YMMV / Gran Torino

• Accidental Aesop: Don't associate with people just because they're family. Build a family with the people you like.
  • Walt can't stand his biological family for being self-absorbed cretins who only care about his possessions. But ultimately, he finds much healthier relationships with his Hmong neighbors who actually treat him with a smidgen of respect.
  • Thao and Sue, in turn, didn't think much of their father and are pushed around by their psychotic cousin. But ultimately, they find a better role model in Walt, who instills in the former a sense of work ethic.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Walt is not a bigot. He doesn't say anything to the Hmong that he wouldn't say to his best friend, or expect his best friend to say to him.
  • Is Walt a Mighty Whitey savior rescuing Thao and Sue, and the Hmong from a dangerous gang, or are Thao and Sue saving Walt from dying alone and bitter? It's not like it's a one-sided relationship, as both Walt and Thao help each other out in odd ways that neither of them would have expected before they met.
  • Are Walt's sons just entitled cretins who want to take Walt's stuff? Or are they men embittered with their father over his neglectful parenting?
• Award Snub: The film received critical acclaim when the American Film Institute named it as one of the ten best films of 2008 and made it onto the top 250 films list on IMDB. Number of Academy Award nominations? Zero.
• Awesome Music: Over the credits, Clint Eastwood sings about the movie's events. A song written by him no less!
• Base-Breaking Character: Walt Kowalski, especially regarding:
  • His status as a White Savior. Those who agree with the statement point to the ways in which he aids Thao in his Character Development by teaching him to act and speak like a stereotypical politically incorrect Grumpy Old Man as well as ultimately sacrificing his life to save the Hmong from the criminal gang, including dying in a very unsubtle Christlike pose that some viewers interpret as almost self-congratulatory in Clint Eastwood's regard. Those who disagree with the statement point to Walt's own Character Development, as his growing friendship with the Hmong is the center of the film's heart and aids in him overcoming his own prejudice and guilt, meaning Thao and Sue helped Walt just as much as he helped them.
  • His Racist Grandpa schtick. Some think it's funny because of how over-the-top and deliberately offensive it is while others think it promotes genuine racism, especially considering how Walt continues to use racial slurs even after developing stronger bonds with Thao and Sue. Even Bee Vang, Thao's actor, has expressed concern regarding the latter issue.
• Broken Base: While the choice to cast actual Hmong actors garnered positive reactions from both critics and real Hmong, the film's depiction of the Hmong community proved to be far more controversial. Experts and historians specializing in Hmong culture believe it's accurate or at least close enough (which Bee Vang originally believed) while people who are actually part of the Hmong community claim it's leaning more towards inaccurate (Vang's more recent opinion, even claiming some Hmong viewers found the inaccuracies offensive).
• Catharsis Factor:
  • After all the horrible things they've done, Spider and gang going to jail for Walt's murder certainly raised the spirits of the audience.
  • Walt cutting his family out of his will and giving his Gran Torino to Thao is definitely what they deserved for snubbing Walt and coveting his possessions.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Walt is so damn racist that it's hilarious. Especially when he starts teaching Thao to talk like him and gets Thao to learn the first lesson about talking like that is to know the guy involved or risk getting a shotgun pointed at you.
  • Thao's second attempt at talking like Walt, while not ending with a shotgun pointed at him, was equally ridiculous. You get the impression the kid was probably doing it just to mess with him.
    Thao: Boy does my ass hurt from all the guys on my construction job.
• Designated Villain: Subverted with Walt's kids and grandkids. Walt indicates regret when confessing to the Priest that he was never closer to his sons, but does not state that it's his own fault. On his final day, despite the effort he goes to tying up other loose ends, he doesn't bother to call anyone in his family. His grandkids clearly couldn't care less about him, but that's also likely because they see him as nothing other than a mean, judgmental old man who doesn't take any interest in their lives and thus feel no sense of obligation in return. On top of it all his sons are clearly close to their own children. On the other hand, Walt's wife was said to be loved by the community but at her funeral her grandchildren are apathetic and disrespectful. His son isn't much better, as he only calls him to ask if Walt can still get him tickets to a sporting event. Later on, when Walt calls him to talk to him he gets blown off. And when they try to put him in a nursing home it seems like genuine concern but odds are there was mostly an interest in gaining possession of the house. And when Walt dies and leaves the house to the church they are shown to be very irritated, despite it being what his late wife would have wanted (his son's wife even rolls her eyes when that part is read aloud).
• Genius Bonus:
  • Maybe too small to be a Shout-Out, but Walt's Accidental Misnaming of Youa as Yum-Yum might be a minor reference to The Mikado.
  • Walt's nurse is a Muslim woman. This alludes to the Detroit area has one of the largest concentrations of Muslim communities in the U.S.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Only a year later, another critically acclaimed movie would come out about a grouchy, recently-widowed old white guy bonding with a young Asian boy.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Walt, who's maybe a Racist Grandpa, but is haunted by memories of his Korean War experience, recently lost his wife and is hated by the rest of his own family.
  • Walt's family count. Consider what Walt said about how he regrets he was never closer to his sons, and how that almost implies Parental Neglect on his part. His family clearly couldn't care less about him any more, and the feeling is mutual, but his sons probably just wanted a father figure they never got, and the same for his grandkids, so it can be hard not to feel sorry for them too.
• Misaimed Fandom: While undoubtedly cool, Walt's threats and violence towards the local gang in the context of the film are shown as short-sighted and futile, as they don't discourage future attacks at all; that's only solved when the police get involved. Similarly, Walt himself spends much of the movie traumatized for his past violent deeds in the Korean War and aggressively yells down Thao when the boy expresses a desire to be like him. The film is ultimately a Deconstruction of the Action Hero that Eastwood embodies. Doesn't stop fans of the film from quoting Walt's Badass Boasts verbatim, though.
  • Additionally (and more troubling), Walt's line-crossing comments are popular among some actual racists who see his character as a Take That! to political correctness, unaware of the fact his Racist Grandpa shtick is not only somewhat of an act but one that drives most people away from him.
• Moral Event Horizon: Spider and his gang seem like typical young delinquents who are all talk at first. But they prove themselves to be absolutely vile creatures after attempting a drive-by shooting on Thao's house and then beating and raping Sue, Spider's own cousin.
• Narm:
  • Clint Eastwood singing came off as this to many people.
  • The pose Walt makes when he gets shot to death, with some obvious Jesus symbolism that might be a bit too on the nose.
  • A lot of the Hmong actors are clearly inexperienced and constantly give off flat deliveries.
• Nightmare Fuel: Spider and his gang are this all by themselves which is especially shocking since they terrorize their own relatives, of all people. See Moral Event Horizon for more.
• One-Scene Wonder: Kor Khue, the Hmong shaman, appears in only one scene, but leaves quite an impression by being able to read Walt like a book.
• The Scrappy: Walt's granddaughter, Ashley. She shows no respect during her grandmother's funeral, openly covets Walt's car in front of him, and refuses to help him prepare for the funeral.
• Signature Scene: The "get off my lawn" scene is by far the most frequently quoted and remembered part of the movie.

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