Protection: Clint Drives the Gran Torino

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I have just finished watching the Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino, and find myself in a conflict. Living in Puerto Rico where homeowners with guns are not common, I see this vigilante figure in a comforting light. I know it's surprising because I am a known peace lover and I strongly resist the illegitimate use power. And yet my character has a conflict; I discovered this years ago when I was in the Navy. I realized that many people need protection because of various reasons- lack of education on the offender or offended side, misunderstood cultural and social differences, and many other reasons...the truth is that some people who have power are power-drunk.

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[Photo note: Aunt Wynoka Hicks (Dad's sister), Richard A. Pittmann, Sr. (Dad), Susan G. Pittmann Doleto (Mom). Aunt Wynoka has a black eye from her husband. Dad feels protective here with his arms around both women during a seasonal visit to Dad's family (back home) in Banner Springs,Tennessee. You can see the little bit of Cherokee that runs in our family on on the faces of Aunt W. and Dad-especially the eyes.]

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These individuals (and sometimes groups) haven't developed their ability to have compassion for unknown (or know) others. I've seen strangers, friends, and families in this powerful vs. powerless dynamic. Sometimes, it's expressed as a harmful act of will, a compassionate-less decision, or violence.

Have you seen this film, Gran Torino? Confession: I'm suffering from both projection and transference (forgive my psycho- babble) when it comes to this icon like man and this character, Walt; he shares a lot of behavior, and attitude traits with my father. I read that the story has a simple (simplistic?) plot, but I cannot agree. Clint's character is realistically placed in a Midwest house on a block undergoing a population change, and in my experience it resonates as historically and socially true.

I grew up around guns and I learned to handle a rifle in my early teens, which is when I noticed my own value conflict. My father was a hunter; I was against hunting; though, I shot pumpkins carefully balanced on fence post with a 22 caliber rifle. I also shot a BB gun in the backfield with my brother and cried over the occasional bird he and our cousins would shoot. "C won't let you shoot birds...you can't even burn a spider when she's around," Richie would tell his buddies. He was both proud and amused at my 'animal protector' stance. My younger brother, Richie, "my Buddie", I sometimes called him, would occasionally hang out with me. As an outdoor type "tomboy", I valued his friendship. I think he felt a lot of pressure to be "powerful" like our dad. He was wild and controlled by his temper; and yet, he was sweet and took care of me. too. In anger, his face would turn red, and it spread all the way to his ears. I would hold him down until he promised that he wouldn't go crazy and hit the offending person -sister, usually. I would release him when his ears returned to their normal color. He hated to be teased; and being the youngest and sole boy in a family of girls, we couldn't help playing pretty girl dress-up and re-naming him "Regina Sue"-as all four girls were middle-named Sue after our mother. My brother's actual name was Richard Alfred, Jr. as he was named after our father. Do you remember that Johnny Cash song "A boy named Sue?" (video posted below) It took on a special significance in our house.

My father gave me a feeling of strength and confidence in a distant and safe manner. He was respected as a powerful authority in our home, "Just wait until your dad gets home" were the dreaded words of my childhood. When I was about 14 years old, he changed. He gave up the throne of discipline. Both social and family life had changed, it was the 70's and Mom became a "women's libber" as did her girls. I suppose the gender role shift impacted Dad, too because he did not want to be the corporal "arm of justice" in our house anymore. But the imprint of a father's power stayed with me. And this father power-surprisingly found it's way into me when my children were born. I identified with his strength and became strong in that protective manner.

Yet, I must acknowledge that my mother had that fierce fight-for-the-underdog-sense but it was directed to society more than family. In my case, my own will to forcefully protect came as an instinct after having children. Hurt my children and you will have hell to pay. Now, I know this is mostly and emotional feeling because I am law-abiding. It's just that I feel a fierceness in me, a kind of uncompromising protective quality when it comes to children, my students, my rescued dogs. I use words and will for my battles, but I see the connection with Walt's attitude. I also know that it is just this over-man attitude that was the operative emotional force that allowed our neighbor, Brooks to murder my own mother. (click on sidebar, mother's murder, if you want to read about this tragic event.) I hope that people will use words instead of violence to settle disputes but rationality is a learned thought-habit; whereas, violence is an emotional reflex. When will we as a society learn to use both judgement and compassion in our conflict negotiations?

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Back to the movie: A bit of a plot summary is necessary here: the unfriendly Korean Vet Walt, instinctively protects his Hmong neighbors who are threatened by a local gang, and in gratitude they make him a hero. He despises the heroic yoke but to no avail. The community continues to bring him gifts of food and flowers. Eventually, he befriends the intelligent neighbor girl and takes on her brother as his protege. He teaches the teenager how to fit into male culture in the United States. Okay, here is where many take offense but I know the exact type of person he is portraying. Factory workers who celebrate being a man's man. I was related to them. Also, I admire strength of all kinds so I have patience with this kind of person. Walt's language is peppered with racial, gender, and cultural slurs. Did I miss anything? He is offensive but in the way that I know and understand. Underneath his foul language resides a code of honor. A code that says, I will not let the underdog be violated. Walt discovers that he has more in common with the struggling neighbors than he has with his own family. We see them from his perspective: Silly, well established in the material world, and weak.

'Gran Torino' Stills - Photo Gallery on Yahoo! Movies





I am not going to ruin the conclusion because the movie is relatively new and many of you may not have seen it yet. However, I will contend that the ending is true to life. As I mentioned earlier, my father underwent a similar transformation in his attitude towards violence and prejudice. Now that both of my parents are gone, I so miss having a Protector (in the form of a person) in my life. I will leave you with Johnny Cash and "A Boy Named Sue."