Warning: spoilers included in post! If you haven’t seen Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, you should. In the midst of movie hype from plenty of inferior entertainment comes a movie with old school charisma. We were waiting to see the friendly racist savior named Walt Kowalski.

Or should I call him “Dirty Wally.” Gran Torino could be a film about the retirement of Dirty Harry…except for the ending. And maybe even the ending is something Dirty Harry would do just so the bad guys wouldn’t win. Though I can’t help thinking it would have gone down differently with his itchy trigger finger.

What’s remarkable about Gran Torino is that I don’t think it could have been made by anyone but Clint Eastwood and I’m not sure it would have been this well received back in the nineties or even the eighties. The time was ripe for this story to be told.

That’s because the character humor is very much racial, though in my opinion not racist. Yes, there are definitely racist jokes, names, and insults, but we get to see into the heart of Wally; and while he’s certainly grumpy and stuck in his ways he seems to have quite a bit of love to give. He just doesn’t want to look like a ”pussy” doing it.

You might say Gran Torino is the tough guy’s Archie Bunker. Racism can be about hatred and it can be about ignorance. Archie Bunker was always ignorant but I don’t think he was about hatred. Otherwise, why did we find the character so endearing.

Walt Kowalski is the same way. His ignorance shows, but he obviously cares about his fellow man regardless of race. All it takes is for someone to kick back his insults, like the character of Sue Vang Lor, and talk to him on his level instead of dismissing him as simply “another old racist.” After all, the ones he insults the most seem to be his best buddies (witness the scenes with his barber where he calls him every racist slur in the book, or his construction foreman buddy).

We don’t justify Walt’s racist’s attitudes by embracing his character. And I know that’s hard to understand for the politically correct crowd. I know there was confusion at times with the theater audience around me. Many of them didn’t know if it was alright to laugh or not. I believe racial humor can actually bring us together by poking fun of our differences. Racism is reserved now for KKK clowns and the old guard that would prevent other races than white to succeed. It is buffoonish and antiquated in an America that is progressing forward with the first black president.

The surprise ending of the film is what ultimately saves Walt from his racism. He makes it clear that he cannot look at a certain race as all the same people. Otherwise, why would he give his life for Thao and Sue so they could live in peace? Race becomes blurred and individuals come into view. Walt recognizes individuals, it’s part of his American heritage to do so.

It’s a great film. I can’t say enough good things about Gran Torino. Go to see it for one last Clint Eastwood vigilante film that is less of an action film and more about friendship and the end of racial separation.

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