Gran Torino Essays

  • Gran Torino By Walt Kowalski

    371 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gran Torino Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changing of his neighborhood in Michigan and the world around him in general. He's a old tough minded grumpy war veteran whose prize posession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. Then when his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from a gang that his cousin runs cons him into trying to steal the Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Basically setting foot into the lives of

  • Examples Of Sacrifice In Gran Torino

    1112 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gran Torino is a 1998 film directed by the highly acclaimed Clint Eastwood. Walt Kowalski is a Korean war veteran whose residence is in the midst of the crime-ridden Hmong neighborhood in Detroit. Walt’s prized possession is the Gran Torino which ultimately provides the olive branch to the young Thao and through their love for his car. There is this initial feeling that Walt is slightly racist, however once he puts his feeling aside and he realises the Thao has the same connection with his car he

  • Spike Lee And The Sympathetic Racist In Gran Torino

    659 Words  | 3 Pages

    film entitled Gran Torino defines many aspects of not only an iconic American muscle car but, a man who in current times has American non-traditional values. Walt Kowalski is a elderly decorated Korean war veteran who is living in a predominantly non white neighborhood. Struggling to recover from his wife suddenly passing away, Walt finds himself in a situation where he reluctantly befriends his next door neighbor who happens to be Hmong and also tried to steal his beloved Gran Torino. In this event

  • Stereotypes In Gran Torino

    602 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gran Torino is a captivating film which shows a great deal racial prejudice and how one can overcome racism through communication. This film strings together racial and ethnic portraits in many scenes which highlight many important issues in today’s society. There are some movies today that use these racial stereotypes but they do them without reason. This film uses it to bring light to a minority of people living in the U.S. that do not get much attention. The movie is largely about Walt’s relationship

  • Gran Torino Multiculturalism

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the movie “Gran Torino” the protagonist, Walt Kowalski is an Polish-American, Korean War Veteran, who is recently widowed after his wife’s death. Ever since then, Walt is troubled with the memories of the war and he did not like the fact that his son felt pity for him. The changes around his neighbourhood made him uncomfortable because it reminded him of the Korean War. Overtime, these changes caused some personality changes through the close bond with his neighbours, Sue and Thao, whom he treated

  • Gran Torino Essay

    2010 Words  | 9 Pages

    Statement of Intent I am going to write a visual text essay on the film Gran Torino. The question I will be answering is “Analyse how the audience was encouraged to love or hate a particular character”. I want to convey one of the main ideas in the film that people have the ability to change, so as an audience we are able to feel both hate and love for a character. I could publish this piece of writing on study Wiki where other students similar to myself who are studying for their external exams

  • Racism In Gran Torino

    720 Words  | 3 Pages

    A recap of the film Gran Torino is all about a strong-willed racist veteran called Walt Kowalski living in the neighborhood with Hmong immigrants, from Southeast Asia. Walk virtually detested and resented all the Asians and everything around him. He called them ‘gooks’ and ‘chinks’ but the Hmong’s ignored his abuses. Walt lived alone and it seems his wife had died to live him two sons, with whom he had little relationship. His teenage neighbor, Thao was pressurized by his gang to steal his car, and

  • Nationalism In Gran Torino

    1361 Words  | 6 Pages

    movie sets out to underline the basic struggle between traditions, culture , the construction of an ethnic group who share the same language, traditions, religion and of course the attempt of the main character to find his own national identity. ‘Gran Torino’s’ main idea is based on the exploration of the roots of the Hmong population residing on American soil. All their actions and issues can be pictured with the help of a racist war veteran Walt Kowalski. The Hmong society is a character because

  • Walt Kodawalski Strengths And Weaknesses

    1921 Words  | 8 Pages

    Introduction This paper is an assessment of Walt Kowalski’s strengths and weaknesses in biological, psychological, psychosocial, spiritual and cultural dimensions. Theories will be used to describe Walt Kowalski. Description of Walk Kowalski Walt Kowalski is an American man who currently lives in Michigan, Detroit. He is a Korean War veteran, a father of two sons, and has recently become a widow after 50 years of being married to his wife. His neighborhood has been taken over by Asian immigrants

  • Gran Torino Differences

    1161 Words  | 5 Pages

    similarities between people. Everyone is all unique in their own way because of the experiences they gained throughout their life and how they reacted to these kind of situations will stay with them or change them. In the films Memoirs of a Geisha and Gran Torino, Thao Vang Lor and Chiyo Sakamoto both have differences and things in commons. These two characters are Asians, however, one is Hmong and the other is Japanese with very distinct traditions and roles due to their gender. Both of these characters

  • Gran Torino Sociology

    486 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the movie "Gran Torino" the main character Walt lives next door to Vietnamese neighbors. In the movie the character Walt is very racist he refers to his neighbors as chinks and make other statements that are very disrespectful. Walt has alienated himself from his children and it appears that he thinks they are spoiled.It appears that Walt's racism stems from when he fought during the Korean War . During the war Walt was most likely taught to hate the people he was at war with, however it appears

  • Gran Torino Political Themes

    1396 Words  | 6 Pages

    how the work is perceived and how it was written in the context of the generation that produced it and its themes. The piece of art I have chosen to analyze the themes of political structure is the film Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood, which deals with various political issues. "Gran Torino" touches upon political themes in a subtle and nuanced manner. The movie is set against the backdrop of a changing American society, where issues of race, immigration, and economic inequality are salient

  • Sacrifice In Gran Torino

    710 Words  | 3 Pages

    A classic film, Gran Torino, which was released on December 12, 2008 and directed by award winning director Clint Eastwood, displays an emotional yet drama filled story based in the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, in a rundown town. This film shows a multiplicity of similarities to a short story written by author Joyce Carol Oates in the year 1996 titled, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? This short story primarily focuses on a 15-year-old girl named Connie who is obsessed with herself and

  • Racism And Redemption In The Gran Torino

    749 Words  | 3 Pages

    movie Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood depicts racism and redemption through the life of Walt Kowalski. The movie portrays Kowalski as a retired automobile worker and Korean war veteran who is a bigot towards his neighbors. This character carries a negatively biased perspective regarding his Asian, and African-American neighbors in the majority of the film. Kowalski meets Thao vang Lor a Hmong teenager who lives next door when he attempts to steal Kowalski’s most precious possession, The Gran Torino

  • Gran Torino Analysis

    428 Words  | 2 Pages

    People’s experiences and values may determine their journey’s and purpose in life; these may be influenced by a variety of factors. This is certainly the case in Charles Dickens 's novella A Christmas Carol and the film Gran Torino. Both texts exhibit the presence of these factors, however, these are explored differently in each. Dicken’s creation of the hard and antisocial Scrooge, had been shaped by his previous relationships; with Fan, Belle and his business partner, Marley. Whereas, Walt Kowalski’s

  • Subculture Definition

    743 Words  | 3 Pages

    When talking about culture, we should not forget to mention subculture. Many people often mix those two definitions up. With subculture, a culture within a culture is meant. You could also compare it to those films about American High Schools where everyone belongs to a certain group, those groups represent the subcultures. It is possible to belong to more than one subculture. In a certain society, everyone shares the main culture, but not the same subcultures. The definitions culture and subculture

  • Gran Torino For The Food Culture Assignment

    347 Words  | 2 Pages

    I watched Gran Torino for the Food Culture Film assignment. I visited the Tehran Market in Santa Monica for the Ethnic Market assignment. I was at the market for about 40 minutes and 10-12 shoppers came in during that time. Only three were American. The rest of the customers were Persian and spoke to the Persian staff in Farsi. For the first 15 minutes, no one acknowledged me (and the store is small compared to a conventional grocery store). Even when I was standing at the meat counter and made

  • Part One: Client Population And Primary Issue

    1883 Words  | 8 Pages

    Part One: Population Need Client Population and Primary Issue Walt Kowalski is a 68-year-old recently widowed Korean War veteran (Eastwood, 2008). Kawalski resides in the Highland Park neighborhood in Metropolitan Detroit (Eastwood, 2008). Due to his military history, Walt finds himself experiencing a plethora of issues including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), estranged family, chronic health issues, and substance abuse. Throughout this film, Walt expresses racist remarks to the Hmong Americans

  • Responsibility Of Immigrants In The Film 'Gran Torino'

    468 Words  | 2 Pages

    Now Showing: Gran Torino The United States of America is known as a nation of immigrants; what responsibilities do we as a nation have towards immigrants? Our responsibilities towards immigrants is to mainly welcome them to a new Nation. Often times they’re being introduced to a new language, holidays, traditions, history, and just different everyday life. To learn to be respectful of their native languages or religious beliefs. As we seen in the Movie, Gran Torino, Walt Kowalski; witness an

  • Cultural Diversity In Gran Torino

    1174 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gran Torino is a film that was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. His assistant producers were Robert Lorenz and Bill Gerber. Clint also starred in his film. It is a drama film that was released on 12th December 2008 in the United States of America. The film highlights how Walt Kowalski who was separated from his family and mad at the universe since he was a veteran of the Korean War. His neighbour, Thao Vang Lor, gets pressurized to steal his Gran Torino so that he can be initiated into a