MovieChat Forums > Clint Eastwood Discussion > How Did The Original "DIRTY HARRY" Not R...

How Did The Original "DIRTY HARRY" Not Receive The Dreaded Cancel Culture Treatment??

posted 2 months ago by BKB (6083)
18 replies | jump to latest

For the few who haven't seen this movie, there's some suggestive dialogue in the movie in a scene between Harry and his partner "Fatso" who told Chico, Harry's new partner why they refer to him as DIRTY HARRY citing that Harry doesn't discriminate from Niggers, Spics, Dagos etc.. How did this never receive the dreaded Cancel Culture with dialogue like this unless Gen Z & Millennials never saw this movie?? It is his Iconic movie that started it all you know?? Here's the video of the scene I'm talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RitnM9n0jTY

I echo this comment from Youtube: This movie really said every bad word and comment you could imagine and I love every minute of it!!

[–] Ripkens25 (1904) 2 months ago

For the same reason 1,000 rappers have not been canceled.

[–] SandyR (7362) 2 months ago

They haven't stumbled across this one yet.

[–] Ripkens25 (1904) 2 months ago

It wasn't Clint saying those things, it was the character. He was playing a very flawed character. To cancel an actor because the character they portrayed used awful language or did awful things....would be like canceling Anthony Hopkins for playing Hannibal Lector.

[–] BKB (6083) 2 months ago

Even with the character saying it, I'm surprised they haven't condemned the dialogue??

[–] SandyR (7362) 2 months ago

That doesn't matter to them! They think Blazing Saddles is "racist"...

[–] Martoto (4198) 2 months ago

Because nobody gives a shit about the seventies any more.

[–] Ranb (7198) 2 months ago

Not everyone is the same kind of delicate flower that you are.

[–] AviAAksenazi (568) 2 months ago

[deleted]

[–] liscarkat (16552) 2 months ago

Glad to see that you respectfully capitalize Niggers.

[–] seagal72 (1831) 2 months ago

To be fair, it came in for a lot of criticism (and calls of police fascism) back in the day.

Which is why 'Magnum Force' (1973) made the line between 'law' and 'vigilantism' crystal clear.

[–] BKB (6083) 2 months ago

I always felt MAGNUM FORCE was a true sequel to DIRTY HARRY and was the most violent of the 5 movies. MAGNUM FORCE was also based on a true story and Hal Holbrook is awesome

[–] seagal72 (1831) 2 months ago

Magnum Force is just as good (if not better) as the original (both soundtracks are awesome)

The subsequent sequels got a little cartoony after that (but I think that ties-in with the fact that the critics thought the Callahan character was a fascist ?)

[–] TruMovieFan (1968) 2 months ago

Neither has Escape From Alcatraz and in that, Eastwood does utter the word.

But isn't the real question, how would Dirty Harry be made today? My bet would be that it would never be based in the 70s and instead would be re-made as if in the 2000s to avoid that part.

Still, does it not come down to both context and intent? And this is what irritates me about reactions in modern times - too often reactions of people completely disregard both context and intent.

Not only that, if one examines Gran Torino, that movie is an indication of a move within filmmaking toward the loss of authenticity because I think any honest viewer knows that to be authentic, the Eastwood character in that movie would have uttered similar language.

[–] BKB (6083) 2 months ago

GRAN TORINO is another damn good movie

[–] Gd5150 (11031) 2 months ago

It was the 70s when the insecure Democrat whiners had no power. It was the time before we allowed the mentally ill to have a voice.

[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 2 months ago

Yeah, this is the answer. It was just at the beginning of the 5 decades of Leftist indoctrination in American schools and media and the longterm side effects of all those recreational drugs had not had their full effect yet. Plus, no internet to give the lunatic fringe a platform.