"Am I Worthy?": The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Any discussion of The Fast and the Furious movies tends to lean in one of two directions. Some reviewers say, “These movies are so stupid, I can’t belive anyone still watches them!” While most everyone else says, “These movies are so stupid, I can’t wait to watch the next one!” Here you will get no arguments against the common denominator that the world of the series, the dialog, the stories, and at times even the characters are less than intelligent.
However, there must be a reason that two decades after the original film they’re still producing them and people are still watching. Okay, they’re still making them because these movies pull in billions of dollars worldwide. Nevertheless, if they truly are as stupid as even their most ardant fans admit, no one would show up for Dominic Toretto’s family reunions.
Could there be something more going on beneath the surface of fast cars, furious men, and half-naked women? Yes. There are truths as old as Story itself and lessons as applicable to a nursery rhyme as a blockbuster.
Going back to the original 2001 movie, the first thing we learn about Paul Walker’s undercover cop Brian O’Connor is that he wants to be a better driver. The why doesn’t matter, because we understand that will be established later. We all know what it means to want something, he wants this. We get it. And he’s not great (which is openly discussed later), so he’s got a flaw and room to grow.
The next thing we learn is that he likes tuna on white bread, no crust. I think this serves two purposes: one, it shows us how safe, plain, and bland O’Connor is. He’s a fish out of water in a world where Vin Diesel’s Dom is cracking his first Corona before noon. But two, like his white t-shirts (in contrast to Dom’s black sleeveless shirts), it establishes his purity.
Yes, I’m reading a lot into this. But every decision was deliberate and designed to add layers to our main character.
At his first street race, though, things really start to get interesting. After showing off his car he asks, “Am I worthy?” In real life no would ever say this. Even in the movie it comes off as a little out of place, better suited to an historical epic or medieval fantasy. Paul Walker deserves credit, though, for delivering the line with total sincerity. For all the modern trappings, the music, the fashion, the CGI, this is actually a very old story in a new setting.
We will see how the franchise evolves over time in response to changing attitudes in the popular culture. However, in the early 2000’s the men are still Men and the women are still Women, without apology or exception. Even Michelle Rodriguez, forever and always typecast as a “tough girl,” is still a girl. Not as a feminine as Dom’s sister and Brian’s love interest, Mia (Jordana Brewster), she’s the rough and tough counterbalance to Dom’s hypermasculinity.
Traditional gender roles still exist and are accepted. The women are allowed to be as beautiful as the men are dangerous. No, it’s not done in a way that’s anything remotely classy, arguably drifting too far into the tawdry. Yet considering how far we’ve come, with action movies filled with androgonis women and melancholy men, what was unremarkable in 2001 is noteworthy now.
Dominic Toretto is the unelected king of his crew, and Brian is looking for a tribe. At Dom’s picnic table exists a hierarchy and rituals that come back again and again over years. Anyone is welcome at the table, but his place must be earned. We get the sense that Brian is an outsider from the moment we see him alone in his car early in the film, and every man, whether he realizes it or not, is searching for a place to belong. Why does Brian want to be a better driver, and why does he care if he’s worthy? So that he can have a place at the table.
Men understand this. It’s primal.
In Dom’s world Brian finds a place where honor, respect, and (yes) family are valued. Dom lives his life a quarter mile at a time, but he works hard to earn everything he has. Compare that with Brian’s experience in relation to his fellow law enforcement officers. The older men take advantage of their position, slurping cappuccinos in unearned luxury. The young men make disrespectful comments about Mia, causing Brian to explode.
The love interest brings out the hero’s true essence.
After that everything starts falling into place. Brian knows where his allegiance is, not with established order, but with the honorable thieves. But it’s not that easy. Ultimately, Brian is faced with an impossible choice. Once he has proven himself worthy of Dom’s respect, earned his place in the tribe, and won Mia’s affection, is he willing to sacrifice everything and reveal his true identity as a cop? And to make that sacrifice to save his enemy?
Our hero cannot live a lie, and certainly not at the expense of another’s life, even that of his antagonist. Brian proves himself worthy of the tribe only by voluntarily leaving it. As a final gift and token of respect he allows Dom to escape with his car, knowing there will be professional consequences. Now he is once again a man without a home, but he has found in himself a nobility he didn’t know he possessed.
Notice that I don’t mention the plot, the DVD players, the Asian mafia, armed truckers, or street races. All those things are incidental to the story of a young man looking for a place to belong.
So is this a stupid movie? No doubt. Yet despite that, there are notes, no matter how muffled by the roaring engines and overwrought dialog, that resonate deep within us. It’s amazing what you can get away with when your story touches the deep truths.
