World's Fastest Indian Analysis

The movie that I picked to watch was the World’s Fastest Indian. Now one would think this is about Native Americans, but for others they know an Indian is a motorcycle. The movie is about a man named Burt Munroe that is in his late sixties but is still a child at Heart. He has been modifying his Indian Motorcycle for over 20 years so he can beat the land speed record in Bonneville, Utah. As he makes his journey he faces many challenges that seem to try their best to slow Burt down, but being the quirky man he is, he finds ways to get around the obstacles that are set before to achieve his dream, which he does achieve in the end. This movie does have an instance where the term sociological imagination would come in to play and that is the motive

that Burt has throughout the movie, and that this dream does seem impossible at times due to the obstacle that is set in front of him. We would expect that a man of Burt’s age would give up if the task was too big. The way it would help an individual understand the movie is that when a man is set on a path that he wants to complete he will do anything to achieve it just like you and me achieving our dreams.
Throughout this movie there are norms that we would see today, but not back then. One norm that I do see in the movie that would be still alive today, would be the Americans supporting Burt when he comes over to America. The reason I say this is a positive norm even through today, is that as Americans there are people out there that would break their neck to make sure they are ok. Also as Americans in society we are supposed to help people out in a time of need. To every positive there is a negative. The negative norm that I believe is in the movie is the he/she that broke the cultural norm of being cross gendered. In today’s time we would find this behavior vary normal, but in the time of the movie this was still looked down upon. Going throughout the movie we do see many parts of sociological views, one example is material and nonmaterial culture. A material culture in the movie world’s fastest Indian is the Indian motorcycle. The reason I say this is Burt grew up around the time of when the Indian came out, and when his family obtained one it became part of his life ever since he was a small kid. So, Burt made this bike part of his everyday life it became part of his culture to wake up to work on the bike this was his life. Going to nonmaterial culture Burt also takes the cake on this one too. The reason I say this is because of the set of beliefs that the man has throughout the movie. He set his life on being a positive happy man, and as we can see throughout the movie since Burt is living his life this way he makes an impact on everyone he meets.
One type of culture that is evident is taste cultures. The reason being is that the there are many people that like certain ways certain things are made. Burt for example instead of getting a regular motorcycle he keeps his Indian and modifies it daily to keep his bike. As in America we seem to want the item that is hip on the market. We conform to the taste that are being made big at the time.
In everything we do in society there seems to be a social structure in society such as status, role, group, and institution.

Even in movies. In the world’s fastest Indian we see that the status of Burt being just an old mechanic from New Zeland, plays a part in what he does in the movie. What I mean by this is that he may not have power in the upper levels of administration he uses his status in society to better himself, such as when he fixes the cars to get a cheaper price and a free buggy to lug his Indian to Bonneville. To add on to this Burt also has a role in the movie as the old man mechanic. His behavior and his actions make him the old man with motorcycle. Having this role allows Burt to have many supporters when he is off to set the land speed record. As the movie progresses he seems to attract more and more supporters behind him due to his status and role in the movie. There are people in the movie that seem to stick together as a group. The group that I am speaking of is the Biker gang in the beginning of the movie. These guys all seem to stick together through the thick and thin of the movie, and seem to have the same hatred of Burt in the beginning of the movie, but this is not the same as an institution. The biker gang was just a group. An institution in the movie is the Bonneville Speedway. This institution was founded on on the concept of going fast. This is why it was founded and kept its belief through and through. I would also label this a bureaucracy. The reason I do this is because the institution has a way to make sure everyone is working together to make sure the show is running smoothly. The examples would be the systems check, the announcer, the sign in sheet, and the crew that starts each

car.
During the movie can also view the sociologist Mead, Cooloey, and Goffman. They fit together in the movie surprisingly well. To start off I will begin talking about Mead. Mead believes that we learn and adjust our view of our self through interaction with other people. Which is true. Burt adjusts his ways slightly to match the American way of living when he is over here. He also pictures himself as I would believe as a here of his own town. The reason I say this when he does the break the record people learn of the town he is from and puts it on the map. He is also a hero to the other fellow men that help him when he is over here in America. Going off that this connects into Cooley’s theory of the looking glass self. Burt pictures himself as a man with a mission when everyone is supporting him in his dream. He perceives himself as a respected man from all the respect that he gets. When he does come over he immediately meets some mean people and then becomes a little grumpy, but then picks back up again when he meets the woman/man that runs the hotel during the night. It all depends on the social interaction that we have this is why Cooley and Meads theories are predominant in the movie. To go even farther into theories Goffman’s theory that we do actions that the public can see, and then we do actions that are not serious for the public. The actions that Burt does in public is being the serious mechanic that he is when it comes to motor run vehicles. He keeps his professional manner when it comes to the vehicles, but the backstage of Goffman’s theory is being the fun-loving, goofy man that we see throughout most of the movie.
Not only through the public eye can we can sociological actions take place, but we can also view through such great movies like fastest Indian. This movie was a great movie all in all. I believe it had great details, and showed the emotion in which a man would have for something he loves. I also believe it portrays what someone would go through to achieve a lifelong dream of an individual. I also like how the attitude of older man can influence so many people that they would actually help him along in achieving the dream he has. This movie I would highly recommend, it has a great story, amazing actors, and the reality that dreams are possible one just needs to stay positive even though rough patches are sure to come.