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Going All the Way
Movie

Going All the Way

1997 • Unknown

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

Korean War--era veterans and ex-classmates "Gunner" Casselman and "Sonny" Burns reunite upon their return home. Gunner, who spent the war years abroad, is trying to convince his mother that his gal Marty is good enough for him, while Sonny, who was stationed stateside, is torn between loyal Buddy and tempting Gale Ann. As they commiserate, the men realize that they're outgrowing the lives they lived before the war.

Overall Series Review

The film explores the post-Korean War disillusionment of two returning veterans in 1954 Indianapolis as they grapple with the pressures of conformity and expectations in middle-class suburbia. Sonny, the timid and introspective character, and Gunner, the outwardly confident jock, find their hometown suffocating and repressive. The narrative centers on their quest for identity and sexual experience while actively rejecting the conservative, religious, and traditional family structure of the era. The movie presents the Midwestern '50s culture of their parents as a force of 'suburban human horrors' that the protagonists must transcend to achieve self-realization. Gunner champions a non-Western 'Zen' philosophy learned in Japan as his path to a 'higher-minded' awareness, contrasting it sharply with the 'Bible-thumping' atmosphere of home. The climax involves both men leaving the stifling environment for the promise of New York, confirming the narrative's fundamental hostility toward the traditional American, Christian, and family-oriented heartland.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3/10

The casting is historically authentic to the mid-50s suburban Indianapolis setting, focusing on white characters. The only identity-based conflict mentioned is anti-Semitism, as Gunner’s mother expresses 'vile anti-Semitic fantasies' about his Jewish girlfriend, Marty, a form of bigotry that is clearly positioned as a sign of the home culture's close-mindedness, which Gunner rejects. The story's focus remains on male personal and sexual anxiety, not a lecture on intersectional hierarchy or vilification of 'whiteness' in the contemporary sense.

Oikophobia9/10

The central theme is the complete rejection and escape from the post-war American home culture and its institutions. Indianapolis is portrayed as a source of 'suburban human horrors' and 'conformity' that crushes individual spirit. Gunner finds his 'spiritual awakening' and 'cultural perspective' from studying 'Zen riddles' in Japan, an external, non-Western culture, which he views as intellectually and spiritually superior to his own. The film ends with the protagonists abandoning their hometown, families, and expected futures for the promise of a more 'enlightened' life in New York City.

Feminism6/10

The male protagonist, Sonny, is explicitly portrayed as a whimp who is impotent with the women he desires, embodying an emasculated male archetype. The women largely function as catalysts for the men's sexual anxiety or self-discovery. The 'loyal, marriage-minded' girlfriend, Buddy, and the 'pious' mother promoting marriage are both part of the 'trap' the male protagonists must break free from, framing traditional family roles and motherhood as obstacles to male fulfillment rather than a celebrated complementarianism.

LGBTQ+2/10

The narrative's focus is on traditional male-female sexual conquest and anxiety (the quest to 'score with loose girls') within a strictly heterosexual context. There is no element of Queer Theory, gender ideology, or centering of alternative sexualities. The intense emotional bond between the two male friends is a classic 'bromance' born of post-war vulnerability, which, while deep, does not explicitly cross into or advocate for non-normative sexual identity as a central theme.

Anti-Theism8/10

The Christian faith is consistently and explicitly linked to the repressive, conformity-driven culture the protagonists must escape. Sonny's mother is a 'church lady' and 'pious,' whose traditional values are depicted as stifling and suffocating. The home environment is described as 'Bible-thumping' and 'Communist-hunting,' equating traditional religious adherence with paranoia and repression. The alternative spiritual path, 'Zen riddles' from Japan, is presented as the superior, liberating force for the main characters' moral and philosophical growth.