“Gran Torino” Movie Review

Gran Torino is the film that uncovers how people may change through the elimination of cultural barriers and mutual respect, as do the main characters Walt and Thao.

The film contains many symbols which uncover the background of the main characters as well as signify entire epochs. At this point, it is possible to refer to Ford Grand Torino owned by Walt. This car is a symbol of the past epoch, when Detroit was the industrial center and Walt was a part of it, when he worked at the car manufacturing plant. However, that epoch has gone but Walt struggle to survive and so does his car. In this regard, it is even more symbolic that Gran Torino survives Walt and at the end of the film it is Thao, who drives the car and this scene is a symbol of the generation transition as Thao replaces Walt but their values and character remain similar.

At this point, it is worth mentioning that values of Thao and Walt are not as different as they may seem to be. At first glance, they belong to absolutely different cultures and different generations. Thao attempts to be a gang member, whereas Walt sticks to the law and order. Nevertheless, when the run in, it turns out that both of them are spiritually strong men. Even though physically they do not look to be strong, but the power of their spirit is enormous and they are the perfect match in this regard. Walt sticks to traditional Americans values and Thao sticks to the values of his gang, but, in the course of the film Walt realizes that his system of values has grown out of date, whereas Thao realizes that his system of values leads to a dead-end. This is why the two main characters undergo a profound transformation and elaborate their new system of values, where the racial background or past of people do not matter. What does matter is their present way of life and their actions.

Thao has to overcome and change his system of values but he is capable to do it completely, when he manages to get rid of mores of his community and his peers. He lives in the community, where traditional system of values does not work and gangs play the main part. Actually, his community, which is also the community of Walt, suffers the decay of mores. This is why they urge to develop their system of values to survive and to remain humane in the time of the total decline of mores

They have managed to overcome the impact of folkways which were apparently negative because they were destructive by their nature and led to the degradation of humanity, basic humanistic values, and fundamental ideals which actually make humans to be humans. The decline of American values as well as tradition Hmong values leads to the emergence of gangs and other subcultures which challenge existing cultural norms and values and tend to fill in the gap in the system of values of the contemporary society. The decay of mores gives rise to subcultures which are not always good since gangs, as a type of subculture in Walt’s community, threaten to the public safety and wreak havoc in the community.

In such a situation, people have little choices to make. As a rule, they follow the way of Thao, as he does at the beginning of the film. They just follow the lead of the mainstream group which turns out to be a gang and they have to live as others people do. In other words, people have an option to become conformists and the majority of people chooses this option. Alternatively, people may choose the way of life Walt has chosen. They live on his own and he sticks to his beliefs and values whatever happens around him. However, this way leads to marginalization and Walt does become a marginal in his community, where he feels and actually turns out to be a stranger because of the complete change of his city, of his neighborhood, and the way life people used to live, when he was younger. He cannot accept this changes and slips to marginalization, but to become a part of his community he needs to change his values and his way of life.

At this point of his life, he suffers a tremendous cultural shock as he has to changes his values and worldview and overcome barriers which used to be unsurpassable and separated him from the Hmong community. Thao and his family members also suffer cultural shock as they befriend Walt and learn his way of life. As they start communicating with each other and build up strong relations, they come to the point, where they realize that positive sanction is the only way to come to a peaceful and happy life because they need to overcome cultural barriers that separate them to understand each other by recognizing that their cultural background is equally valid and significant and, thus, worth respecting. Through mutual respect Walt and Thao’s family lay the foundation to the new community, where people diverse background respect each other and treat each other as equals. At the same time, to reach such equality, the main characters have to use or are vulnerable to the impact of negative and positive sanctions. Negative sanctions discourage wrong behavior, as was the case when Walt threatened Thao and later his gang members to use his rifle to prevent their illegal activities. Positive sanctions approve the positive behavioral patterns, such as is the case when Walt attempts to help and support Sue, while Thao supports Walter.

Thus, the main characters of the film undergo profound transformations and change their system of values to come up to the new type of community, where people are tolerant and respect the cultural background of each other and this is a new type of community, where all people may be happy because they stand on the equal ground with each other.

Works Cited:

Eastwood, Clint. Gran Torino. Warner Bros., 2008.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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