Gran Torino

«Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with?» Clint Eastwood’s character says to some hooligans who are about to beat up a girl. “Well that’s me”, he adds before he pulls up his gun.

Gran Torino is a movie about redemption and helping others. It tells the story about a man named Walt Kowalski, a cranky old retired Korean War veteran, who recently lost his wife. The movie focuses on the relationship Walt develops with his Hmong neighbours. Walt literary and figuratively saves the life of the boy next door, Thao.

The centre piece of the film is Walt’s Gran Torino, which symbolizes his greatness. To Thao, the boy Walt lends a helping hand to, the car is the very turning point of his life because trough failing to steal the car Thao gets to know Walt. Walt’s turning point in the movie is hard to decide, but the scene where he lends his car to Thao for his date, is a great example of Walt’s change. This shows that Walt truly cares about Thao, since he is willing to let Thao use something that he nearly looks upon as holy. It is also Thao who inherits the car in the end, and not a family member. Some may think of it as strange, but really it just shows the significance Thao had to Walt. It was Thao and his family who showed Walt the joys in life after his wife’s death.

As Walt gets to know Thao and his family, especially Thao’s sister Sue, he realises that he has more in common with his neighbours than his own family. This is probably because Walt relates more to their tradition and values than to the typical American society. He can’t stand the way his grandchildren and other teenagers behave, especially towards the elderly, while the Hmong people are much more “old fashioned” that way.   

In the end Thao, Sue and their family have made a greater impact on Walt then they realise as Walt ends up sacrificing his life in order to help them. He sees this as the only solution to get the gang away from Sue and Thao so that they have the opportunity to get away and start a better life. Walt might be right as it seems like his actions made Sue and Thao reconsider the value of life.

Gran Torino is a great movie with an important message and filled with inspiration. Not only does Gran Torino illustrate the importance of helping others, but it also paints a picture of a basic culture crash and communication problems. Walt has problems at first understanding the Hmong culture, but as he gets to know his neighbours he understands that in a way they are no different than him.

I think that’s very important, that in a world which is so connected in so many levels we have to keep an open mind, because for all we know the neighbours with the funny accent and the strange clothes are no different than us.

Sources:

http://filminsight.net/2009/07/04/gran-torino-help-your-comfort-zone

http://old.studvest.no/kultur.php?seksjon=anmeldelser&art_id=10544

http://annmic.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/gran20torino.pdf

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205489/

PS! If you want to learn more about the hmong people, read this article.

The fourth estate

This week is economic week at Sandvika High School. The students listen to lectures about everything from Facebook to stocks. Today we listened to a lecture about social media, which is very important in marketing today. We learned about how social media has changed the very principals of marketing and has introduced a whole new set of thinking when it comes to communication between seller and buyer.

Before it used to be the companies who decided what the costumers should know about them, they were the ones supplying people with information. The information was imparted through newspapers, radio and television. But as the society and technology developed the internet was invented, and a whole new world of communication and information opened for a new and more creative thinking. We have the opportunity to be active in the marketing, we can decide what information we want to read and we can impart selected data further.

For the younger generations social media is the main platform where we gather and share information. A clear example of this is how the teenagers on Utøya used networks like Facebook and Twitter to keep friends and family updated on the situation on the island during the 22^nd of July this summer.

Up to this date the internet is the most important source of information for the majority, and social media the most powerful informer. The power lies in the hand of the costumer, and corporations are challenged to find creative ways to reach out to us.  It is a reason for why we call the media the fourth estate.  

Source:

Cecilie Staude 

Dunglish

As the English language has been spread all over the world, it is only natural that dialects and variants of the language have emerged. The dialects and variants are a result of grammar and pronunciation mistakes because of the differences in languages. Dunglish is good example of this as it has been formed by a collision of Dutch and English.

Dunglish first occurred as “Coal English” early in the 20^th century as the Dutch port workers had to communicate with the crew on English coal ships that came with supplies to The Netherlands. “Coal English” is today known as the poorest variant of English. The Dutch have a tendency to translate words and sentences directly from Dutch to English, without taking order and meaning of words in consideration. This can cause misunderstandings like the former Dutch ambassador and prime minister Dries van Agt made, he supposedly once said: “I can stand my little man”, when he actually meant to say “I can stand up for myself.” The reason for this error was that Dries van Agt directly translated the Dutch proverb “Ik kan mijn mannetje staan”, a Dutch idiom meaning roughly “I can stand up for myself”.

One of the main reasons why the Dutch speak English badly is because the languages don’t follow the same word order. The English language has a SVO sentence order, while Dutch has a V2 sentence order. This makes many Dutch speakers use incorrectly syntax in English, which can create errors like “What you mean?” instead of “What do you mean?”

The Dutch are also known for having a bad pronunciation as they struggle with distinguishing between sounds in the English language. In Dutch they don’t distinguish between [æ] and [e], making it hard for Dutch speakers to pronounce words like bad. Luckily the Dutch have improved their language skills as a result of globalization. 

Sources: 

http://www.dunglish.nl/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunglish