Essay about gran torino

Submitted By Andrewwang23C
Words: 690
Pages: 3

Andrew Ly
7/30
Gran Torino A very clear example of prejudice that was shown at the very beginning of the movie was when Walt Kowalski showed his feelings of hate to his neighbors who were
Hmong. This can probably be explained because Walt was a war veteran in Korea, resulting in bad impressions and memories toward asians. At first, Walt treats the neighbors with very little respect and wants nothing to do with them, but as the movie progresses, he becomes rather fond of them. Walt gets easily angered when the
Hmongs had a fight in their front lawn, trying to keep Tao from getting taken by their cousins. Walt didn’t care who was on his lawn, he just wanted all of them off and quiet.
He also tried to disregard the gratitude from the family. After the cousins left, he was still showing his dislike towards asians.
Walt used the term “spook” when trying to help Sue get away from the 3 black men. “Spook” refers to how black people can be scary and dangerous. They are like ghosts or the unknown which many are not. This can be classified as a stereotypical term. Father Janovich was called
“an over­educated 27­year­old virgin that never knew the difference between life and death,” which he admitted was true. This is both prejudice and a stereotype, but hearing this from Walt made him able to learn more about life and death and what is truly is to make a sacrifice. Seeing what Walt did and how it affected the people around him, made the priest mature.
Another stereotypical remark was when Walt asked his barber if he was Jewish.
This is stereotypical because people may think of jews as very careful with their money and don’t usually want to spend it. This was a joke and in turn, made them seem closer as friends.
It was very clear Walt was unhappy with his way of life at the start of the movie, but as he puts his prejudice beliefs aside and starts learning more about the Hmong neighbors, he started to become happy. Having the conversation with Sue after he saved her was a very important part of the movie. He took a liking to her and started to see that not all asians are bad. He opens himself up and becomes friends with her which easily got rid of his prejudice beliefs towards them. This moment can be applied to many other scenarios when prejudice keeps 2 people from being acquaintances or having a decent conversation.
One part I found funny was when