Life and Death in Gran Torino

The movie Gran Torino (2008) is more than interesting when it comes to life and death. We get to know that Walt participated in the korean war, and over the movie he learned a better way of living. The priest told him that he knows more about death than life, and it made him think though how he lives. How does he live? Well he does throw racial slurs at friends and strangers, but he does that to act «cool» and above others. Let’s look into how Walt evolves in the movie.

With a pinch of salt, Walt goes from heartless to wholesome. Perhaps a handful of salt . The life he had in Detroit wasn’t exactly ideal, but the friendship he grew with his previous hated neighbor is makes things different. Sue and Thao teach Walt what it is to be close and the Hmong culture makes him realize that the american culture isn’t above all others. His life is almost better that it was when he had a wife even though he thought about his wife like an angel. If only he could see this before she died.

Walt concludes with sacrificing himself for the Hmong family is the best option, which in my opinion was sad, but also kind of beautiful. Being unarmed and having the gang that harassed, even raped, the Hmong family arrested that way probably taught the gang member a lesson they could chew on other than prison food. Thao’s thirst for vengance was stopped, but he learned a mistake Walt couldn’t learn before it was too late. Thao got rewarded with the Gran Torino his «family» didn’t deserve.

A movie’s power

Movies and films as we know today are mainly for entertainment. The saying of «one picture says more than a thousand words» tells how fast the watcher percieves information, and produsers takes advantage from that. Since global warming  is an issue that affect everybody in the world including wildlife, some produsers decides to make movies that can change our way of living to make the world a better place to live in.

The documentary «Before the Flood» can prove to anyone that the world has a horrible future, but it also gives hope. To begin with, Leonardo DiCaprio is a known person, making the documentary more likely to be watched. Watching the documentary makes people realize that the human race really takes the world for granted, and that there are so many factors leading to global warming.

The film «Girl rising» gives the viewer a sight of girls with dreams and potential, but because of poverty and policy couldn’t live up to those dreams at first. The film shows the importance of gender equality, and free access to school.

I would recommend anyone to watch the documentaries, but at the same time I can tell how boring it could be for certain people. For example those who doesn’t really care that much about climate change should focus on the smaller actions, while those who already are encouraged can get a good kickstart on taking bigger action. But honestly, I think the documentaries are relevant for everyone that is able to grasp the information.

Both films gathered information from many different places, creating a wide perspective and covering many cases. I think this is key to make a difference, and difference is key to solve this huge problem. Problems should be solved quickly, but it is okay to have a slow start. We shound’t give up, and continue trying to improve our actions!