Do you feel lucky... to have seen Dirty Harry? Well, do ya, punk?

Dirty Harry (circa 1971… and a great movie if I can be so bold) seems to be a defining moment in film for bringing together several developing strands of an entire literary genre known as the Police Procedural Story by inventing a new position for the hero. Before Dirty Harry, police procedural models were based on the realist, just-ordinary-guys-trying-to-do-a-job model. After Dirty Harry there was a new model. Now the cop could be a middle-aged male going through a mid-life crisis, a loner, his marriage collapsed, family lost, his romances are transitory, he is alienated, self-destructive, in conflict with his superiors, and in possession of questionable values. In short, with just a few Biblical references, these cops can now be a type of Christ as the Agent of Divine Wrath.

A man of few words throughout the entire film, Harry reacts with a simple expletive in his first line of dialogue, "Jesus." Dirty Harry is called upon to be an avenging angel. He is an outcast cop whose purpose is to seek out and exterminate the evil, Satanic, conscience-less killer who is loose in the urban environment. In several semi religious settings, a church near a revolving 'Jesus Saves' sign and a giant cross on top of Mount Davidson Park, Callahan confronts the murderer. Welcome to a Christ film made around a super-hero cop.

The film and its pretty compelling story looks and sounds remarkably contemporary even 37 years later; accommodations made for changes in clothing, hair, and musical fashions. Neither conspicuously modern nor postmodern, the film has none of the late 1960’s, early 1970’s hip/groovy/with-it quirkiness (see Jesus Christ Superstar for that). The closest it really comes to the 70’s motif is a scene in a tacky topless bar (but we didn’t experience that… which was probably a merciful edit). In this story Harry must pursue and capture the psychotic killer Scorpio (Scorpio was actually based on the real Zodiac Killer, a menacing serial killer to the city of San Francisco in the late 60’s who also wrote handwritten letters. The Zodiac murderer was never identified or caught, however. There are also some Charles Manson characteristics to Scorpio as well who still lives in the San Francisco area courtesy of the California State Penal System and the taxpayers; oh, and eligible for parole in 2012.) and it’s told twice. In the first telling, Harry's arrest of Scorpio is overthrown because he did not follow correct police procedure. In the midst of this Harry says, “The law is crazy” (Jesus said something similar; although he was referring to the way the Jews were interpreting and living under the law). So the second telling begins with the surprise that Scorpio is free again and must be stopped… again. In the second telling, Harry finds and stops Scorpio (in the most permanent way). Again he is outside procedural law, but this time by choice. Here he states (again for the second time) one of the most memorable sets of lines in all of film (and it MUST be quoted):

“I know what you're thinkin', punk. You're thinkin', did he fire six shots or only five? And to tell you the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement. But bein' this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and it'll blow your head clean off, you could ask yourself a question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

Then, his last act in the film is to throw his badge into a stagnant bog. According to the writer, this scene pays homage to the final scene of High Noon (1952) where the lone Marshal contemptuously discards his badge in the dust after being betrayed by the entire Western community. The film both begins and ends with the images of a policeman's badge; his symbol of authority. Furthermore, it is bookended by the Christological theme of the guy who gives up everything to help people. At the beginning, there is a badge and in starts the hymn, "Oh God Our Help in Ages Past" as they show the cops who have died in the line of duty. This sets the stage for a story about guys who give everything to protect people. They walk the thin line between good and evil. They are the “Christ’s” of our time. At the end of the story, a second badge. This time it’s Harry’s and he tosses it. Why? Because he’s done his duty, dealt out the retribution that the evil guy had coming, and has rebelled against a system that would have betrayed not just him, but everyone who is being affected by the Scorpio’s of life. Dirty Harry is willing to give up "his life" as a police officer to do what he has to do. Now there’s some Christology!

This film is full of comic relief moments as Harry will occasionally "help" people. When he tricks the suicide guy (a.k.a., Miracle #2), Harry grabs him and punches him in the face to get him down. Thanks for the help! Or when he tells the male prostitute in the park to go home he’s helping too. Granted Harry tells him to kill himself there instead of in the park, but it gets him out of the park. I don’t recall Jesus helping anyone in this way though…

That being said, this film helped fuel a public debate in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. As it explicitly mentions, a liberal, left-oriented Supreme Court had handed down two decisions (Miranda and Escobido) protecting the rights of accused criminals. The Miranda decision forced arresting officers to read a criminal his rights before questioning him ('You have the right to remain silent.' a litany in police dramas ever since, which quickly became a verb: 'Did you remember to Mirandize him?'). Escobido protected against unreasonable search and seizure, which, in the film, Judge Bannerman of the Appellate Court accuses Harry of in the first apprehension of Scorpio. The film poses the most extreme example of the legal/social issue: suppose a totally uncontrollable and very clever killer preys on society and, though known to be guilty by every viewer of the film, is protected by the very legal sanctions we depend on to protect the accused until proven guilty? This not long after Sen. Barry Goldwater had run for the US Presidency defending "extremism in the defense of liberty" as a key value. What sort of answer do we want for this problem? Or, as the film has it, who speaks for the rights of little Anne Marie Deacon, whose death (and consequently Harry’s “passion,” “death,” and “resurrection” at the big, white, glowing cross) is the turning point of the story? How far are we as a society to go in responding to such extreme threats? We need a savior.

Of course, the savior the film offers us is just one of many Christ’s who have been willing to die for the innocent. Jesus was obviously much, much more and his work was far greater than just making sure a few people could have a safe life and maybe even go to heaven. But America wants a Jesus who protects the innocent and destroys evil (just as long as “good people” get to keep their hands clean) and is cool as a well-handled .44 Magnum in the process. Actually, the Jesus of the Gospels is much cooler… hands down.

- Tim Barkett