Gran Torino Transcultural Analysis Essay

Gran Torino starring Clint Eastwood was active a mans struggle in adapting to the changes in his environ handst when confronted by foreign exposure to cultural differences. The film was chosen because it told a floor about ones struggle with traditional practice, cultural diversity, gender roles, and the acceptance of others. In terms of culture, there was an abundance of traditional practices related to the Hmong community. The screenplay was written by Nick Schenk and the movie was filmed in July 2008 (Longwell, T). Gran Torino was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who withal played the role of the main character known as Walt Kowalski. Walt was an American man and a Korean War veteran who resided in a neck of the woods that became inhabited by Hmong families (Gran Torino, 2008). The relationship that Walt had with his own family was disconnected and distant because his sons embraced the modern way of living but Walt was more traditional. Walt was portrayed as a fussy old man who did non like to socialize with others.All of that changed when Walt became associated with the Hmong children next door, Thao and Sue. Walt saved Thao from being taken by the Hmong gang members and was viewed as a champ by the Hmong families despite the fact that Walt was just trying to keep other wad off his lawn. Upon an unexpected invitation by Sue, Walts world became intertwined with the Hmong community as he was introduced to various traditional Hmong customs and foods. After a series of events, the Hmong gang returned and injured Thaos family which prompted Walt to seek redemption from his war past by sacrificing himself for the safety of Thao and Sue. The film portrayed culture clashes amid an American and Hmong families epoch focusing on the struggles that Hmong immigrants endure to survive within their community.The Hmong population was great in Minneapolis, Minnesota and it was the original setting of Gran Torino and alike the home town of screenplay writ er Nick Schenk (Longwell). Schenk had never written any other featured films previous to Gran Torino and it was his first recognized piece. In the early 90s, Schenk worked at a factory where many of his co-workers were Hmong and he gained some knowledge about the history of Hmong people (Longwell). The Hmong sided with the U.S during the Vietnam War but ended up in refugee camps due to communist takeover after the U.S. troops leave, which resulted in the Hmong fleeing to the U.S. to escape from the communist forces (GranTorino, 2008). Schenk began to incorporate Hmong families into the story with a Korean War veteran to emphasize a clash of cultures. The intended purpose of this film was to express the cultural barriers in the language, customs, and gender roles between Hmong people and Americans.The writers and directors did a great job on portraying masculinity as the perceived dominant role between the characters. In Gran Torino, Walt criticized Thao for doing things that men ar e not supposed to do such as gardening. Thao does a good job in representing role reversal because he was proud to do women chores like washing the dishes and gardening. Walt tried his best to look after Thao and made Thao masculine by teaching him how to talk to other genuine men. Walt believed that real American men are supposed to be strong, crowd for themselves, pay taxes, and work hard at a hands-on laboring job. Walt eventually upholded Thao become a man by getting him a real job, tools for construction work, and social skills to interact with other men. This film was derived from Schenks prior experience as a factory worker with other Hmong people and this writer did not create any other significant work subsequent to the production of Gran Torino. The secret plan of the movie was to show how two different types of culture collide and interact. In addition, there was also indication that masculinity in males was important as shown by the main character, Walt. The sub-plot was to show the viewers that men are not supposed to be barbaric but to become a sophisticated people with kinsperson and follow societys rule.The main characters were Walt Kowalski, Spider, Thao, and Thaos older sister, Sue. Walt played the dominating male that represented how a real man should be. Spider, Thao and Sues cousin, represented an antagonist barbaric villain that supposed to be a gangster whom terrorized Walts neighborhood. Thao played an innocent feminine teenage role that Walt believed was not masculine, but has class and self-respect. Sue played the smart, sophisticated, typical school Asian girl who ended up getting injured by her cousin, Spider, and his gang. It was through the fundamental interaction with Sue and Walt that the viewers were able to experience Hmong history and cultural customs. In one of the scenes during a car ride home, Sue explained to Walt the origin of Hmong people and she also invited him to her house for meal where Walt thoroughly enjoyed th e foods of Hmong culture. Walt and Spider treated Thao like a child because they both wanted to teach Thao how to become a man. Spider taught Thao thathe needed to become a barbaric person to become a real man, while Walt taught Thao that hard work and following society norms was what a real man should do. Sue was the only main female character that was able to change Walts mind about Hmong people.Because of Sues persistence, Walt decided to help her and her family from Spider and his gang. Walt became the protagonist at the end of the movie by risking his own life to bring down Spider and his gang and restoring peace to the community. My opinion about the film was that the director did a good job on portraying masculinity and how a real man should act and treat a woman. thither were a lot of racism coming out of Walts mouth about Asians, but in the end, I believed he had a change of bosom about his Hmong neighbors. I believe he came to realizations that not all Asians are the same as he remembered during his Korean War days. The way Walt finally gave a confession to the priest and how he died for his neighbor was really unexpected. The acting of Walts character by Clint Eastwood was really good as well. Walts character caught my worry and made me want to know more about his previous life, especially when he talked about how he was in the Korean War. The cinematography could have been split and at times, it felt like I was observation a biography rather than a movie.One of the flaws was that Walt did not get in a fight for his rude behavior towards everyone that he encountered. Another flaw was that he sacrificed his life for a neighbor when he knew that he could have called the cops on Spider and his crowd for possession of a fire arm and shooting his neighbors house, rather than choosing death at the end. Also, I believed the movie could have been better if they left out his illness from the doctors visit. If they had left that out and continued with the suicidal death in the end rather than risking Walts life because of a terminal illness, Walts character would have been more heroic. On the contrary, a strength of the movie was when Sue corrected Walt about the pronunciation of her race while giving him a history of where Hmong people came from and why they immigrated to America. The ultimate strength was when Walt died for his neighbor by going to Spiders apartment complex with witnesses well-nigh to see him get murdered. Throughout the movie, the film showed the audience that Walt always carried a gun to scare off his foes, but at the end, he realized that he did not need a weapon to bring down Spider and his gang. One of the things that Ilearned from the film was that nurses should not be too libertine to judge someone based on appearance, like how Walt called all the Asians gooks without knowing their nationality.In one of the scenes in the movie, Walt was in the waiting room at the hospital for a check-up and a nurse mispro nounced his name. The nurse called him Koski while his name was Kowalski. Walt gave her a disgusting look and the nurse did not apologize or asked if she was mispronouncing his name or not. As a future nurse, I want to maintain a professional role and acknowledge forbearings by their correct name. Correctly pronouncing a patients name also eliminates human error and also prevents doctors from diagnosing the wrong person. In conclusion, I would recommend this movie to people who are noncivilized about Asian culture. There were a lot of racist terms that Walt used in the movie about Asians and the stereotypes of Asians eating dogs which are not true. I would rate the movie a 4 out of 5 stars because the movie was rich in cultural content and character development. The film is appropriate for audiences ages 13 and up and mainly geared toward males. There were a lot of violent content and gang related terms involved. As a result of watching this movie, I learned that one can change if surrounded by the right people under inevitable circumstances such as Walts culture clash with his Hmong neighbors. In addition, serving one another was the most rewarding take home message of Gran Torino. Whether I am helping a patient or just lending a helping hand to my next door neighbor, I will remember to be large-hearted as to prevent one another from going down the wrong paths.ReferencesEastwood, C. (Producer & Director). (2008). Gran torino Motion Picture. Burbank, CA Warner Bros.Longwell, T. (2008). Eastwood recognizes Hmong immigrants with new film. Reuters. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http//www.reuters.com/article/2008/12/09/us-gran-idUSTRE4B81ZC20081209