Film Writing

Review of The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift Using the Sociological Imagination

In The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Sean Boswell, an American teenager with a long

record for street racing, is forced to move to Tokyo, Japan to evade arrest. Struggling to integrate

into this new society and cope with cultural shock, he finds himself entangled in the drifting

subculture. His interactions with Neela, a girl he quickly falls in love with, and Han, his drifting

mentor, help Sean discover his love for drifting. However, his accelerating performance in the

dangerous racing world grabs the attention of the Yakuza, the hegemonic institution that rules

the Tokyo underground. Confrontations with DK, Drift King, and the Japanese mafia force Sean

to race for a simple outcome: drift or die.

Symbolic interactionism is a main branch of social theory. Dalton Conley, author of

“You May Ask Yourself,” defines it as “a micro-level theory in which shared meanings,

orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions…[things]

which we take for granted as natural or self-evident, assigned meanings and values in different

cultural contexts”(Conley 35 and 144). To unpack this theory further, the objects, languages, and

environments we find ourselves, as individuals, interacting with, symbolize and mean certain

things. The way we interpret these things, and how we modify these meanings, guides us to act

and behave in specific ways. Symbolic interactionism is demonstrated clearly in the film, for

every aspect of the theory is present as the characters’ motivations unfold. The movie illustrates

the key principles of the theory as characters interact with each other in the dangerous drifting

subculture: the meanings one associates with their environment and languages direct their

interactions with society, the same thing can have a different meaning for different people, and

the meaning one gives something can change as they interact with the world around them.

To begin our application of sociological concepts to the fan-favorite movie, the

environment in which Sean interacts with is deeply rooted in symbolic interactionism. Sean finds

himself neck-deep in the drifting subculture that dominates the Tokyo underground. According

to Conley, a subculture is “a group united by sets of concepts, values, symbols, and shared

meaning specific to the members of that group distinctive enough to distinguish it from others

within the same culture or society” (Conley 94). For the drifting subculture, the shared meaning

behind the sport is the distinct characteristic that makes it unique and different from Japanese

culture in general. This environment, where all the action takes place, illustrates the crucial role

symbolic interactionism plays as we analyze The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. However, the

theory as defined by Conley, breeds at a more micro-level. To truly unveil these sociological

roots, we must analyze the symbolic interactions between individual characters.

The meanings characters associate with their environment and languages direct how they

behave and interact with the world and people around them. A perfect example is the word

“gaijin,” meaning “outsider” in Japanese, is a label given to both Sean and Neela. For Sean, his

interpretation of the word motivates him to act in a certain way; he spends the entire film

learning and perfecting the art of drifting so that he no longer is a “gaijin.” The term would mean

nothing significant to anybody else and, like many characters in the film, we would take it for

granted. However, for both Sean and Neela, the word means something entirely different and it

motivates both of them to behave in a way that might change their label and how society

perceives them. In the film, Neela explains her relationship with the word, “I hate that word. It’s

what they used to call me when I was a kid.” The way she interprets the language guided her

behavior as, theoretically, a child and in the film. She taught herself to drift so that society would

no longer see her as an “outsider.” The same meaning applies to Sean. He too falls under the

label and his actions work to get rid of the title. By the end of the film, Sean assumes a new label

after he wins his race against DK, as “The New Drift King.”

The same thing can have a different meaning for different people. This aspect of

symbolic interactionism is best illustrated by Sean and Han’s conflicting meaning of what it

means to “race.” In the drifting subculture, to “race” can mean a variety of different things to

different people. This crucial branch of the theory further informs our analysis of the film and is

illustrated perfectly in one interaction between Han and Sean. This interaction takes place before

Han and Sean have established a deeper relationship. As they drive, they talk about what a “race”

means to them individually. Sean describes it as a way to demonstrate dominance over others,

“to see if I’m better than the other guy.” Han’s interpretation and meaning differs significantly,

and obviously is the product of countless symbolic interactions between him, others, and society.

He offers Sean a different perspective, “what’s the point of a race? It just proves you’re faster,

that’s all. If I were to race, it’d have to be for something important. Or why else do it at all?” For

Han, a “race” has nothing to do with comparing greatness to others; he sees no point at all, unless

for an important outcome. This brief interaction between the two and what it means to “race”

illustrates how an understanding of symbolic interactionism informs a deeper analysis of the

film.

The final part of this theory as it’s exemplified in The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, is

the idea that the meaning we give something can change as we interact with the world around us.

This essential aspect of symbolic interactionism accounts for flexibility and cognitive

assimilation. It describes the reflective, introspective, and transformative nature of all members

in society. A brilliant example from the film is an interaction between Sean and Neela as they

drift down a mountain. The scene takes place towards the end of the film, and displays Sean’s

new interpretation on what it means to “drift.” As mentioned earlier, Sean’s initial meaning

behind a “race,” directly correlated with his meaning associated to “drifting,” symbolized

dominance. However, after symbolically interacting with Han and Neela, Sean’s perspective on

what it means to “drift” changes entirely. Neela begins the interaction with her associated

meaning, “it feels like everything else just disappears,” to which Sean responds with, “No past

and no future.” A brief pause and Neela concludes the crucial dialogue, “No problems. Just the

moment.” This incredible scene illustrates just how much the meaning we give something can

change as we interact with others. For both Neela and Sean, “drifting” now symbolizes

momentary peace and freedom. It symbolizes living in the moment, a meaning far from Sean’s

previously associated dominant interpretation. The symbolic interactions that motivate Sean’s

actions prior to the scene, have allowed change in what it means to “drift.”

The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, when watched with a tuned sociological imagination,

becomes a vibrant display of symbolic interactionism. Within the dangerous subculture, the

highlighted social interactions between characters illustrates the core aspects of the theory: the

meanings one associates with their environment guides their actions and relationships, the same

thing can have a different meaning for different people, and the meaning one gives something

can change as they interact with other members of society. This social theory, and its essential

parts, not only informs our deeper analysis of the film, but illuminates the importance of a

sociological imagination as we interact with the changing world around us. The way we act as

members of society depends on the meanings we give to things in our environment. A tuned

sociological imagination breeds a more open mindset, thus allowing us to change and adapt as

we interact with the beautiful cultures that make humans so special. Like Sean, something that

symbolizes dominance over others can gradually assume a more peaceful and freeing notion.

References

Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2015.

Lin, Justin, director. The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. Universal Pictures, Relativity Media,

June 16, 2006

Symbolic Interactionism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-

sciences/symbolic-interactionism