the center of pride of life, for Walt. Clint
Eastwood’s actual first car was a 1932 Chevy Coup that cost $25.00 it was rusted out. This was a
rite of passage to manhood. Cars for America and the world are an extension of your individual
thoughts and personality. This car is full of iron and testosterone. His own son’s wives have
shown him greed of limiting family values. His daughter-in-laws pilfered through his wife’s
jewelry, shortly after her death .Letting him see his own family’s isolation to materialism. He
raised his sons who now buy into buying and selling foreign made cars not a American made
cars. A spiritual let down, to his dedication to the fifty years of his dedicated working for the
Michigan, Ford Motor Company. Working to restores a car a man a woman bonds to the
machine, just as a heart beats to flow life restoring a car brings life to a purpose ,a cause to
direct your Values .
One of his son’s call at one in the afternoon, on his birthday to try convince him to get
out of the house, to sign over his house, shortly after his wife funeral, and look at a retirement
facility. He has no intention of selling out his life to be restricted in a retirement home. He kicks
his son and daughter-in-law out of his home. He displays his values feels isolated and that after
being unable to relate to his son’s intrusion to rebound with his son direction to reunite as
father to son. He sees any communication from his sons as an intention to force him to sellout
for living in a retirement home. Knowing that the son’s main intent is to push him into a
retirement home, not a real birthday party. Unable to unload the past physical, emotional
unexplainable events in, the Korean Ear has help him developed his white racial overtones in
life His life, the gradual appearance of Hmong Asian families in his old neighborhood, slowly
shows him to except his Hmong neighbors as equal in values, nonverbal interactions between
the young Black tuff twenty year olds pushing the Hmong neighbor girl, Sue. Also the
interaction of the gun totting, the Asian, Hmong Street gang, limiting Gessellschaft, gestures to
try intimidating the Hmong families. In harassing Thao, by his cousin Spider (Doua
Moua).Trying to force Thao into the Asian gang. Walt realizes Thao is a strong young man who
needs a direction in life to develop strong work ethics by cleaning up his neighbor’s property, to
make emends for the attempted theft of his Gran Torino. Walt sets out to asking the neighbors
to let Thao, under his direction to help repair the small home, property repairs around the
block. His oats and become more Americanized without association with a gang. He, Walt
befriends Sue and her brother Thao and is repeatedly repaid with Asian gratitude for not having
Thao arrested and to show gratitude in Asian customs.
A positive emotional family display of strong Asian culture. The Hmong families’ showing
different yet traditional values. Yet similar in devotion to family, the Vang Lor family he has
bonded to replace the difficult relationship he developed with his own sons. The Vang Lors
values are entrenched, mores, and ideals, of respect for life and prosperity to respect women,
children, senior citizens, around the neighborhood. This movie is centered within the older
middleclass neighborhood the rise and fall of Highland Park, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan to
Walt Kowalski, his wife Dorothy, who recently passed away. The eulogy is spoken in the
dominant Catholic Church, by a young 27 year old, Father Janovich .in the, Detroit,suburb,
Highland Park Michigan. Walt Kowalski represents American ideals and American Patriotism,
from the1950;s as a Recycled racist, he represents the Ageing White Knight who swoops
gallantly in to protect the weaker, meeker Hmong family next door from the wrong doings of
the Ethnocentrism tactics of the Asian Street Gang.
Instead sitting quietly on his porch he within his soul stood up once again in life to distinguish
Values his beliefs in Norms and the Mores in our regulated law abiding civil elected laws for
Freedoms with in our civil communities. Walt Kowalski represented the strength of old view s
to expect all Asian families to represent the empty values of the North Koreans he witnessed in
the hardships dealt in the Korean War. Realizing the Asian family next door were his equal in
beliefs he gradually open his soul, his insight’s to except them as his equal ,in Norms, Mores
Values, that their Religious ideologies ls were not so different than his and his deceased wife’s
values. That the Hmong family had strong moral, values, and respected property and were
against the profane relationship association of the Asian street Gang, and the cruising Black
brothers trying to pick up intimidate the Hmong girl, he became an ageless White night to the
rescue driving his American Ford Pickup to her rescue.
This neighborhood was his extension into community. The years of his wife and Walt struggled
to raise, the family’s sons around the Gran Torino. His extension of pride of universe, is the
vintage Gran Torino. Devotion life patriotism to family centered on his wife, hard work and
home developed values. The old neighborhood families have sold out to Asian, Hmong
families’. His own sons, Mitch, and Steve, both are married, their families, wives; children have
little time to socialize together, as a family not wanting to let him talk to them about his
concerns of health. His eldest granddaughter insensitivity, insincerity for life, asks him what he
will do with his belongings when he dies. With Walt. Visiting with him briefly showing little
regard for Walt’s memories of his deceased, wife only to associate with him during their
mother’s funeral. Downplaying his devotion to stay in the same house they had been raised.
. On family values, of two different, ethnic back grounds, opposing growing interracial Gang
infringements showing intimidation to a young Asian and his sister. Devotion to individual
family morals, bonding of individuals within the Asian members of Clint Eastwood. The center
mechanical, attraction is a Grand Torino ,a vintage 1972 classic vintage auto ,Clint Eastwood
plays a Retired Detroit auto worker, who is decorated ,1952 U.S.Army, Korean War Veteran,
with a Silver Star, who survived watching death up close ,with bayonet, and M-1,M-14 ,Carbine
rifles, and 1911 –A-1,a 45-caliber pistols. Dealing emotionally he ages with his past memories
of hand to hand combat in the harsh freezing Korean War.
For me, direct interaction of contact between Walt and the Hmong Asian family the Vang Lors
help slowly heal emotional cobwebs, buried deep in Walt. Helping him to take a look within his
soul, think hard on his limited perception of all Asian people. To set out to help Thao readjust
his own values, mores not to except the superego of the Asian gang. To strengthen moral
speech, values of life, overtones toward the Asian community that he is part of in everyday life
.This movie centers on his dedication to the Social concept of American Patriotism, as one of
the social ideologies. This movie is a relative compassionate story of the Hmong community’s
plight while it adjusts to difference of American culture.
The movie enters with the death of Walt Kowalski’s wife, Dorothy a devoted Catholic herself
that had attended Confession regularly, and upon her death requested the 27 year-old,
educated, virgin the Catholic Priest, Father Janovich that presided at his wife’s funeral. The
Priest decided to visit Mr. Walt Kowalski to try get him back to confessions. whose son and
daughter in law from Michigan happen to own a foreign made Vintage Gran Torino car he build
and has kept in prime condition in his garage, of fifty years of tools ,that he sweated to acquire
over a life time. And sell foreign made cars for a living, would not really appreciate his 1972
.Mr.Kawaski is a firm believer to buy American. He feels lost In the neighborhood he raised his
children , over 40 years, as the Assimilation of the old neighbors either died and their relatives
sold out to Asian ,family’s. As the movie advances he bonds and emotionally is accepted by the
Hmong Family for his direction to stimulate personal strength’s in Thao. Even with the racial
over tones that Asians eat cat, and strange food, when he finally bonds and developes a
fondness for Thao as a strong young Asian seeking to obtain a starting descent construction job.
Upon setting out to defend the honor of Thao’s sister’s rape by the Hmong gang. He sets out to
not let Thao become involved in the Gang, and traps Thao in his basement, he writes Thao into
his last Will to deed his Gran Torino to him for becoming strong individual with strong mores,
values, as long as Thao does not chop his Grand Torino and modify it. He ,Walt uses ingenuity to
entrap the gang for all the wrong doing and the movie ends ,with Walt being gunned down, and
the Will being read, that his sons did not get to butcher his possessions and his granddaughter
receive what she wanted nor his sons being deeded the home.