Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Dirty Harry


Watch this movie and see Harry, a personification not of Good but of Justice, a figure routinely linked in the visuals to God not to justify Harry's acts but to place them in perspective, torture a suspect to discover crucial information: the whereabouts of a missing girl buried alive. Time is of the essence, and Harry does what is necessary to obtain the information. See the camera pull up into the heavens, and ask yourself whether Harry's act needs to be justified at all. What kind of corrupt immoral universe places the rights of a monster over the life of an innocent young girl? The recurring religous motifs become mocking, sadistic even. No one is watching but us in that long shot. In the absence of God, Harry's actions are increasingly alienated from the corrupt and profoundly human "justice" system. Harry himself is cast out, a relic of moral certainty. See him cast away his badge in an act of nihilistic despair of uncommon emotional power.

Watch again and realize Harry believed the girl was already dead.

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