There are Chick Flicks and there are Dick Flicks. Dirty Harry is the original modern Dick Flick.
In an era of social upheaval and political scandal, it was time for a man to step up to the plate. An everyman. A blue collar working class joe, pulling down a living as a cop, and trying to do his part to make the world a little better. But how can a man play by the rules when bureacratic red tape frees more criminals than it stops? How can a man play by the rules when the innocent are afforded less rights than the guilty?
Enter Dirty Harry, a true Republican. Wielding his trademark Smith & Wesson, Clint Eastwood's most iconic character fights for justice and the American way, even if he has to break a few rules to do it. Shoot first, ask questions later. Such a policy struck a reactionary nerve in audiences in the 70's. Harry is a wish fullfillment hero. The guy who understands that sometimes a little Marshall Law is what's needed to keep society in order. A guy who knows his own job better than the City Hall fat cats who would tie his hands and allow an unrepentant psycho back on the streets. Who among us wouldn't like to see the Ira Einhorns and OJ's of the world brought down hard? Who among us wouldn't look the other way if Dirty Harry took them out? Don Siegel's hard edged cop flick allows us to indulge such base desires. It gives us our own angel of retribution who will do the dirty work required, the stuff nobody wants on their own conscience.
Still, Siegel keeps Harry from becoming a total psycho. Harry may badger and beat a suspect to get the info on a missing girl, but he never kills in cold blood. Even his final dispatching of the heinous villain is an act of self defense. The villain commits the same fatal error all Dick Flick villians would from then on- drawing on a cop who already has the drop on him.
Dirty Harry is the prototype for nearly every cop Dick Flick that followed. It laid the blueprint that is still followed today in flicks like Bad Boys 2.
All hail Harry Callahan, King of The Dicks.
In an era of social upheaval and political scandal, it was time for a man to step up to the plate. An everyman. A blue collar working class joe, pulling down a living as a cop, and trying to do his part to make the world a little better. But how can a man play by the rules when bureacratic red tape frees more criminals than it stops? How can a man play by the rules when the innocent are afforded less rights than the guilty?
Enter Dirty Harry, a true Republican. Wielding his trademark Smith & Wesson, Clint Eastwood's most iconic character fights for justice and the American way, even if he has to break a few rules to do it. Shoot first, ask questions later. Such a policy struck a reactionary nerve in audiences in the 70's. Harry is a wish fullfillment hero. The guy who understands that sometimes a little Marshall Law is what's needed to keep society in order. A guy who knows his own job better than the City Hall fat cats who would tie his hands and allow an unrepentant psycho back on the streets. Who among us wouldn't like to see the Ira Einhorns and OJ's of the world brought down hard? Who among us wouldn't look the other way if Dirty Harry took them out? Don Siegel's hard edged cop flick allows us to indulge such base desires. It gives us our own angel of retribution who will do the dirty work required, the stuff nobody wants on their own conscience.
Still, Siegel keeps Harry from becoming a total psycho. Harry may badger and beat a suspect to get the info on a missing girl, but he never kills in cold blood. Even his final dispatching of the heinous villain is an act of self defense. The villain commits the same fatal error all Dick Flick villians would from then on- drawing on a cop who already has the drop on him.
Dirty Harry is the prototype for nearly every cop Dick Flick that followed. It laid the blueprint that is still followed today in flicks like Bad Boys 2.
All hail Harry Callahan, King of The Dicks.
