I have always been a fan of the Fast and Furious series since I was a kid. Now that I am in the adult life category, I feel that there are many lessons to be learned from this serious. The values of family and respect run strong in the high octane series, especially since the death of Paul Walker who plays Brian O’Conner, one of the main characters of the series.
One of the first lessons to be learned from the fast and furious is that family comes first. From the first movie “The Fast and The Furious,” to the most recent film, “The Fate of The Furious,” Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel has stuck tight to his family. Sometimes referred to his family or his crew, anytime he needed a team he called the same people. Roman, Han, Gisele, Leddy, Mia, Tej, Tego and Rico, always received the call to go on the mission. It is common to see at some point in the movie, the family or crew sitting around an outdoor table blessing the food. A repeated scene, the first to eat says grace. Time and time again we hear Dominic Toretto say “you never turn your back on family.” I feel that this was never stressed more than in the ending scene of Fast 7 where the bid farewell to Paul Walker.
On November 30th, 2013 Paul Walker died in a high speed car crash in Los Angeles, California. In unfortunate irony, he did say “if the speed kills me, do not cry because I was smiling.” The speed did unfortunately kill him. But nothing struck me more than in the final scene, when Dominic Toretto says, “you’ll always be with me, and you will always be my brother.” I feel that there is so much to learn from this quote. Over the past 15 years that the movie was made, Dominic didn’t just find a co-worker, he found a brother. He found someone to paddle through life with, someone to make, family. The second lesson to be taught just from this quote is, to never take anyone or anything for granted. When you live life a quarter mile at a time like these two did, it is hard not to take things for granted. Fast cars, twin turbos, in line direct injection engines to name a few. But a friendship, like this, is one that is invaluable, unforgettable and most definitely not something to take for granted.
The last lesson to learn from the fast and furious series, is that there is no such thing as goodbye. Referring back to that last scene in “Fast 7,” as Dominic gets up to leave, another character asks him, “you aren’t going to say goodbye?” He responds “It’s never goodbye.” Moments later, Brian races to catch up to him and asks, “Hey, you thought you could leave without saying goodbye?” In this moment, we learn every lesson mentioned above into a 4 second scene. Brotherhood, family, and life. Dominic kept his family close to him and he knew he would “see them again.” A normal customary to say goodbye as you depart, he neglected and Brian would not have it. Always say goodbye to your family as they are your closest and you never know when you will “see them again.
As a fan of the series, the death of Paul Walker, although someone I never did know personally it did affect me. Someone I grew up watching on television and who I tried to emulate. A person who seeks respect from his peers and hold his family close to him. That is why I feel, what some call a series of movies for gear heads and grease monkeys, I feel has many lessons to be learned.
