My Take on Gran Torino

Due to the fact that Walt uses the same racial slurs for the Hmong even after it is clear he loves Thao, I don't feel that Walt was very racist to begin with. I feel that Walt simply had a lack of respect for his neighbors because of assumptions he made. Walt could see that the Hmong did not take good care of their property, and he could see the Hmong gang causing trouble. What Walt could not initially see is the love for family displayed by the Hmong. Walt could only see what was on the outside, and I feel that would cause anybody to have a negative image of his Hmong neighbors, regardless of race.

I feel that here in the United States, people in general are more open to communication with somebody who seems similar to themselves in some way, whether it be the same race, same interests, or same values. I would assume this is fairly universal world wide, but if a AUD student would like to enlighten me to a different situation in that part of the world, I'd like to hear it.