Gran Torino

Gran Torino (2009) is a highly praised film that navigates the American multicultural scope and raises critical issues pertaining to racial discrimination, assimilation, generational difference, violence, and multicultural understanding. It reveals a contrast in the demographic composition of the American urban setting, illustrated by a Detroit neighborhood in which most of the film's actions take place. The neighborhood is increasingly dominated by Asian migrants, who are rapidly replacing predominantly white residents. The film's protagonist Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), one of the neighborhood's few white residents refusing to relocate, finds himself living at the intersection of homogenous past memories and a heterogeneous current reality, magnifying a critical crossroad for Americans to wrestle with.

Kowalski is a dying old American widower grieving the loss of his lifetime partner. He rejects any suggestions to move to a nursing home and chooses to lead an independent lifestyle. He struggles to find inner peace, but is unable to achieve it through church, family, or friends. His wife's death only increases his sense of anger and restlessness, which have already been stirred by his participation in the Korean War, his inability to adapt to the younger generation's way of life, and his difficulty interacting with the new racially diverse neighbors. As a self-reliant handyman, and a strong believer in work as a prerequisite for success, he suppresses his longing for inner peace by retaining his Ford Gran Torino, which is much sought after by his family, friends, and neighbors. It is through this Gran Torino that he eventually manages to secure peace for his soul.

Kowalski's young Hmong adolescent neighbor, Thao (Bee Vang), is coerced to join a neighborhood gang. For his initiation, he is asked to steal Kowalski's Gran Torino. The latter is alarmed and rushes to save his car. The next day, the gang members come back to convince Thao to steal the car. Thao refuses and attempts to run away. They all find themselves in Kowalski's yard and are scared away by his threatening rifle. The next morning, Kowalski finds himself hailed as the neighborhood hero for saving Thao and is swarmed with gifts. Later on, when Thao's sister, Sue (Ahney Her), is harassed by a small gang of African Americans, Kowalski rushes to her rescue. As a token of appreciation, Sue invites him to a birthday party, where he starts to learn and appreciate the Hmong culture and traditions.

This is a dramatic shift from Kowalski's earlier attitude toward them. In his earlier encounters, [Page 983]he views them with disgust and contempt. He sees them as undesirable bodies unable to reflect, if not celebrate, any sense of assimilation to the American cultural codes. They congregate in big numbers, which makes him wonder, “How many swamp rats you can get in one room!” He constantly uses denigrating racial slurs when referring to them, spits to the ground with derision when looking at them, and thinks of them as dog-eaters and barbarians. He demonstrates a sense of ignorance of the Hmong as he chooses to call them Koreans and jungle dwellers, using his war frame of reference. He even passes on to them other fixed stereotypes like the ideas that Asians are education oriented and good at math. Constantly seeing them as a cultural other, Kowalski fails to recognize their embrace of American values.

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