Great movie except for the actors. I also learnt a lot of new racial slurs! :)

Does anyone think there is a connection between Walt's guilt over the shallow relationship with his sons and his mission to make sure Thao had a chance to have a gang-free life?

And finally … remember the comedy "All in the Family"? It was a great vehicle for motivating television watching Americans to rethink their values – while they laughed until they cried.

But I think this is a superficial debate and doesn't speak to the heart of Walt's character.

Point of fact – true racists are cowards (i.e. KKK wearing hoods and doing their evil at night). And to see someone hurling epithets and slurs at gangsters right in front of their faces doesn't smack of racism to me. It has to be called something else – it's bringing something out into the open and exposing punks for who they are. And that to me is compelling.

And perhaps to illustrate my point, if it had been someone of the stature of Morgan Freeman acting the part of Walt taking on a group of white punk gangsters, I'd have been cheering for him.

So, the bottom line is whether Clint's portrayal encourages or discourages racism. And the message from this movie that gets hammered home in my mind is if you intend to use those words you better be ready to back it up and not run and hide behind anything or anyone. (Granted, he needed the gun to get Sue out of her scrape – but in the end, I think my point is proven – you better be willing to pay the ultimate price.) You have to understand what you're getting yourself into. You have to be a man of substance.

To a large extent, I believe this use of language is Walt's way of saying "If you want my respect, you have to earn it" – he's using the language not as an end in itself, but as a means to an end: "It's just me – are you man enough to stand up to me without your punk friends behind you?"

But yeah, a complex topic, and a whale of a movie – I loved it.

Walt's continuous use of slurs may simply be indicative of his stubborn and inbred nature. Yet clearly his actions show a transformation in character. Calling Walt's sacrifice a "cop-out of sorts" is very troubling. Does Walt not show his deep, genuine care and love for the family through this and various other actions during the film?

At one point, Walt jokes how the kids would like their dog cooked when he has them over for a barbeque……clearly Walt's sense of humor, and not ill-willed. In fact Sue counters at another point, joking about Walt being the 'White Devil.' To take insult in Walt's later useage of slurs would mean taking insult in Walt's relationship with his barber.

I think Walt has more than a mere "affection" for the Hmong family. The fact that he goes from resenting the family based on his own prejudicial nature to forming this special bond with them that comes out of the film is an understanding in human nature.

It is not that I believe Clint's character is insincere in his affection for his Asian neighbors, it's that I don't believe having an affection for one family automatically grants him absolution. At the end of the film I was of the opinion we were to assume he had achieved some level of redemption by what I perceived to be a cop-out of sorts, a cop-out on life and confronting his demons by basically committing suicide.

As for his continuing use of racial slurs he doesn't even make a conscious effort to change, yet I (as an audience member) am supposed to believe he has changed. Sure, there is regret, but the regret has always been there and I believe it is just fuel for his hatred. No one wants to regret something they were ordered to do and to have to be confronted by what has caused you so much pain on a daily basis in the form of your neighbors can't be much better. However, his change (in my mind) was minimal. Sure, I can applaud him for it, but I don't think it makes the film that much better.

There is sympathy to be had and this may in fact just be a case of "walk a mile in their shoes" but I just didn't buy into it.

You did, as did every commenter here who disagrees with me, I can see how that may be. I just thank you for doing it in a way that doesn't attack and actually opens up the lines of discourse.

By the way, I talk about this all a little more in my recent comparison of this movie to John Wayne's The Searchers. You may find it interesting.

This is a nice discussion we're having here, and I think its an important one.

I grew up in a mostly white middle class suburb in the Northeast and the only real exposure I had to cultural diversity was the 'white guilt' that was pounded into my head in school, on TV, etc. (and this is during the much more PC late 80s/early 90s) An early memory that sticks with me was hearing one of my elderly great-aunts causally describe a person as "colored." I was just a kid, and I lashed out and caused a scene at a family BBQ, calling my poor old aunt a racist, etc. She was a sweet, little 90 year old Holocaust survivor who was clearly hurt by this wrath of anger directed at her by a child. But, according to what I had been taught, people who use such words were supposed to be evil KKK lynchers, so how could I have responded differently?

When I was older, I moved to a city and got a job where most of co-workers happened to be black or hispanic. It was an awkward experience at first. And it was awkward not because of any actual differences between us as human beings (hey, every individual one meets is "different" in one way or another, whether it's personality quirk, an accent, a background, a cultural practice – whatever); rather, whatever barriers existed between us came from being my being indoctrinated with an abstract PC perception that lumped "minorities" together as victimized groups. Now, imagine my confusion as I observed the banter between different races in the heat of a hectic night in a busy restaurant jokingly tossing around every racial slur I had been attuned to loath? Sure enough, when do you think I realized I fit in? Yep, once I actually became friends with folks of different races and cultures as individuals and we could poke fun at each other, much like Clint and his barber buddy swap nasty insults. Now, Brad, you say that you don't believe Clint's character is sincere in his affection for his Asian neighbors because he still calls them 'Goooks.' Now, it would be one thing if they repeatedly asked him to stop using those terms and he continued. However, what I particularly like about the Mong family is that they're secure enough in their cultural, and individual, identities to ignore some silly words from a bitter old man. And, to see a 1st generation immigrant like Thao invited to exchange racial insults with two old white guys of European heritage strikes me, oddly enough, as a rather touching statement of cultural progress.

Let me put it this way: imagine 100 years ago, a room full of white, privileged French, English and German Aristocrats playfully needling one another with endless ethnic and regional stereotypical barbs – frogs this! limeys that! krauts this! – and tell them that their great-grandchildren might one day be on similar friendly terms with all manner of the supposed barbarian savages of the world?

I disagree with your touch points. I believe that this movie hits on areas that many people are afraid of talking about. Yes, the abundant use of racial slurs was overwhelming, but that was part of the character – which is REALITY among many folks whom are much older. Unfortunately, THAT was the way of life back then.

I think the point was that it is hard to break people out of habits that have existed for decades. It seems that it was not a feel good "all inclusive" sensitive view that you were looking for with the favorable ending that bridges some gap.

I also believe that the movie outlines the issues surrounding communities congested with ONE particular group, and self-segregation. Changing landscape is a major issue in many major metroplexes. I think that Gran Torino addresses the rapid changes going on and the lack of ability to define "what AMERICAN" is anymore these days…….

To anyone that ever debates me on this issue, I always ask them "What is American" these days. That I believe was another major point of the movie. The racial slurs, like it or not, was a part of that character. But I do not believe that your grade of a C+ warrants the movies genius AT ALL! I give it an A-

You also say you don't think he believes what he says, this is obviously a different point of view between the two of us. I am of the opinion he believes everything he says and you do not. It is where we will differ and it can't really be disputed since it can be argued both ways.

I will say this, I give the film credit for opening a line of dialogue, something I do believe raises any film above average, which is exactly where my grade places it. However, you obviously would have graded it higher and I completely understand your reasoning, I just don't agree.

Hey Bart, I've been attacked because I was white before. So maybe if his fist had been coke; I would have a different opinion, no? That's a joke by the way. Except for the first part. So no, It would not change my opinion of the word. And I would also say, no; the (f) word you used didn't effect me. Because I was responding to your points, not the word. – Except for my confusion about whether or not you were aloud to use it.

And to both you and Brad (the author) I'd like to say that I think his character isn't serious – yes I mentioned it before, but Brad asked what one thing in a barber shop has to do with the things said while pointing a loaded gun. I'd say that 'old school' is the key term you used. He's an SOB; and where and when he grew up; that's how people spoke, whether they believed what they were saying or not. So its engrained in him. But that doesn't mean he believes what he says, if the point is to offend someone – he knows how to do it. If it's to joke with his friends: well, then he knows how to do that to. And that's all he knows. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. When I say you didn't 'get' it, that doesn't mean that I don't think you understood the point of the film. You know that right?

Words can have powerful associations that you couldn't understand unless you walked a mile in someone elses shoes. How many people have thrown Coke in your face while you were walking down the street and yelled 'Kracker' at you? Maybe if that happened to you a few times you wouldn't like the word 'Kracker' very much?

I used the word 'Fucker' to illustrate how powerful racial slurs can be – and I believe I got the point across given your reaction to my naughty language. No hard feelings – I just wanted to get my point across.

Walt shouldn't have continued using racial slurs if he understood how offensive they might be to his new friends. It's obvious that Walt isn't racist – but if he were my neighbor / friend I wouldn't let him call my kids 'Gook' etc.

Some of you seem to believe I didn't "get" what the movie was about and that I wasn't paying attention. The reason I bring up Walt's racial slurs is because we are supposed to believe he has changed by the end of the film. And change he has, but only in terms of one family. I was not able to have any sympathy for him because I believe he still has "racist" feelings toward all minorities.

It has been brought up that he was ordered to go into Korea and he won a medal for it, but what does that have to do with the language he used when talking to the two black kids messing with Sue and her "boyfriend"? The answer, nothing, Walt is just an old school racist and he knows it and no, he isn't altogether bad, but the film was lost on me once we were asked to have sympathy for his character. Sorry, I just couldn't do it.

Also, I think comparing Walt's language toward the Asians in the film to the way he spoke to his barber is the wrong way of looking at it. I understand the difference between a joke and an insult and his bantering back and forth with the barber was not the same as pointing a gun at someone, telling them to get off your lawn and calling them every derogatory word in the book.

Point is… I didn't think Walt had changed at the end and for that reason I didn't buy into the film. The language he uses is the major sign in my eyes as it was featured so prominently throughout the entire film. Had it been kept to a minimum I am sure I would have had a different reaction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JeDhV1RfWM

It doesn't strike you as odd when Walt isn't affected by the 'Pollack' comments all of his friends make? Grow up.

Why don't I call all of you fuckers? Why should you be offended by that word? Don't be so damn sensitive right? Just throw it right back at me… When I hear the words "Jap", "Nigger", "Slope" etc. it's akin to someone calling someone else a fucker – it's just not acceptable.

If Eastwood continues talking about his neighbors with racial slurs at the end of the movie it's akin to him calling them fuckers – very disrespectful.

Squareheaded Texan