Timeline for When your main character is a misogynist or a racist, how do you tell your readers that you don't subscribe to his racist views by merely showing?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
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| Jan 25, 2023 at 18:13 | comment | added | computercarguy | We also can't forget that Walter isn't the only person to use racist/bigoted language in the movie. There's plenty of it from the gangs and various other people in and around the neighborhood. Even calling gardening "women's work" is used as a derogatory phrase, which Hmong characters used several times. | |
| Jan 25, 2023 at 18:10 | comment | added | computercarguy | Yep, like when Walter was trying to teach Thao "how a man talks" in the barbershop, language was used as an offhand reference, rather than as specifically racist. The scene where Walter rescues Sue from the abusive kids on the street on her "date" was used as shock value to show Walter wasn't scared by them, too. But Walter also used derogatory terms I'm not familiar with when meeting his neighbors at the BBQ, too. He used far less of it negatively as the movie progressed, like when he affectionately called Sue "Dragon Lady". Context is king in this movie. | |
| Jan 25, 2023 at 17:28 | comment | added | hszmv | @computercarguy, Also, keep in mind that Walter is very much a dynamic character. The relationship isn't him teaching a kid, but the kid teaching him as well. Additionally, the film gets a lot of humor from Walter's use of language as shock value. It's kind of like in "Blazing Saddles" where the humor isn't so much the language, but the over the top way it's used. | |
| Jan 25, 2023 at 16:05 | comment | added | computercarguy | that "bit of horror" can go 2 ways, in that he can also see just how far apart from his kids he has become. After watching the movie again, I'm not sure where I got the part about the tire change, since it wasn't in the version I saw last night. And yes, Walter lets fly with all kinds of racist slurs, and much of it is specifically to be antagonistic. Other times those slurs are to be harmless or even endearing banter, so context plays a big role. It's definitely a mixed bag. I also have racist family, and they aren't capable of the "endearing" use of slurs. | |
| Jan 25, 2023 at 12:16 | comment | added | hszmv | @computercarguy Your not wrong, Eastwood's character isn't supposed to be be an out and out monster, but to a modern audience someone who casually uses those words in their intended meaning is going to come off as racist. And I have family that acts like Walter and they are racist. They aren't violent about and they aren't incapable of learning proper terms. However, Walt's hatred of his neighbors is steeped in his time in the Vietnam war and a lot more personal than any other displays. The line about how much they have in common is said with a bit of horror. | |
| Jan 24, 2023 at 20:19 | comment | added | computercarguy | (cont) Eastwood's character more dislikes the actions/lack of home maintenance than the actual people. It definitely comes off as disliking the people, though. He also admits that he and his neighbors are more alike than he thought, which no racist I've ever met would admit. I'm going to rewatch the movie tonight to see if I'm just making excuses for his character, but it seems more like a "crotchety man" with a literal side of "get off my lawn" than a racist. He's definitely angry in general, like you say. | |
| Jan 24, 2023 at 20:14 | comment | added | computercarguy | Maybe I'm seeing the movie through Caucasian colored glasses, but Eastwood's character isn't intentionally racist. He helps a black family change a tire and when he makes a racist slur, they correct him and he accepts the criticism. True racists wouldn't have even helped that family and they wouldn't have accepted the criticism if they decided to stay. Granted, he does give off the racist vibe, but it's also an "old man of old ways not keeping up with current trends" vibe. He also helps repair his neighbor's houses and yards, more with "keeping up the neighborhood" than a racist would do. | |
| Jan 23, 2023 at 13:18 | history | answered | hszmv | CC BY-SA 4.0 |