Another Look at "The Fast & Furious" (2001)

Lately I have been  watching the older "Fast and Furious" films available on Netflix. It is hard to believe that the first film in the franchise is now almost 18 years old. And so I wanted to take another look, and what I concluded was that there was good reason that this series took off, and that the first iteration was far from the idiotic film that I may have thought it was years ago.

I was mesmerized, or perhaps better said stunned, with my first look (this time around) on screen at the late Paul Walker. His eyes just glisten, in a most magical way. Watching this film gave me a new appreciation for a movie that was often dissed in 2001. Yes, it is about beautiful young women with long slender legs attired in scantily clad clothing. But the film almost paints the picture of a society in which race and class are normalized, as the quest here is for speed and respect. There is a spiritual element to this film, as reflected in a prayer before meals and the cross that Dom wears. It is about love -- not just between Brian and Mia and Dom and Letti.  Who can forget Dom holding a dying Jessie after the drive by? It is about evil, as expressed in the actions of Johnny Tran and his cousin Lance Nguyen. And indeed it is about breaking the rules.

Most significantly, it is also about cars -- mostly rice burners made very fast by NOS, but also about Dom's father's 1970 black Dodge Challenger -- American muscle.

At a time when we as Americans are so divided as to race and class, perhaps more of us should take that other look at the first version of "Fast and Furious." Yes, in the movie there are people who can be mean spirited, fearful, and divided. But there are good reasons to think that our younger Americans have the possibilities to realize that class barriers and skin color is not what is important. After all, it is what you do and how you do it!