MAGNUM FORCE: The Story 5: Harry and Sunny

[KC]

When I got back in force, what we did do a little bit was to try to make him a little more human, that he gets involved with another side ... another aspect of his life ... which is the feminine side, getting to meet somebody who was, you know, who could in some way suggest that he wasn't ALL cop....that there was another human side to him.

(Ted Post, from Dirty Harry: The Original, from the Dirty Harry DVD Special Features)

There was just no time for that. Usually there was a case going on so there wasn't time for romance.

(Clint Eastwood, from Dirty Harry: The Original, from the Dirty Harry DVD Special Features)

Do you think the scenes with Sunny were a natural way of extending the Harry Callahan character to "flesh him out" and make him more "human," or do you think the scenes were added to the script as more of an attempt to change the negative image of Harry, this time by trying to prove he wasn't a racist?

What did you think of that concept of introducing a "feminine" or sexual side to Harry's persona? Did that or could that have made Harry seem more understanding toward society, especially toward women? Or did it have any effect at all on your perception of who Harry Callahan really is?

[Brendan]

do you think the scenes were added to the script as more of an attempt to change the negative image of Harry, this time by trying to prove he wasn't a racist?

I figure people just said he was a racist because they had a vandetta for Clint. What if Paul Newman took the role? Or Frank Sinatra was able to play it? You think they would've said he was a racist then? Doubtful.

And as I said before, I didn't much care for the scenes with Sunny. What was the point? Why didn't Harry just go with Charlie McCoy's wife? They appeared to be going for it, before those rotten kids spoiled the mood.  

[Brendan]

I was just watching The Temple of Doom (Indiana Jones) the other day, and it got me thinking about the pairing of females with males in action movies.

Then it made me think about First Blood Part II. I suppose pairing Rambo with Co Bao, was supposed to make him more "human" and female friendly?   Frankly I usually find it annoying, becuase all they have the girls do is get caught, screwing the plan up and scream for awhile. Can they not think of anything original? Pirates of the Caribbean did.

Now, I am glad Magnum Force didn't fall into that trap and make the renegade police officers kidnap Sunny and have Harry come rescue her. That would have definitely made the movie bad.

[KC]

And as I said before, I didn't much care for the scenes with Sunny. What was the point? Why didn't Harry just go with Charlie McCoy's wife? They appeared to be going for it, before those rotten kids spoiled the mood.  

As Matt pointed out in the thread where we discussed this ... Carol was Harry's partner's wife. That made her taboo, even though neither the partnership nor the marriage was still intact.

[Matt]

Thanks to everyone for participating in this discussion. This topic is now closed, please post any additional thoughts in the Dirty Harry forum.

[The Schofield Kid]

This topic has been temporarily unlocked.  Feel free to post any additional thoughts or discussion here.