Outside class June 25

I watched “Gran Torino,” the other day and wasn’t sure how much I would like it. It starts off at Clint Eastwood’s character at his wife’s wedding. At once you could tell what a big part of the story was going to be. This was the contrast in the lifestyles of the younger generation to the older “War in Vietnam” generation. It shows some of his grandkids goofing off, even a child wearing a football jersey to the funeral, obviously angering Eastwood. Also, a big part of this story was racism towards Asian people that was very evident of soldiers in the Vietnam War. Eastwood actually lives in a neighborhood were mostly all of the White people moved out and has turned into an Asian community. To much of my surprise Eastwood actually realizes, through a series of events with his neighbors and other people in the community, that all of the kids from the younger generation aren’t as bad as he thought. Also, he ends up respecting their Asian neighbors’ traditions and lifestyle. He eventually ends up giving his life up to help the neighbor boy from a gang that has been harassing him and raped his sister.
I think this story is an excellent portrayal of some if not most of the soldiers that fought in this war. I’ve been at the local VFW and American Legion and seen the same characteristics as Eastwood in the beginning of this movie. It is nice to see such a drastic change in a character you think is going to be as static as possible, and I strongly recommend anyone who reads this to see this movie. I know I might have ruined it a little bit, but the fun part is seeing what events take place in order to change such a strong character.