MovieChat Forums > Faster (2010) Discussion > The Rock's tattoo on his forearm

The Rock's tattoo on his forearm

posted 14 years ago by BirdCageLive
25 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone know the meaning of the tattoo on the rocks forearm?

[–] cinemaster-1 14 years ago

It was a symbol for each prison gang that tried to take him out that couldn't kill him and he in turn ended up hurting them (the disfigured prisoners). That's why he's referred to as a "ghost" because he did his time alone without the backing of any gang...

[–] RedSouls 14 years ago

They called him 'Ghost' because he should have been dead. He survived the impact of the bullet into his skull. It has nothing to do with the time he spent locked up. And, yes, the tattoos are a symbol of how many people he put down in jail.

The only thing to fear is fear itself

[–] aletannu 14 years ago

@enterthewicked, you're wrong. "Ex Guam UFC champion" called him a ghost and didn't know his story, he just saw his tattoo.

cinemaster-1 is right.

[–] marcofrias 14 years ago

no he's called "Ghost" because of the bullet thing , the ex guam ufc champion recognised him for what he has done in prison and the bullet in the skull thing , he had become a sort of underground legend.

[–] arzich 14 years ago

@Marco frias....you are right man, o outro n percebe nada!! That's right , your point of view!

Allways do it with an Architect

[–] Colemanation 14 years ago

No, its the tattoo that labels him a ghost.. second poster has it spot on. In prison, if you go without a gang backing, you're a ghost. You are either raped repeatedly or you survive... The big guy saw the tat and knew that Driver was a badass because he knew what the numbers meant... It had nothing to do with him waking "from the dead"...its a prison thing...

Still the first in space.

[–] Fellatio_Del_Toro 14 years ago

sure it is gangsta!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Hasjtracker 14 years ago

Well this getting boring but alot of you cant read obviously.

He is a "ghost" because people in prison doing "grifts" without backup die.(In a prison there lots of criminals,trying to steal your dope,money and business.Thats why you need backup.)

The exguam ufc could have used the word "grifter" but that would not indicate he did all it without backup.So he used the commonly used term ghost xD

Your always welcome to check it at a deathrow near you.

[–] mighty_frogman 14 years ago

I wish they would have explained this a bit in the movie. If I hadn't have read the posts here, I'd have had no clue. I'm sure a lot of other people have watched this movie and not had a clue either. I wasn't sure if "ghost" meant some sort of gang, military affiliation, or what. If you're ignorant of prison lingo/jargon then you'd be in the dark big time about something that was pretty critical to the background story.

[–] dannomack 13 years ago

Ghost is not prison slang.

[–] szisoman 13 years ago

Oh yes he did. When he saw the tattoo & said he was a ghost, he also said i know his story & ran outside.

" Let's go get a drink & smoke a cigarette"

[–] Shalomp 14 years ago

actually what it really means is he's got HIV and the samoan bodyguard saw it and became frightened. go watch the movie eastern promises or the documentary mark of cain. its all about tattoos in the can like if a convict had a star on his knee means that he bows to one. or if he has a cat on his back means that he's sly and a hustler.

[–] VforVaseline 14 years ago

I smell trollin'.

[–] Shalomp 14 years ago

go see the film and u will know wat i mean

[–] VforVaseline 14 years ago

He wasn't going to rape the guy or anything. Why would he get scared just because The Rock had a tattoo that meant that he was HIV+ ?

[–] Shalomp 14 years ago

not sure if u understand the situation's tension then but imagine yourself to be HIV positive and a huge samoan challenges u to a fight. do u fight him or do u use your terminal illness as a weapon and scare him off?

its kind of like carrying a gun on u. would u use the gun or do u use your fist in a fight? just pulling out the piece on your opponent would send him running in the opposite direction and u wont even need to pull the trigger.

and by the way, a person doesnt need to get raped to get HIV. all rock needs to do is bite him to scare the bejesus out of the samoan.

[–] markosto 14 years ago

The tattoo had nothing to do with prison, it was Samoan tattoo. I guees it sad somthing like "the one who come back from dead" or something like that. Samoan dude wasnt in jail so some prision tattoo symbol wouldnt mean nothing to him.

[–] tui274 14 years ago

Yeah - they're supposed to be Samoan Tattoo's - but the Rock had his Tats done by a Hawaiin so no Samoans would be able to understand the significance of it.
The bad guy is a real Samoan cos he says something like "Kefe - maua kasi po e alu moe!" which translates something like "F*k you - you get one hit from me & you go sleep".
Tried Googling the significance of his forearm Tats (we call them Tatau).
Found this link for his shoulder tats (which are actually more Marquesas Polynesian style than Samoan).

http://ryansqueerbent.blogspot.com/2006/02/rocks-tattoos.html

His forearm Tats consisting of 12 symbols & 4 solid black lines are also more Marquesas style than Samoan.
However, we polynesians have been a superstitious bunch for thousands of years before the missionaries enlightened us & if that bad guy Kenny was half caste Marquesas or Hawaiin or something & recognised the symbols on the Rocks arms as ancient Samoan spirits protecting him(we had thousands of "Aitu" we used to worship), then he reacted pretty much how a lot of polynesians would - "Don't mess wit no Ghosts - Man!!".

...the Zen master just smiles & says "We'll see"...

[–] markosto 14 years ago

Yeah, agreed. I just saw that its Polynesian style so i guessed its Samoan.
And it got nothing to do with the fact he was in jail in the movie like it was presented. Samoan guy run of because he could read the tattoo.

I found this on web http://www.tattooblog.org/entry/tattoos-of-dwayne-the-rock-johnson/

Where some guy sad:

"OK, I need to set some of you straight on this. First of all, The Rock and I had the same tattoo artist. The artist is not Hawaiian; he’s Tahitian. He used to have a shop in the Waikiki area called New Tribal Tattoo. Anyway the guys name is Po’oino (I have NO idea what his last name is).

The Rock’s tattoo has SOME Samoan imagery to it; however, because the artist is Tahitian, it obviously has a Marquesian flair to it. Even my very traditional Hawaiian amakua tattoo looks a bit Tahitian/Marquesian. The traditional Samoan Pe’a looks nothing like the tattoo that The Rock has. The ”younger” generations have adapted some of their tattoo’s to be a bit more aesthetically pleasing (the traditional pe’a goes from around the nipple area to just above the knees...almost like a half suit).

And as a Polynesian, let me state here that I have no idea why non-poly people feel the need to get Samoan/Hawaiian/Tribal tattoos. The tat’s are representative of OUR culture and experiences. Tattoos are supposed to have a meaning to YOU. If you don’t know the meaning behind the images, then why get one? Peace."

[–] animatethant-1 14 years ago

Because non-Polys ... want to be cool?

The same as non-Asians getting Kanji tatoos I would imagine.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ImaDaftPunk 13 years ago

Nicely said, personally, I've been wanting to get a Maori sleeve tattoo for a while (just working on building up the guns) and I'm of Indian decent but I was born an raised in New Zealand and I feel more connected with the Maori culture than my Indian heritage (which doesn't mean I don't accept because I do) however, I'm developing my tat so it'll represent me as where I'm from and where my family is from, but I definitely won't be copying someone's design I'd be getting a Kiratuhi tattoo - it has the style of Maori design but without the connection to someone else's history.

In reply to the OP my I'm pretty sure the two cops talk about the tat. Something along the lines that people would come after him be he would take them out, an that after he got it done no one messed with him. The idea of him being a ghost is mentioned twice, first by Kenny then it's elaborated when the female cop tells his story of actually dieing then coming back to life.

But, to answer your question, I don't know what the tattoo actually means, it was mentioned by Billy Bob that maybe he kept score with all the people that came afte him.

[–] cableaddict 13 years ago

I think the UFC guy said "I know WHO you are" not "I know WHAT you are." (someone should check)

That would imply knowledge of his specific story, not just the prison thing.

[–] dannomack 13 years ago

Umm yeah that's neat about Rock's tattoos but this thread is about Driver's forearm tattoo which had some significance to this film's plot.