Gran Torino: Positive Racism?

One thing I can't stand is actors playing roles they can't because they want to be treated like a "serious actor" or to get an Academy Award. Sylvester Stallone sometimes did this. Arnold Schwarzenegger went to the family films and stood worth his own weight (which is alot). Clint Eastwood may be playing the same character he's been playing for years between Dirty Harry, Sergeant Highway, and Bill Munny, but he's been making him better. If his previous roles aren't Academy Award worthy, he makes them so.

This brings us to Gran Torino. Clint Eastwood is Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran and retired autoline workman. He put the steeringwheel on the mint-condition '69 Gran Torino he keeps in his garage. After the death of his wife, he lives alone, spending his days drinking Pabst on the porch and spitting chew while giving dirty looks at the Hmong neighbors. After Tao, the Hmong teen next door, attempts to steal his Gran Torino as part of an initiation into a gang, Walt takes up against the gangs, mostly for the defense of his own lawn. He doesn't care if it's gangs or kids, he jsut wants to keep his lawn private.


The Hmong slowly like him, leaving gifts at his doorstep. They don't understand he hates him, only that the gangs avoid him. He throws away the gifts, except for the turkey.

He's a racist even if he doesn't know it. He goes through every name in the book. The audience laughs at the extent of his vocabulary. He calls them gooks the same way everyone else calls them Asian. He speaks like a soldier still at war: tough. He knows when to bluff and when to pull the guns out.

This character might sound cliche, but he's not. He goes alittle farther with the racial slurs than most rough guys, but has a familiar sound to him when he can't help but stuff himself with the Asian chicken. He drinks Pabst and carries guns as though he's a simpleton, but has tricks up his sleeve and uses them like you'd never think. In a lesser movie, he would go soft and cry with emotion at some point. He doesn't sell himself out. There's more emotion in him telling someone to drink a beer with him than in some movies' most tearful scenes.

I won't give away anything else in the story. It is more about characters than the fights. I wondered what his wife must have been like to put up with such a guy, then I realized she was there all along. The Hmong teenage girl that convinces Walt to join them for dinner is stubborn, persistant, and able to stand toe-to-toe with him. As rough as he is, she knows he's a gentleman and - more than once - tells him "it would be a great disrespect if you didn't." No way would Walt be tough and ungentlemanly.

Is it entertaining? It is not an action film. It is a character study that surprises. You have to watch it from beginning to end, but Eastwood delivers in his performance as one of a kind.

Is it for everyone? Yes. While strong, it is not offensive. Walt hates the Hmong just as much as he loves others. Where it's not an action movie, it still delivers with tension.

Is it memorable? While meriting an Oscar nomination or two, the character is more memorable than the movie. Either way, it is still one to stick with you.