The influence of racialization in Gran Torino
Dargis, Manohla, “Hope for a Racist, and Maybe a Country.” The New York Times, 11 December 2008 https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/movies/12tori.html Accessed May 8 2018
Manohla Dargis is the co-chief film critic for The New York Times who has been writing since she received her M.A. in cinema studies from New York University. Even the title of the article begins to indicate an opinion of the movie representing progress in the American prejudices held towards the people of Southeast Asia following the Vietnam War. The vocabulary and tone she uses to describe Clint Eastwood and his character, Walt Kowalski, indicate her admiration for him and his representation of an all-American masculine male. Being a highly reputable writer in a high traffic newspaper, this infatuation with said actor leads to the writer conveying the level of racism as comedic breaks rather than a political statement. She describes him as “remaking the image of the hero… one generation of Americans making way for the next.” This can serve as evidence for the argument of ignorance to racial injustices that still occur in America, most specifically in Hollywood when racial minorities are being represented at all.
Jalao, Ly Chong, “Looking Gran Torino in the Eye: A Review.” Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, 2010, https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&=&context=jsaaea&=&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fscholar.google.com%252Fscholar%253Fhl%253Den%2526as_sdt%253D0%25252C5%2526q%253Dgran%252BTorino%252Brace%2526btnG%253D#search=%22gran%20Torino%20race%22 , Accessed May 8 2018
Ly Chong Jalao has received a doctorate from the department of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara and focuses upon the Hmong diaspora, most specifically in reference to Laos. The place of publication and the qualification of the author point to this being a trustworthy article. The article focuses on the inaccurate portrayal and vilification of young Hmong men through their characterization as gang members. It also brings up the importance of the spotlight remaining on the white man and his redemption and humanization. The influence of the Vietnam War continues to be present in the minds of Americans and the racial representation of Hmong people prevents progress to be made. Gender roles are also brought into the discussion through the submissiveness of Thao’s sister and draws the parallel of the Vietnamese as inferior to the Americans, drawing back into the beliefs from the Vietnam War.
McMahon, Robert, “Contested Memory:The Vietnam War and American Society, 1975-2001.” Diplomatic History, Volume 26, Issue 2, 1 April 2002, pp. 159–184, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7709.00306
Robert McMahon is a highly distinguished history professor at The Ohio State University and has published numerous books in his field. The introduction of the piece touches upon the presence of the confederate flag as it still exists in the American South. It follows this with the progression of Time Magazine’s covers on the anniversaries of the Vietnam War. The dialogue surrounding this light shed on the loss of the Vietnam War illustrates the level of negativity and hostility still surrounding it. In identifying the war as a genuine defeat, the piece recognizes the rawness of the loss that was still present at the time of writing. As the focus of the excerpt is on memory, the primary goal is to highlight the memory of the nation as a whole. Rather than it being the memories of individuals, it emphasizes the importance that these memories and beliefs overall are a product of the nation and that closure has not yet been reached.
Robinson, MJ, “Public Affairs Television and the Growth of Political Malaise: The Case of “The Selling of the Pentagon.” American Political Science Review, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 409-432, 1976
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/public-affairs-television-and-the-growth-of-political-malaise-the-case-of-the-selling-of-the-pentagon/8F3A5CD7E5B9E495BF7FBD7D8DFB914B
Michael Robinson is an associate professor of political science at Catholic University. He has taught at numerous universities across the country after receiving his PhD and MA at the University of Michigan. In this specific piece, he exercised his expertise in examining the impact of media on the public image of different institutions. The results were indicative of media being fully capable of manipulating the thoughts of the public. It focused more specifically on the fact that entertainment styles of media – as they have no clear underlying motive as news sources and certain publications do – have the ability to impact more so as they influence a place of vulnerability. The evidence presented in the piece also shows the level of distrust in the public system as a whole that arises as a byproduct of dependency on news coverage. This goes to support the thesis that media and public opinions are interrelated and are ultimately reflections of one another.
Schien, Louisa, “Beyond Gran Torino’s Guns: Hmong Cultural Warriors Performing Genders.” Positions Asia Critique, vol. 20, no. 3, 2012, pp. 763-792, https://read.dukeupress.edu/positions/article/20/3/763/21622 , Accessed May 8 2018
This work was published originally in a book that was published by the Duke University, which would indicate that it is a fairly reputable source. It briefly touches upon the gender roles of the Hmong people in the film while drawing the majority of the attention to the roles of Hmong characters in relation to the caucasian protagonist. The role of masculinity is also discussed which brings up an additional contrast between American and Southeast Asian expectations of men. This aspect connects not only to the characters in Gran Torino, but to the general opinion of those in American. The racial conflation and dehumanization of Southeast Asian people is exemplified in this work, adding to the argument of the continuing existence of prejudice against Asians. The gender differences between the races illustrates the hypermasculinity in both cultures though it is displayed in different ways that highlight the stereotypes present at the time.
Selig, Michael, “What We Won’t Learn from the Hollywood-Style Vietnam War Film.” The Vietnam Generation Big Book. vol. 5, no. 1-4, 1994, http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Scholarly/Selig_Hollywood_02.html
Michael Selig is an associate professor in the department of visual and media arts at Emerson College. He has taught at many universities while also being published in numerous different academic outlets. This piece sheds light on many different aspects of media – specifically Hollywood film – and the way it portrays Asians. Most notably, it highlights a sort of “Asian menace” that had been instilled in the American public since the Vietnam War. The additional point being made which connects to the Gran Torino essay would be desensitization and dehumanization of the Other. As the Hollywood-style film is the one depicting the deindividuation of Asian – namely Vietnamese – people are highly responsive to this type of media. The message within the film is able to spread to all corners of the country which is reflective of how influential film can be.
Steuter, Erin and Deborah Wills, At War with Metaphor: Media, Propaganda and Racism in the War on Terror. Lexington, 2008.
Erin Steuter is a professor of sociology at Mount Allison University while Deborah Wills is a professor of English at the same institution. The varying perspectives of the humanities by the authors provides a broader perspective as to the humanistic impact of propaganda in times of war. This segment of the book serves to draw upon the tactics used in warfare by the media. It shows how metaphors are used to dehumanize the opposition. By applying one singular characteristic to an entire group, it is easier to view them as a singular enemy rather than individuals. The main argument is examined in greater depth on the sixth page as it expands on the greater impact of propaganda. As propaganda begins to dehumanize the opposition, it creates a greater divide amid the country. While the deindividuation runs rampant, people begin to dehumanize those in their own country and it cannot be stopped as quickly as it was starter. This connects to the Vietnam War as the propaganda used has continued to impact the American public to this day and worsened the racial divide.
Tognetti, Francesca, “Gran Torino: a foreign neighbourhood.” Altre Modernita: Rivista di studi letterari e culturali, 2009 https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/3177740.pdf Accessed 7 May 2018
Altre Modernita is a scholarly journal published once every six month by the University of Milan. This provides a more international perspective rather than a purely American one. The author, a graduate student at the time, focuses in on the progression of American suburbs as immigration occurs. She draws upon the idea that this “US melting pot seems to forge only bullets and guns” which can serve as a reflection of the American mindset towards immigrants after the Vietnam War. One of the primary metaphors Tognetti uses is the white fence that exists between the groups and when that boundary is breached by Tao, the idea of Other is able to be broken down. The parallel of social redemption between Tao and Walt is drawn which highlights the stereotypical faults of both racial groups. The piece is concluded with the symbolism behind the Gran Torino convertible which the film is named after as it serves as a representation for the American Dream. When Tao attempted to steal it at the beginning of the film, Walt was enraged, but ultimately sacrificed something more important than materialistic commodities.
Media coverage of the My Lai Massacre
Cookman, Claude, “An American Atrocity: The My Lai Massacre Concretized in a Victim’s Face.” The Journal of American History, vol. 94, no. 1, 2007, pp. 154-162 http://www.jstor.org/stable/25094784?casa_token=oDKVSLEHGKoAAAAA:FdqNtz3cr2kfkjVz-ngIGGkfwG_DwAx8X8ymzGiULlZZ39VfQVMymFe-QlE2OBDc4qcW7N_ulTJgMcFGdtooRSq7iakKA0fVyGxhNN4v_zpveRJp-MU&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Accessed 3 May 2018
Claude Cookman taught the history of photography at the time of writing as an associate professor at Indiana University. “He was an army officer in Vietnam when the My Lai massacre occurred.” This excerpt from the book goes into the details of the My Lai massacre and provides a unique perspective from someone who was involved in the war at the time. It goes into detail as to how the killings were covered up and would have remained that way had one of the officials not reported it to the Nixon administration. Ron Haeberle – an army sergeant at the time – is largely responsible for the level of international press that the event received. Cookman goes into the detail of the American reasoning for the mass murder and the events of the day. Many of the details included in the excerpt exhibit not only the level of disconnect from humanity that the soldiers experienced, but also the limited media coverage of the severity of events. The latter half of the piece focuses on the photographs ta ken and provides an insight from the perspective of the photographer which gives a more intimate view than oral recounts.
American Beauty and the romanticization of pedofilia in Hollywood
Forrest Gump and the intimate American influence from the Vietnam War