By Rajan Laad
Once upon a time, the world was a simple place. Those who committed crimes were the villains and those who protected citizens from crimes were the heroes. We celebrated and venerated our heroes and we despised the villains who preyed upon and terrorized innocent civilians.
Every accused needed to receive a fair trial and due process.
But soon by matters began to devolve. From concern about the due process, the empathy began to shift towards the criminal.
The 'activist' class began to make excuses for the criminal. They focused on race, class, or economic strata to suggest that criminals are victims of circumstance rather than predators who harm innocent civilians.
In time the activists became the establishment.
Art has a function to question and comment on societal attitudes and norms, especially when matters are deteriorating.
A strong statement in favor of law enforcement and against the criminal was made when Inspector Harry Callahan appeared on screen more than 50 years ago. Callahan was played brilliantly by Clint Eastwood, and the role cemented his superstar status.
To understand how attitudes were back then, Paul Newman rejected the role as “too right-wing.” Film Critic Pauline Kael, in her now notorious attack masquerading as a review of the film, called it a grotesque right-wing fantasy about the SFPD being “emasculated by unrealistic liberals.”
You read it right, protecting innocent civilians from violent criminals is a right-wing idea.
These ideas were probably laughed off and dismissed back then, but now they are mainstream. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
