Jordan Hollins

Intercultural Communication

Ottawa University
 The movie “Gran Torino” is about a Korean War veteran played by Clint

Eastwood, who is stuck in his prejudiced ways. Eastwood is a very grumpy old man who

cannot get along with anyone in his neighborhood, which is mostly made up of Asian

people. His most prized possession is his 1972 Gran Torino that he keeps in pristine

condition. No one can even look at the car, not even his own grandchildren. One night a

younger teenager that lives next door is pressured by the local gang to steal the Gran

Torino. Eastwood almost kills the kid but once they have a conversation, the slowly

build a bond. Towards the end of the movie the old man and the young boy are best of

friends. However, the gang still lurks near searching for their chance to take the car. At

the end, the gang attempts to rob the man and harm the young boy’s family. Sadly,

Eastwood gives up his life for the car and the boy. 

Some cultural conflicts that arise during this movie are racial prejudice and social

injustice. Clint Eastwood plays a very racist old man but not for no reason. The way he

was raised molded him but also seeing many Asian people kill some of his friends in the

war contributed as well. After the war he never looked at the Asian culture the same, so

the fact that he is in an all Asian community is already a problem. He uses many racist

terms throughout the film as well as pre-judging Asian people because of what he has

seen. He gets better at this towards the end but during the beginning he lets the
disrespectful terms fly. The social injustice is seen not just by Eastwood ‘s character but

also by the houses around. The director attempts to set a scene of not a totally

impoverished area but a bit torn down. The racial stereotypes set a social injustice

picture for the audience. The family next-door is obviously struggling for themself, so the

boy must work for the old man who he just tried to rob. Even though he is not really

working for money, he is working because he tried to steal his car. It still shows the

injustice around the neighborhood.

In my background the popular Culture demonstrated in the film is cars and gang

activity. Cars in general is already a very cultural thing. No matter where someone is

from, the respect of the car will still be there. In my life old cars have been looked at is

sacred. My grandfather still owns is Rolls Royce from when he returned from war. The

car in the movie represented style and swag if you will. Gang activity is looked at as

having a family. In my culture many of my friends grew up hoping to be in a gang or

start their own gang when they got older. Being in a gang means that you have respect

from not just your peers but the streets. Seeing the gang activity in the movie took me

back to a lot of the times in Atlanta that I saw.

I do think that the ending could have been different depending on what happened

before the shooting. Eastwood knew that if he sacrificed himself, the boys would end up

going to jail. He could have allowed them to take his car but knowing the character he

was playing that would not have made sense. How everything was set up made it so

that the ending was truly how things would have gone. The old man went to their house

with only a lighter. The gang members fell right into his trick and shot him in their front
yard with no weapon in his hand. Eastwood did not have to go over there and die but I

do think that was the best conclusion.

Overall, the film was very good. Not only did he keep me engaged but it also

taught me things that I did not know. Even though being black gets me discriminated

against a lot, but it is nice to see a different perspective. I see myself relating more to

the young boy just because he is closer to my age. I was never a robber or killer, but I

did grow up in the area around it. Many times, I had the opportunity to become a

gangster, but I think God my parents raise me to know that fast money is a fast death.

Thank you for allowing us to watch this movie for educational purposes. I truly feel like a

better student and a better man after.

 References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK83758/
https://www.fatmansgarage.com/blogs/news/history-of-the-ford-gran-torino-sport