Dirty Harry is actually an important cultural character. He's a rogue cop who shoots a Black bank robber lying on the ground. Whoa, that is powerful. Most saw that scene as mindless entertainment ("5 shots or 6", etc.) but that scenario is what led to the George Floyd riots 40 some years later! The film maker was on to something.

This writer defends Harry's dirtiness. I'm debating about it.

Quote from an essay, Dirty Harry’s Justice, APRIL 22, 2022:

"We passed the 50th anniversary of America’s most famous cop movie in 2021 and didn’t bother to celebrate. About two years ago, I wrote for Law & Liberty that we should honor Clint Eastwood, the last star of Old Hollywood, while we can. But Clint is a prime target for all the fashionable accusations, from fascism, to toxic masculinity, to racism and misogyny. So I hope he doesn’t live to see the disgrace our elites will inevitably visit on him. Maybe silence is better than canceling a remarkable artist.

"Perhaps it’s neither necessary nor possible to celebrate Dirty Harry, his iconic movie, because we’re too busy reenacting its vision of a catastrophic America. Now once again we find our greatest cities debased by crime, and however many are murdered, their leaders remain unwilling to confront the villains. ..."