'The' Question

[Seevio]

A white cop pointing a gun at a black man who is cooperating, and pulling the trigger.

A lot of black men are dying that way.

(note, I said "feels". But even then, a black man thinking he is about to die on the whim of a white cop? For laughs? Nah, that's bad.)

Not the response I was expecting . Thanks.

The thing is, he wasn't cooperating, which is the whole point of the scene. He was reaching for his shotgun when Mr Eastwood bluffs him with the 5/6 shots spiel. Of course, the producers may have expressed some bias by making the bad guy black (which would be very believable given the time and location) but maybe he was just an actor who was available at the time.

 

[Milkfloat]

As the hammer wasn't pulled back, he would be able to see the chamber due to rotate next behind the barrel, and see if there was a bullet in it. So there .

Except, it is a revolver, so holds the empty cartridge in the chamber.

 

[wheresthetorch]

Except, it is a revolver, so holds the empty cartridge in the chamber.

Yebbut, an empty cartridge would be pretty much invisible, whereas the nose of a bullet would be visible. In my opinion. So possibly wrong .

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I found this...….


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HyK8rAA_Eo

Sorry, I misunderstood. When you said "he was in MASH", I thought you were referring to Albert Popwell.

 

[Drago]

My Bro has a huge Dirty Harry cinema poster framed on his lounge wall. I am only slightly extremely jealous of this.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Later paraphrased by Terry Pratchett in 'Guards Guards', & uttered by Sam Vimes

 

[Pale Rider]

(but wow, I used to love this fill, but this sequence just feels racist now)

The main villain of the film, the loony assassin, is white, and Callahan tortures him.

One might expect a front-line cop in an American city to encounter criminals of many racial types.

Not just criminals, Callahan gets an Hispanic partner, Chico Gonzales, if I recall.

It's true Callahan is hostile to him to start with, based mainly on him being a college boy with no hands-on policing experience.

After one overtly racist rant, Callahan's partner de Georgio comments: "Harry hates everybody."

To which Callahan adds: "Especially Spics," the scene being typical of the way coppers (used to) interact with each other in private.

And as the film progresses, our hero is shown to have a heart of gold in that he looks after Chico as best he can.

After Chico is injured, Callahan supports his decision to quit the force telling him it's no life for a young guy with a family.

Here's an extract from the script:

De Georgio:
Harry hates everybody. Limeys, Micks, Hebes, Fat Dagos, N*ggers, Honkies, Chinks, you name it.

Gonzales:
How does he feel about Mexicans?

De Georgio:
Ask him.

Harry Callahan:
Especially Spics.

 

[jefmcg]

Thanks for clarifying. I only meant, as I stated, watched out of context, that short clip felt racist. Now you've explained it to me, I realise that the film is indeed racist.

To which Callahan adds: "Especially Spics," the scene being typical of the way coppers (used to) interact with each other in private.

You know that institutionalized racism is still racism? The clue is in the name.

 

[Pale Rider]

Thanks for clarifying. I only meant, as I stated, watched out of context, that short clip felt racist. Now you've explained it to me, I realise that the film is indeed racist.


You know that institutionalized racism is still racism? The clue is in the name.

That passage of dialogue is not racist, institutionalised or otherwise - 'Harry hates everyone'.

Another clue is in the way Gonzales is treated in the whole film, not just in one scene or another.

Going back to the OP, the 'make my day' speech when made to a black man is, according to you, racist.

Yet Callahan makes the same speech to a white man - the assassin - the only difference being the white man miscalculates and gets his head blown off.

If Callahan is any 'ist' he is criminalist - he despises criminals, their colour is irrelevant to him.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

That passage of dialogue is not racist, institutionalised or otherwise - 'Harry hates everyone'.

Another clue is in the way Gonzales is treated in the whole film, not just in one scene or another.

Going back to the OP, the 'make my day' speech when made to a black man is, according to you, racist.

Yet Callahan makes the same speech to a white man - the assassin - the only difference being the white man miscalculates and gets his head blown off.

If Callahan is any 'ist' he is criminalist - he despises criminals, their colour is irrelevant to him.

I take it you mean 'Scorpio', the psychopath, where he does go for the gun by the lake

Later, in his career, & barely recognisable under his prosthetic make-up, Robinson played Garak, in Deep Space 9
A Cardassian worth watching


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StF9jrhw-pU