Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino

Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008) draws attention to the cultural differences between people living in a working class neighborhood in Michigan. An ideology of multiculturalism is promoted as Walt, a heterosexual white man, moves past his prejudices and forms a relationship with his Hmong neighbors. It promotes this ideology, however, without challenging hegemonic white masculinity and has an underlying theme of natural white superiority, as Walt takes on the role of a white savior for this cultural Other..

When Walt Kowalski sees the Lors, a Hmong family moving in next door, he says, “what the hell did these Chinks have to move into this neighborhood for?” This comment echoes the beliefs of extreme right wing new nationalism “defined through a bellicose nativism that views cultural differences as a threat to national unity” (Giroux, 377). Walt uses a number or racial slurs when referring to his Hmong neighbors, such as “zipperhead,” “gooks,” “egg roll,” and “swamp rats,” and immediately makes negative assumptions about them based on their race. Intolerance for the cultural Other is also displayed by male members of the Hispanic, African, and Asian American communities. Their extreme nationalism for their respective ethnicities, leads to racial tension and gang violence as they try to exert their dominance over each other rather than live harmoniously.

As Sue and Walt begin to form a friendship, this notion that cultural differences are a bad thing is challenged. Sue tells Walt about Hmong people, and invites him to a barbeque where he is exposed to some of their traditions. Once Walt is able to accept their cultural differences and stop seeing them as a threat to his way of life, he realizes he has “more in common with [tho...

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...arrh Cashin and Lauren C. Martilli. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014. 133. Print.

Giroux, Henry A. “National Identity and the Politics of Multiculturalism.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren C. Martilli. Boston; Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014. 91-96. Print.

Gran Torino. By Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Perf. Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, and Ahney Her. Warner Bros., 2008. Film.

Kellner, Douglas. “Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren C. Martilli. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014. 35. Print.

Schrock, Douglas, and Michael Schwalbe. “Men, Masculinity, and Manhood Acts.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren C. Martilli. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014. 35. Print.