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When Dirty Harry came out, Roger Ebert called it a fascist film: the rogue cop out violating people's rights and murdering members of the public was the hero an
by jordanb 11y ago
When Dirty Harry came out, Roger Ebert called it a fascist film: the rogue cop out violating people's rights and murdering members of the public was the hero and the courts, defense lawyers, etc were villains trying to stop him from "getting the bad guy."
But Dirty Harry became an archetype in American film. Now there are hundreds of films with the protagonist being a "tough guy cop" who "doesn't play by the book." It's no wonder how our society has become what it is.
Here's Ebert's review: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dirty-harry-1971 http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dirty-harry-1971
- rayiner 11y agoMy wife and I like to watch shows like Blacklist and White Collar. There are casual 4th amendment violations several times per episode. It's infuriating.
- dtornabene 11y agoSo glad to hear this. I often wonder how much people with training pick up on things like this, and if they do what their response is. My parents watch Blacklist, I usually watch it with them, rationalizing it as "but James Spader...". And to be fair, the what, three dozen, federal-leo/police procedurals are even worse on things like 4th amendment violations and just general ethical compromises.
- voltagex_ 11y agoIt's a TV show. Does it really have that much impact on day-to-day life?
- krapp 11y agoThe CSI Effect is a thing[0], so it is possible. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect
- voltagex_ 11y agoThanks for that. Interesting and concerning.
- dtornabene 11y agoWow, I didn't even know that was a thing. Thanks for taking the time to post that.
- anonbanker 11y agoI know you're not a minority in this, but why do people like to watch shows that make them angry?
- rayiner 11y agoIt's easy enough to turn off that part of your brain to watch what is otherwise an entertaining show.
- jMyles 11y agoIs it really though? Or do you just think it's "turned off" while you're watching?
- rayiner 11y agoI mean, I also think television writers are misogynist and so over-sexed they can't depict normal relationships between men and women on TV. But somehow I manage to watch HIMYM or Friends without raging.
- anonbanker 11y agoyeah, I don't know how you do it. In that same situation, I'm actively contemplating the dead people in the laugh track to distract myself from the insulting of my intelligence. You should consider that skill to suffer fools a superpower.
- dtornabene 11y agofwiw the Death Wish series with Charles Bronson was soooooooo much worse.
- mhurron 11y agoExcept that Bronson's character wasn't a cop.
- dtornabene 11y agoRight, the cops just let him do it.
- 0xcde4c3db 11y agoDirty Harry's influence indentifiably extends beyond film, too. Castle doctrine laws (allowing the use of lethal force against home invaders) in some states used to be colloquially known as "make my day" laws, after an iconic line in one of the sequels. In context, the line heavily implies that Harry is motivated not by a desire to protect people from criminals, but by a desire to kill criminals.
- JetSpiegel 11y agoAnd yet, Dirty Harry has the DA rejecting some evidence he collected on the basis is wasn't lawfully acquired. Have yet to see that in a modern procedural.