THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE CULTURALLY TABOO SUBJECT OF MALE PROSTITUTION--PARTICULARLY OF THE HOMOSEXUAL VARIETY--THAT OPERATES AS A SUBVERSION OF WESTERN GENDER PRESCRIPTIONS TIED TO ASSERTIVENESS, SELF-RELIANCE, AMBITION AND SEXUAL DOMINANCE. INSTEAD OF THESE IMPULSES BEING ENACTED IN CONFIDENT, CONSTRUCTIVE OR COMMUNITY-BUILDING WAYS, THEY ARE AUCTIONED OFF ON A STREET CORNER AS A CHEAP THRILL FOR ANOTHER TO SUBDUE--LIKE A RIDER AT A RODEO OVERPOWERING A BUCKING BULL FOR THE PLEASURE OF PLAY-ACTING DOMINANCE.

THE WRINKLE IN JOHNS (FIRST LOOK INTERNATIONAL, 1997), WRITTEN BY SCOTT SILVER, IS THAT IN A CITY LIKE LOS ANGELES--WHERE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE IS ALREADY FOR SALE--STREET HUSTLING FEELS ALMOST REFRESHINGLY TRANSPARENT BY COMPARISON. THE FILM FOLLOWS TWO MALE PROSTITUTES, JOHN [DAVID ARQUETTE] AND DONNER [LUKAS HAAS], AS THEY ATTEMPT TO SURVIVE ALONG SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD AMID THE VOLATILITY OF CLOSETED CLIENTELE, RIVAL HUSTLERS AND PREDATORY PIMPS WHO ARE KEENLY AWARE OF THEIR VULNERABILITY TO BLACKMAIL. JOHNS PRESENTS A WORLD IN WHICH MASCULINITY AS A CREATIVE OR GENERATIVE FORCE IS COMPLETELY NULLIFIED, REDUCED INSTEAD TO ITS MOST BASE FUNCTION--PHYSICAL PENETRATION--PERFORMED THROUGH RITUALS OF HUMILIATION AND EMOTIONAL ENDURANCE. MASCULINITY HERE IS ENTIRELY PERFORMATIVE AND NEARLY EVERY RELATIONSHIP, INCLUDING THAT BETWEEN JOHN AND DONNER, IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO MONETIZATION FOR PERSONAL ADVANTAGE.

WATCHING JOHNS FEELS LIKE ENCOUNTERING A MODERN PORTRAIT OF DAMAGED MASCULINITY--ONE THAT HAS LOST ITS ABILITY TO CREATE, NURTURE, COLLABORATE OR ENDURE HARDSHIP. THIS TERRAIN WAS MORE POWERFULLY EXPLORED IN EARLIER AND MORE CELEBRATED WORKS SUCH AS ACCATONE (TITANUS, 1961), HEAT (LEVITT-PICKMAN, 1972), MIDNIGHT COWBOY (UNITED ARTISTS, 1969) AND MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (FINE LINE, 1991). JOHNS SITUATES ITSELF CLEARLY WITHIN THIS LINEAGE, BUT WITH A BLEAKER, MORE STATIC OUTLOOK.

IMPORTANTLY, THE FILM'S CRITIQUE EXTENDS BEYOND ITS TWO PROTAGONISTS. A STEADY STREAM OF CLIENTS--PLAYED BY AN IMPRESSIVE SUPPORTING CAST INCLUDING ELLIOT GOULD, JOHN C. MCGINLEY, CHRISTOPHER GARTIN AND TERRENCE HOWARD--ARRIVE WITH DIVERGENT NEEDS. SOME SEEK TO INFLICT PHYSICAL PAIN, OTHERS EMOTIONAL VIOLATION AND STILL OTHERS ATTEMPT TO ACTUALIZE FETISHISTIC FANTASIES, BUT ALL ARE EXPLOITATIVE. ONE GETS THE SENSE THAT THEIR DAYTIME LIVES ARE GOVERNED BY SIMILAR TOP-DOWN SYSTEMS OF HUMILIATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ENDURANCE, MERELY SUBLIMATED INTO THESE NOCTURNAL TRANSACTIONS. YET NO CATHARSIS EVER ARRIVES: NO MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING, NO COMPLETED CHARACTER ARC--ONLY THE ENDLESS ABYSS OF STREET HUSTLING ON SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD.

FOR ME, THE WANDERING FIGURE OF HOMELESS JOHN [KEITH DAVID] CRYSTALLIZES THIS INTERPRETATION. HE FLOATS THROUGH THE FILM WITHOUT DIRECTLY PARTICIPATING IN ITS NARRATIVE MACHINERY, SEEMINGLY UNTOUCHED BY THE HUMILIATION RITUAL THAT ENSNARES JOHN AND DONNER--ONE THAT ULTIMATELY LEADS TO DEATH. HIS PRESENCE SUGGESTS AN ALTERNATIVE FORM OF MARGINALITY: ONE THAT EXISTS OUTSIDE COMMODIFICATION AND THEREFORE OUTSIDE THE PARTICULAR PSYCHIC VIOLENCE THE FLM DEPICTS.

ULTIMATELY, JOHNS IS A SOBER MEDITATION ON MASCULINITY WITHIN A CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT THAT HAS RENDERED IT OBSOLETE--OR AT LEAST CHEAPLY COMMODIFIED. WHILE THIS THEMATIC GROUND IS WELL-TROD WITHIN THE NEW QUEER CINEMA MOVEMENT OF WHICH THE FILM IS A PART, JOHNS REMAINS A VALUABLE IF INESSENTIAL ENTRY. I’M GLAD IT EXISTS AND DO RECOMMEND IT, EVEN IF IT LACKS THE URGENCY, POETRY, AND TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF THE FILMS IT SO CLEARLY ECHOES.

ONE OF THE MOST BIZARRE CULTURAL REVERSALS I HAVE WITNESSED IN MY ADMITTEDLY SHORT LIFETIME IS THE FAR RIGHT’S APPROPRIATION OF THE COUNTERCULTURAL SPACE DURING THE YEARS OF DONALD TRUMP. THIS SHIFT HAS GONE WELL BEYOND COMEDY OR IRONY AND HAS HARDENED INTO A WARPED, INTELLECTUALLY HOLLOW BELIEF THAT “THINKING INDEPENDENTLY” NOW MEANS SUBMITTING WHOLESALE TO GRIEVANCE POLITICS AND REFLEXIVE WHATABOUTISM.

PERHAPS I SHOULDN’T BE SURPRISED. THIS OUTCOME FEELS LIKE THE LOGICAL ENDPOINT OF A GENERATION RAISED BY WELL-INTENTIONED BABY BOOMERS--PEOPLE WHO LARGELY EMBRACED HUMANISTIC VALUES LIKE EQUITY AND FAIR PLAY DURING AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF UNPARALLELED ECONOMIC ABUNDANCE. BOOMERS ALSO LIVED THROUGH GENUINE POLITICAL AND CULTURAL UPHEAVAL, MOST NOTABLY THE VIETNAM WAR AND WATERGATE, EVENTS THAT ENCOURAGED A DEEP SKEPTICISM NOT JUST OF LEADERSHIP, BUT OF AUTHORITY ITSELF. PERHAPS THEY FOUND THEMSELVES IN AN INHERITED MOMENT OF MATERIAL ABUNDANCE THAT HAD UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES DOWN THE LINE WHEN CHOICES TO MAINTAIN SUCH PROSPERITY CLASHED WITH GENERATIONAL VALUES.

THAT LINEAGE OF ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN THINKING BRINGS ME TO M*A*S*H (20TH CENTURY FOX, 1970), A BLACK WAR COMEDY DIRECTED BY ROBERT ALTMAN. SET DURING THE KOREAN WAR, THE FILM FINDS ITS HUMOR NOT IN BATTLEFIELD VIOLENCE BUT IN THE WAYS A GROUP OF COMBAT SURGEONS EXPLOIT THEIR RELATIVE AUTONOMY TO UNDERMINE THE RIGID MILITARY HIERARCHY AROUND THEM. THROUGH SHEER AUDACITY, CHARISMA AND IRREVERANCE, THEY BEND THE CHAIN OF COMMAND TOWARD THEIR OWN VALUES. AT THE TIME, THE IMPLICATION WAS CLEAR: TOP-DOWN, HIERARCHAL, COMMAND-AND-CONTROL INSTITUTIONS--HERE THE MILITARY, BUT BY EXTENSION CORPORATE, EDUCATIONAL, BUREAUCRATIC, AND CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS--ARE INHERENTLY VULNERABLE TO CORRUPTION AND MORAL FAILURE.

LEADING THIS INSURGENT SPIRIT ARE CAPTAIN “HAWKEYE” PIERCE (DONALD SUTHERLAND) AND CAPTAIN “TRAPPER JOHN” MCINTYRE (ELLIOTT GOULD), WHO ROUTINELY RUN ROUGHSHOD OVER THEIR MORE RIGID AND SANCTIMONIOUS COUNTERPARTS. CHIEF AMONG THEIR TARGETS ARE THE DEVOUTLY CATHOLIC MAJOR FRANK BURNS (ROBERT DUVALL) AND HIS ON-AGAIN, OFF-AGAIN ROMANTIC PARTNER, THE BY-THE-BOOK MAJOR MARGARET “HOT LIPS” HOULIHAN [SALLY KELLERMAN]. THESE CHARACTERS ARE MOCKED FOR THEIR RELIGIOSITY AND THEIR UNWAVERING DEVOTION TO MILITARY RITUAL--TRAITS PORTRAYED AS DEEPLY UNHELPFUL TO GROUP COHESION ON THE FRONT LINES, WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS ACCEPTED THE ABSURDITY AND MORAL AMBIGUITY OF SERVING AS MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN A SYSTEM DESIGNED TO MAXIMIZE SUFFERING AND DEATH.

THIS ANTI-AUTHORITY SENSIBILITY PERMEATES THE FILM'S LOOSE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE. ALTMAN’S STYLE IS FAMOUSLY ALLERGIC TO TRADITIONAL PLOT MECHANICS: CONVERSATIONS OVERLAP, STORYLINES EMERGE AND FADE, AND THE FILM ULTIMATELY ENDS WITHOUT TIDY RESOLUTION. RATHER THAN ENFORCING CLEAR ARCS OR CONVENTIONAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, ALTMAN ALLOWS EVENTS TO UNFOLD ORGANICALLY, MIRRORING THE RANDOMNESS OF REAL LIFE. PARADOXICALLY, IT IS THIS REJECTION OF CINEMATIC EXPECTATION THAT MAKES HIS CHARACTERS FEEL SO VIVID AND FULLY DIMENSIONAL--PEOPLE ACTING INSTINCTIVELY, IMPERFECTLY, AND RECOGNIZABLY HUMAN.

THAT, A GENERATION LATER, CULTURAL ENERGY WOULD BE REDIRECTED AWAY FROM SKEPTICISM OF POWER AND TOWARD THE POLICING OF GRIEVANCE IN SERVICE OF AUTHORITY STILL STRIKES ME AS PROFOUNDLY STRANGE. WHAT ONCE LOOKED LIKE RESISTANCE HAS BEEN INVERTED INTO A PERFORMANCE OF VICTIMHOOD THAT SEEKS VALIDATION FROM THE VERY HIERARCHIES IT CLAIMS TO OPPOSE--RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS RECAST AS PROTECTORS RATHER THAN OBJECTS OF CRITIQUE. THE RESULT IS A HOLLOW MIMICRY OF COUNTERCULTURE, ONE THAT MISTAKES LOYALTY TO POWER FOR INDEPENDENCE OF THOUGHT, AND SUBMISSION FOR REBELLION. BUT THAT IS THE CULTURAL MOMENT WE CURRENTLY INHABIT.

WHICH, FRANKLY, SUCKS.
​
M*A*S*H REMAINS A LANDMARK DARK SATIRE. THOUGH SET DURING THE KOREAN WAR, IT IS UNMISTAKABLY A META-COMMENTARY ON AMERICAN CULTURE DURING THE VIETNAM WAR ERA. REVERED NOT ONLY FOR ITS POLITICAL BITE BUT ALSO FOR ITS FORMAL AUDACITY, M*A*S*H STANDS AS ONE OF ALTMAN’S FINEST ACHIEVEMENTS. IN MY VIEW, IT IS ESSENTIAL VIEWING--HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

HOT ROD CULTURE HAS EXISTED SINCE THE LATE 1920S, WHEN A SURPLUS OF FORD MODEL Ts MADE HOBBYIST MODIFICATION WIDELY ACCESSIBLE--ESPECIALLY IN CAR-OBSESSED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WHERE SPARE PARTS WERE ABUNDANT. OVER TIME, THE CULTURE MATURED: ENTHUSIASTS GAINED TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND DEVELOPED A REFINED AESTHETIC VOCABULARY THAT EVENTUALLY FILTERED INTO POPULAR CULTURE AT LARGE. AS LEGAL RACING VENUES SUCH AS DEDICATED DRAG STRIPS EMERGED IN THE 1950s--PARTICULARLY AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION (NHRA) IN 1951--THE COUNTERCULTURAL EDGE OF THE MOVEMENT RECEDED. OPEN-ROAD DRAG RACING, AND THE DEATHS THAT ACCOMPANIED IT, BECAME RELICS OF A PREVIOUS ERA.

MUCH OF HOT ROD CULTURE CENTERS ON A PERFORMATIVE IMAGE OF MASCULINITY. THE AUTOMOBILE’S OVERWHELMING POWER, SPEED AND VISUAL BEAUTY ARE FRAMED AS FORCES TO BE MASTERED BY A SKILLED OPERATOR--SOMEONE POSSESSING CALM NERVES, INSTINCT AND INTIMATE MECHANICAL KNOWLEDGE. THIS RHETORIC EASILY MAPS MASCULINITY AS A DOMINATING FORCE THAT “CONTROLS” THE SLEEK, FEMINIZED CURVES AND OBSESSIVELY CATALOGED SPECIFICATIONS OF THE CAR. THE UNSPOKEN MISOGYNY AND SEXUALIZATION EMBEDDED IN THIS DYNAMIC FORM THE SUBTEXTUAL VOCABULARY OF MOST ROAD AND CAR FILMS, FROM VANISHING POINT (20TH CENTURY FOX, 1971) TO BULLITT (WARNER BROS, 1968) TO MAD MAX (ROADSHOW, 1979) TO THE ITALIAN JOB (PARAMOUNT, 1969) AND THROUGHOUT THE JAMES BOND (UNITED ARTISTS, 1962-present) FRANCHISE. AT THIS POINT, IT IS SIMPLY ASSUMED AS PART OF THE CINEMATIC LEXICON.

THIS IS WHAT MAKES MONTE HELLMAN’S TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (UNIVERSAL, 1971) SO FASCINATING: IT DELIBERATELY BREAKS FROM THAT TRADITION. THE FILM'S LOOSE NARRATIVE FOLLOWS A CROSS-COUNTRY RACE FOR PINK SLIPS BETWEEN TWO NEARLY ANONYMOUS FIGURES--THE DRIVER (JAMES TAYLOR) AND THE MECHANIC (DENNIS WILSON)--WHO PILOT A HEAVILY MODIFIED 1955 CHEVY 150, AND THEIR RIVAL, GTO (WARREN OATES), WHO DRIVES A STOCK 1970 PONTIAC GTO. THE DRIVER AND THE MECHANIC SPEAK ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN TECHNICAL TERMS AND FUNCTION LESS AS CHARACTERS THAN AS PSYCHIC EXTENSIONS OF THE VEHICLE ITSELF. THERE IS NO CONVENTIONAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, NO ARTICULATED GOALS OR MOTIVATIONS. THEY SIMPLY DRIVE, TINKER, EAT, AND OCCASIONALLY RACE. THEIR MASCULINITY--AND THEIR IDENTITY--IS INSEPARABLE FROM THE CAR.
GTO, BY CONTRAST, POSSESSES NO MECHANICAL SKILL OR AUTOMOTIVE UNDERSTANDING. HE TAKES PRIDE IN HIS CAR’S PERFORMANCE WITHOUT KNOWING HOW IT WORKS. FOR HIM, THE AUTOMOBILE IS A SOCIAL PROP, A MEANS OF FORGING CONNECTIONS THROUGH COMPULSIVE LYING AND CONSTANTLY REVISED PERSONAL NARRATIVES TOLD TO INDIFFERENT HITCHHIKERS. THE RACE ITSELF IS MERELY AN EXCUSE FOR HUMAN CONNECTION--AN EFFORT THAT FAILS ENTIRELY BECAUSE THE DRIVER AND THE MECHANIC HAVE NO INVESTED INTEREST IN HIM, OR PRESUMABLY EACH OTHER, BEYOND THE ROAD.

EVEN THE SUPPOSED ROMANTIC FIGURE, THE GIRL (LAURIE BIRD), DRIFTS THROUGH THE FILM WITHOUT EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT OR NARRATIVE CONSEQUENCE. PASSED BETWEEN ALL THREE MEN, SHE EXERTS NO GRAVITATIONAL PULL ON THE STORY WHATSOEVER. IN FACT, NOTHING IN THE FILM MEANINGFULLY ADVANCES THE PLOT. THE LANDSCAPE ITSELF--FROM ARIZONA TO TENNESSEE--BLENDS INTO AN UNDIFFERENTIATED EXPANSE, WITH TOWNS LACKING INDIVIDUALITY AND ROADS STRETCHING ENDLESSLY INTO SAMENESS.

THIS ANTI-NARRATIVE--DEVOID OF CLEAR OBJECTIVES, INTERPERSONAL TENSION, OR CONVENTIONAL RESOLUTION--SUGGESTS A WORLDVIEW UNMOORED FROM CONTEXT OR MEANING. IT EVOKES A BROADER CULTURAL DISSOCIATION, PERHAPS REFLECTIVE OF THE PSYCHIC AFTERMATH OF THE 1960S’ POLITICAL AND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL. ENTERING THE 1970S, DETACHMENT MAY HAVE FELT LIKE A SURVIVAL MECHANISM. IN THAT SENSE, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP FEELS LESS LIKE AN EXPLOITATION FILM ABOUT CARS AND SPEED THAN A MEDITATION ON EMPTINESS: A DEPICTION OF A GENERATION TEMPORARILY DISENGAGING FROM ITSELF IN ORDER TO PROCESS UNRESOLVED TRAUMA.

THAT RESONANCE FEELS DISTURBINGLY CONTEMPORARY. IN MOMENTS OF POLITICAL CHAOS AND MORAL EXHAUSTION, THE IMPULSE TO UNPLUG--TO RETREAT INTO MOTION WITHOUT DIRECTION--FEELS FAMILIAR. FOR ME, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP CAPTURES THAT IMPULSE WITH REMARKABLE PRECISION.  I ADMIRE HOW COMPLETELY THE FILM REJECTS CINEMATIC CONVENTION, PARTICULARLY WITHIN A GENRE AS RIGIDLY CODED AS THE ROAD OR CAR MOVIE. AS A RESULT, IT STANDS AS ONE OF MY FAVORITE FILMS OF THE GENRE--ALONGSIDE VANISHING POINT--AND REMAINS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL VIEWING.

AGING GRACEFULLY IS DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY DURING TIMES OF GREAT CHANGE THAT OCCUR AMIDST YOUR TWILIGHT YEARS. THE FRONTIER WAS ALWAYS AN UNFORGIVING TERRAIN THAT REQUIRED COURAGE AND INGENUITY FOR ONE TO SURVIVE, BUT WITH THE FORWARD ADVANCE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION (i.e. RAILROADS AND EARLY AUTOMOBILES) AND MINING OPERATIONS, SUCH HAS RENDERED THE INDIVIDUAL LESS IN CONTROL OF THEIR OWN DESTINY SEEMINGLY THAN IN THE PAST. BOOM AND BUST CYCLES INSTEAD ARE REPLACED BY BUSINESS MODELS AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT CHURN OUT A REGULAR, ALBEIT DIMINISHED, RETURN FOR THE LONG HAUL.

SAM PECKINPAH'S RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (MGM, 1962) IS A BITTERSWEET ODE TO THIS TRANSITION AWAY FROM RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM AND THE INTRODUCTORY STAGES OF COLLABORATIVE INDUSTRIALIZATION ALONG THE FRONTIER VIA THE SOLITARY FIGURE OF AN AGING ex-LAWMAN NAMED STEVE JUDD [JOEL MCCREA], WHOSE FORMER HONORABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT WORK HAS BEEN REDUCED TO MERE MUSCLE AT ROWDY SALOONS AND BROTHELS IN RECENT YEARS. THINGS ARE LOOKING UP AS HE HAS FOUND A DESPERATE BUYER FOR HIS SERVICES IN THE TOWN OF HORNITOS, WHERE A BANK HAS HAD DISMAL LUCK TRANSPORTING BACK GOLD FROM A HIGH COUNTRY MINING SITE AS OPPORTUNISTIC BANDITS HAVE PREVIOUSLY CLAIMED THE LIVES OF SIX MEN ATTEMPTING TO SAFEGUARD PAST SHIPMENTS.

SENSING AN OPPORTUNITY, JUDD PITCHES HIMSELF AT A STEEP PRICE AND QUICKLY HIRES A TEAM THAT INCLUDES SHARPSHOOTER GIL WESTRUM [RANDOLPH SCOTT] AND HIS YOUNG APPRENTICE HECK LONGTREE [RON STARR]. WHAT BECOMES IMMEDIATELY APPARENT IS THE DIVERSITY OF AMBITIONS AMONGST THESE THREE, AS THE LATTER TWO ARE CONSIDERING ROBBING JUDD AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIP AND LONGTREE IS ALL HORMONES AND A COMPLETE HORN DOG FOR SEEMINGLY ANYTHING THAT MOVES. SUCH TREACHERY AND SIDE QUESTS COMPLICATE THEIR JOB AS SUCH GETS THEM INVOLVED WITH OUTSIDE MATTERS THAT ULTIMATELY DOOM THE WHOLE ENTERPRISE. BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT WHAT JUDD WAS REALLY LOOKING FOR WAS NOT NECESSARILY A BIG PAYOUT OR A MASSIVE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE, JUST AN HONORABLE MEANS OF DYING IN AND AMONGST A LANDSCAPE THAT HAS LONG SINCE PASSED HIM BY.

IT’S HARD NOT TO READ THIS FILM AS SOMETHING OF A META-COMMENTARY ON THE STATE OF THE WESTERN GENRE AND THE CAREERS OF RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY’s MAIN ACTORS IN THAT OF JOEL MCCREA AND RANDOLPH SCOTT, FOR WHOM THIS WAS SOMETHING OF A SWAN SONG. IN SHORT ORDER CLINT EASTWOOD, VIA THE CREATIVE VISION OF SERGIO LEONE (BORROWED FROM AKIRA KUROSAWA), WOULD TRANSFORM THE GENRE INTO SOMETHING THAT WAS ALLEGORICALLY AND ETHICALLY MORE NUANCED AND COMPLICATED, WHERE MORAL PURITY WAS HARDER TO DISCERN AND ANTI-HEROES RAN AMOK A DEGRADED AND DEVOLVED LANDSCAPE WITH CALLOUS, FICKLE, AND ENTIRELY UNWORTHY FRONTIER FOLK IN THE MIX. IN A SENSE, THE NEAT SANDBOX THAT WAS THE WESTERN GENRE WAS BECOMING MORE SOPHISTICATED AND BEGAN TO RESEMBLE THE COMPLICATIONS OF MODERN DAILY LIFE, RATHER THAN REMOTE ALLEGORIES AND MYTHOLOGIES THAT EXISTED ON AN ELEVATED CINEMATIC PLAIN.

I WATCH THIS FILM AND I FEEL LIKE IT IS ALMOST A EULOGY TO AN OLDER, ANACHRONISTIC MEANS OF DOING SOMETHING BEFORE THE INEVITABLE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE SNUFFED IT OUT ENTIRELY. ALMOST LIKE THAT EQUALLY AFFECTING J.M.W. TURNER THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE (NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON, 1839) PAINTING OF A PROUD, MAJESTIC WARSHIP WITH ITS SAILS DOWN BEING PULLED INTO PORT BY A SMALL STEAM-POWERED TUGBOAT AS IT ADVANCES TO ITS OWN DISASSEMBLY AND DESTRUCTION AS TECHNOLOGY HAS RENDERED SUCH OBSOLETE. AS SUCH, THIS FILM IS QUITE UNIQUE AND WELL WORTH CHECKING OUT. MUCH RECOMMENDED--AND REQUIRED VIEWING EVEN--REGARDLESS OF ONE’S INTEREST IN WESTERNS.

ITS SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND SUCH IN OUR FRACTURED CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CONVERSATION VIA TRUMP 2.0, BUT BACK WHEN THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE WATERGATE SCANDAL, SUCH HAD PALPABLE CONSEQUENCES ON FEELINGS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY AND TRUST IN AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. JUST THE IDEA THAT SOMETHING SO CRAVENLY AND BALDLY CORRUPT ALMOST WORKED IF NOT FOR STOPGAP INTERNAL MECHANISMS AND COURAGEOUS WHISTLEBLOWERS REALLY PUT INTO PROPER PERSPECTIVE HOW VULNERABLE ALL CITIZENS ARE TO A MALIGNANT WOULD-BE AUTHORITARIAN. OF COURSE IN THE AGE OF TRUMP WE ARE VERY MUCH LIVING AND BREATHING IN THIS DYSTOPIAN REALITY, BUT JOHN CARPENTER'S CULT CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION / ACTION FILM ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (AVCO EMBASSY, 1981) IS VERY MUCH AN EXPRESSION OF THE TIMES WITH ITS BOUNDLESS PARANOIA AND DEVOLVED STATE OF OUR NATIONAL SOCIAL FABRIC ALL BELY AN ALIENATION FROM A DEEP MISTRUST IN AUTHORITY.

THE FILM REVOLVES AROUND A FUTURE UNITED STATES IN WHICH THE NATIONAL CRIME RATE SHOOTS UP PAST 400% AND THE ONLY WAY TO CONTAIN SUCH WANTON CRIMINALITY IS TO LITERALLY CREATE A WALLED-IN PENAL COLONY FOR ALL THE NATION'S CRIMINALS ON THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN. INSIDE ITS CONFINES IS A LAWLESS ZERO-SUM POWER-STRUCTURE BASED ON FEAR AND INTIMIDATION WHERE THE DUKE [ISAAC HAYES] REIGNS SUPREME. WHEN AIR FORCE ONE IS COMPROMISED BY AN ANARCHISTIC GROUP AND MADE TO CRASH INTO MANHATTAN, PRESIDENT JOHN HARKER [DONALD PLEASANCE] IS TAKEN AS PRISONER BY THE DUKE, LEAVING THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT NO OPTION BUT TO SEND IN THE CELEBRATED FORMER SPECIAL FORCES HERO TURNED CONVICTED THIEF LIEUTENANT S.D BOB "SNAKE" PLISSKEN [KURT RUSSELL] TO TRY AND EXTRACT SUCH WITHIN 24 HOURS BEFORE A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT WAS SET TO BE SIGNED IN PERSON.

PART OF THE CONCEIT OF THIS FILM IS ATTEMPTING TO DISCERN WHY ANYONE LOCKED INSIDE NEW YORK CITY AND FORGOTTEN WOULD EVEN LIFT A FINGER TO HELP HARKER OUT OF SUCH A BIND. PLISSKEN IS FORCED INTO SUCH AN ENDEAVOR VIA AN IMPLANTED CHIP PUT THERE BY THE CORRUPT POLICE COMMISSIONER BOB HAUK [LEE VAN CLEEF] THAT WILL KILL HIM IN 24 HOURS UNLESS HE COMPLETES HIS MISSION IN TIME. WITHIN MANHATTAN, HARKER IS JUST ANOTHER COMMODITY UP FOR NEGOTIATION BETWEEN RIVAL GANGS IN AN EVERMORE FEROCIOUS TURF WAR OVER DWINDLING RESOURCES. ANYBODY WHO DOES ASSIST HARKER IS OUT OF A SENSE OF DUTY AND OBLIGATION TO PLISSKEN, WHOSE REPUTATION AS A SINGULAR BADASS PRECEDES HIM.

AFTER MUCH WANTON VIOLENCE AND NEEDLESS DEATH, HAUK IS ULTIMATELY RETURNED TO SAFETY BUT WITH NO CLEAR SENSE OF DUTY OR OBLIGATION TO THOSE MANY CRIMINALS WHO PERSONALLY SACRIFICED ON HIS BEHALF WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT. THE FILM SEEMS TO BE ASSERTING THAT EVEN IN A WORLD OF UNPARALLELED AGGRESSION, CRIMINALITY AND VIOLENCE, THE POLITICAL CLASS IS THE MOST CYNICALLY MANIACAL AND SELF-SERVING OF THE WHOLE BUNCH. MAKES SENSE THAT SYSTEMATICALLY ALL ROTS FROM THE HEAD DOWN, NOT THAT DISSIMILAR FROM THE RECENT WATERGATE SCANDAL. THE CLOSING OF THE FILM MAKES ONE REEVALUATE NOTIONS OF EVIL AND GOODNESS, AS WELL AS WHO THE REAL CRIMINALS ARE AND WHO THE VICTIMS OF AN AUTHORITARIAN SECURITY APPARATUS OUT OF WACK WITH ITS OWN MISSION SEEM TO BE. WHO ARE THE EXPLOITED MASSES AND WHO ARE NOT. SEEMS A SITUATION WHERE EVERYONE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER IS IMPRISONED, EVEN IF THEY HAVENT NOTICED SUCH.
​
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK IS A THOUGHTFUL DYSTOPIAN SCI-FI / ACTION FILM WELL WORTH CHECKING OUT. MUCH RECOMMENDED.

THE NEXUS OF INDIVIDUAL AGENCY AND NATIONAL SECURITY WAS OF PARAMOUNT CONCERN TO THE AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS, ESPECIALLY DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE COLD WAR, SINCE IT REPRESENTED A PARTICULARLY INDEFENSIBLE VULNERABILITY THAT WAS BASED ON THE FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE OF HUMAN BIOLOGY AND THE PSYCHE ITSELF.  BEING HUMAN IS WHAT MAKES US SUSCEPTIBLE TO THIS NEW FORM OF WARFARE IN WHICH ONES'S ABILITY TO CONTROL THEIR OWN MIND CAN BE SUBVERTED AND USED AGAINST THEMSELVES AND THEIR STATE WITH NO ABILITY TO RECOLLECT INFORMATION REGARDING THE EXPERIENCE AS IT WAS SUBCONSCIOUS.  IT IS QUITE THE PREMISE FOR A POLITICAL THRILLER, PARTICULARLY FOR A FILM THAT CAME OUT IN THE EARLY 1960s, MORE THAN A DECADE BEFORE THE CHURCH COMMITTEE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC THE C.I.A.'s FAILED EXPERIMENTAL MK ULTRA BEHAVIORAL AND CONTROL TRIALS THAT SOUGHT TO UTILIZE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IN ORDER TO BRAINWASH TARGETS AND POSSIBLY PSYCHOLOGICALLY TORTURE THEM.  SUCH REVELATIONS WOULD PROVIDE INTEREST IN THE PREMISE THAT MUCH FURTHER.

THE JOHN FRANKENHEIMER-directed THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (UNITED ARTISTS, 1962) FILM FOLLOWS THE UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES OF A KOREAN WAR UNIT AND THE UNUSUAL NIGHTMARISH DREAMS SOME OF ITS MEMBERS MANIFEST UPON RETURNING STATESIDE.  ONLY AFTER MAJOR BENNETT MARCO [FRANK SINATRA] FINDS DETAILS OF HIS DREAMS TO BE CORROBORATED BY ANOTHER OF HIS UNIT IN CORPORAL ALLEN MELVIN [JAMES EDWARDS] DOES THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TAKE HIS CLAIMS SERIOUSLY OF SOMETHING BEING DISTINCTLY WRONG WITH SERGEANT RAYMOND SHAW [LAURENCE HARVEY] AND THE SERIES OF EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED HIS RETURN HOME AFTER EARNING THE MEDAL OF HONOR FOR FICTITIOUS EVENTS.  TURNS OUT THE WHOLE UNIT WAS CAPTURED BY AN ELITE FORCE IN KOREA AND THEN SHIPPED OFF TO MANCHURIA WHERE SOVIET SCIENTISTS REPROGRAMMED THEM UTILIZING NOVEL MIND CONTROL TECHNIQUES THAT INCLUDED VERBAL CUES AND VISUAL TRIGGERS IN ORDER TO ACTIVATE THEM AS SLEEPER AGENTS, AS WAS THE CASE WITH SHAW, WHO WHILE IN CAPTIVITY MURDERED TWO OF HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS UNDER ENEMY MIND CONTROL. 

SHAW IS THE STEPSON OF THE POWERFUL AND MUCH FEARED UNITED STATES SENATOR JOHN YERKES ISELIN [JAMES GREGORY] WHO IS A SHAMELESS MCCARTHY-style  PROVOCATEUR WHO HIMSELF IS HEAVILY GUIDED BY THE SINGULAR MACHIAVELLIAN POLITICAL MASTERMIND MRS. ELEANOR SHAW ISELIN [ANGELA LANSBURY].  ELEANOR HERSELF SEEMS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE SURROUNDING POLITICS OF UPWARD MOBILITY AND POWER ACCUMULATION AND IS EASILY ONE OF THE MOST DELIGHTFULLY DESPICABLE FILM VILLAINS OF ALL-TIME.  LANSBURY IS A REVELATION IN THE ROLE IN WHICH SHE WAS ULTIMATELY NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR.  WITH THE HELP OF MARCO, SHAW LEARNS OF HIS VERBAL AND VISUAL TRIGGER AND AN ATTEMPT ON SABOTAGING SUCH IS UNDERTAKEN, THEREAFTER THE LIMITS OF SHAW's AGENCY IS WHAT IS UNDER CONSIDERATION IN THE FILM'S FINAL ACT IN WHICH HE IS TASKED TO MURDER IN COLD BLOOD A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AT THAT YEAR'S CONVENTION.

THE VERY CONCEPT OF LOSING ONE'S AGENCY AND THE IMMENSE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF SUCH BY AN IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL, ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE INTELLIGENCE OR MILITARY RANKS, IS PROFOUND AND DISCONCERTING.  ITS ALSO A PERENNIAL THREAT TO PRESENT DAY AND SOMETHING THE MILITARY TAKE SERIOUSLY.  I DONT WANT TO RUIN THE ENDING ENOUGH TO BELABOR THE POINT THAT THE REAL INCURSION IS NOT THE NUCLEAR AGE, BUT THE EGO AND HUBRIS ASSOCIATED WITH TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT.  ITS ALWAYS THE WEAKEST LINK IN AN ORGANIZATION AND THE REASON THAT COMPEX COMPUTER NETWORKS ARE POSSIBLE.  SOMETHING YOU MIGHT CONSIDER NEXT TIME YOU FEEL COMPELLED TO COMBAT GROUPTHINK OR EVEN ACCEPT AN ASSESSMENT YOU DONT SHARE.  THAT SUBTLE DYNAMIC IS AT THE CENTER OF THIS FILM AND WHAT IT MEANS PERENNIALLY DOWN THE ROAD TO OUR DEFENSE CAPABILITIES AND THE TRUE SCOPE OF VIOLENCE BEING CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE. 

​THUS THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE IS MUCH RECOMMENDED.  DEFINITELY WORTH CHECKING OUT.

I BELIEVE CURRENTLY WE ARE COLLECTIVELY OBTAINING AN INTIMATE LESSON IN HOW OPPRESSIVE POWER STRUCTURES INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR.  WHETHER OR NOT ONE RESPONDS IN KIND TO OFFICIAL ACTS OF COERCION, INCARCERATION, FORCED ASSIMILATION, SABOTAGE, EXTORTION, INTIMIDATION, SURVEILLANCE MONITORING, SOCIAL ENGINEERING, INDOCTRINATION, VIOLENCE OR THE VERY STRIPPING AWAY OF HUMAN, LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, ONE IS STILL AFFECTED BY SUCH.  I HAVE BORE WITNESS TO PRETTY RELAXED, ANYTHING-GOES FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS TRANSFORM INTO SOMETHING MORE HYPER-AGGRESSIVE AND REACTIONARY OVER THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATIONS' UNFORTUNATE RE-EMERGENCE ON THE NATIONAL POLITICAL SCENE.  THERE IS SOMETHING PARTICULAR ABOUT SINGULARLY POWERFUL STRUCTURES THAT ARE DISTINCTLY OPPRESSIVE WHICH COUNTER-INTUITIVELY INFLUENCE THEIR VICTIMS TO REACT IN KIND AND EVEN MIRROR THEIR BEHAVIOR.

SUCH IS WITNESSED IN ABUNDANCE IN THE CELEBRATED LARRY COHEN-directed BLAXPLOITATION FILM BLACK CAESAR (AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL, 1973) WHICH FOLLOWS THE RISE OF A YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICAN HUSTLER TOMMY GIBBS [FRED WILLIAMSON], AS HE USURPS THE EXISTING CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD POWER STRUCTURE AND IN TURN IS TRANSFORMED BY THE EXPERIENCE, MIRRORING THE BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES OF THOSE HE SUPPLANTED AND UNCEREMONIOUSLY DISCARDED ALONG THE WAY.  THE FILM ITSELF IS LESS ABOUT THE TRAPPINGS OF POWER AND MORE ABOUT THE PSYCHIC COST OF THAT ASCENSION, WHICH IS BEAUTIFULLY RELAYED IN THE SONG "THE BOSS" THAT SOUL / FUNK PIONEER JAMES BROWN WROTE FOR THE SOUNDTRACK IN WHICH HE INTONES ABOUT THE CLEAR FACT THAT ONE HAS TO "PAY THE COST TO BE THE BOSS."  GIBBS, ALONG WITH HIS FELLOW NEIGHBORHOOD FRIENDS, ENTERED INTO A WORLD OF PETTY CRIME AND SMALL CONS AS A MEANS OF SURVIVAL IN A NEW YORK CITY THAT OFFERED NO OTHER ROUTE TO PROSPERITY.  IF ANYTHING, THE FAILING SCHOOLS, RACIST COPS, LACK OF WORK AND OVERFLOWING PRISON INFRASTRUCTURE SEEMED PURPOSEFULLY DESIGNED TO STRUCTURALLY KEEP GIBBS AND HIS COMMUNITY DOWN.  AFTER A BID IN PRISON DUE TO THE CORRUPT ACTIONS OF A RACIST AND PARTICULARLY SADISTIC DIRTY COP IN THAT OF CAPTAIN JACK MCKINNEY [ART LUND], GIBBS RETURNS TO HARLEM A CHANGED MAN READ TO CHALLENGE HIS ITALIAN-AMERICAN OVERLORDS WITH A VENGEANCE.  AT THE CENTER OF THIS COORDINATED ATTACK IS THE BOLD THEFT OF A FEW IMPORTANT LEDGER BOOKS THAT CARRRY ALL THE NAMES OF PAST ILLEGAL PAYOFFS TO LOCAL POLITICIANS, ECONOMIC EXECUTIVES AND THE LIKE.  THOSE LEDGER BOOKS REPRESENT SOFT POWER IN THAT THEY SHOW WHERE THE SKELETONS OF NEW YORK CITY's REALPOLITIK ARE BURIED.  OBTAINING SUCH BRINGS EVERYONE IN THE CITY HEEL UNDER GIBBS' EFFECTIVE CONTROL.

INITIALLY GIBBS' IS INTERESTED IN THE UPLIFTING OF HIS PEOPLE THROUGH PROMISED FUTURE ECONOMIC INVESTMENT INTO BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND MUCH-NEEDED LOCAL INITIATIVES SUCH AS HOUSING, UTILITIES AND COMMUNITY CENTERS.  AS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH BECOMES MIRED DOWN AND DIFFICULT GIVEN THE MULTITUDE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN PLAY AND THE IMPOSING BUREAUCRACY OF COMMUNITY BUY-IN, FINANCE AND CONSENSUS-PEDDLING MECHANISMS, GIBBS ULTIMATELY BECOMES DISTRACTED AND MORE CONCERNED WITH STRAIGHT-AHEAD REVENUE-GENERATION AND FIGHTING OFF POTENTIAL RIVALS TO HIS THRONE THROUGH OUTRIGHT BRIBERY AND PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF EXTREME VIOLENCE.  IN OTHER WORDS, GIBBS BECAME WHAT HE INITIALLY SOUGHT TO DESTROY.

BLAXPLOITATION AS A GENRE IS CONCERNED WITH THE INVERSION OF SAID POWER STRUCTURES AND SHOWCASING BLACK CULTURE AND ITS MANY SUPPORTERS IN AN EMPOWERING LIGHT THAT IS CONSCIOUSLY COUNTERING TRADITIONAL, AND VERY OFTEN RACIST, DEPICTIONS OF SUCH.  BLACK CAESAR STANDS OUT IN THAT IT CONCERNS ITSELF WITH THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF BOTH SUBVERTING AND INVERTING ENDURING RACIST POWER STRUCTURES, ASKING IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO SUCH AND NOT BECOME ENTANGLED IN THE CORRUPT VALUES OF SUCH ALONG THE WAY.  GIBBS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN CONTROL REPEATEDLY MURDERS, LIES, RAPES, CHEATS AND STEALS HIS WAY TO THE TOP WITH A FIERCE DETERMINATION AND GUSTO THAT FINDS HIM WINNING THAT DEGRADING RACE TO THE BOTTOM.  WHEN HE SUCCEEDS THROUGH SHEER DEPRAVED WILL AND THE ABILITY TO OUT-DEBASE HIS OWN PEOPLE WHO DO NOT ADORE HIM BUT ULTIMATELY FEAR HIM AND HIS VOLATILE NATURE. 

AS SUCH ITS DIFFICULT NOT TO VIEW THIS FILM AS AN ALLEGORY ABOUT HOW VIOLENCE ROOTING OUT VIOLENCE IS NOT THE WAY FOR ANY ENDURING CHANGE AND REVOLUTION.  IT MERELY SUBSTITUTES ONE BAD SITUATION FOR ANOTHER, THE CHANGING OF DECK CHAIRS ON A SINKING SHIP IF YOU WILL. MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS. WITH THE DILAPIDATED STATE OF NEW YORK CITY IN THE 1970s AND THE post-CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT MALAISE OF THAT ERA I CAN UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY THE APPEAL OF BLACK CAESAR WOULD MAKE SENSE.  IN SOME WAYS IT STILL DOES, BUT SUCH IS ULTIMATELY FOLLY AS YOU ARE JUST FIGHTING HOSTILITY AND INJUSTICE WITH MORE HOSTILITY AND INJUSTICE.  IT LEADS TO THE SAME PLACE. 

OR AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT I TOOK FROM THE  FILM.  MUCH RECOMMENDED.  REQUIRED VIEWING IN MY OPINION REGARDLESS OF YOUR INTEREST IN BLAXPLOITATION FILMS OF WHICH THIS IS A KEY EXEMPLAR OF.

ON THE SURFACE OF IT, THE HOWARD HAWKS-directed CLASSIC WESTERN RIO BRAVO (WARNER BROS, 1959) IS A CONVENTIONAL GENRE PIECE WITH AN INSPIRED ENSEMBLE CAST THAT ACTS AS A MORALITY PLAY ABOUT THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY IN TIMES OF HARDSHIP. 

LOCAL SHERIFF JOHN T. CHANCE [JOHN WAYNE] IS PRESENTED WITH SAFE-GUARDING THE BROTHER, JOE BURDETTE [CLAUDE AKINS], OF AN INFLUENTIAL LOCAL LAND BARON NATHAN BURDETTE [JOHN RUSSELL] IN HIS JAIL ON CHARGES OF MURDERING HIS GOOD FRIEND PAT WHEELER [WARD BOND], A LONG-TIME STAGECOACH OPERATOR WHO REGULARLY BRING MUCH-NEEDED SUPPLIES TO THE TOWN.  WHEN NATHAN EXPECTEDLY PRESSES THE UNDERMANNED CHANCE WITH A STRING OF HITMEN AND VARIOUS UNDERHANDED TACTICS MEANT TO INTIMIDATE AND COERCE, THE PLOT OF THIS FILM REALLY BEGINS TO GAIN MOMENTUM.  THE CENTRAL DYNAMIC AT PLAY IN RIO BRAVO IS THAT CAPACITY BY CHANCE THROUGH CHARISMA, FORTITUDE AND EXPERIENCE CORRAL FAVOR IN THE COMMUNITY AND MAINTAIN A SMALL RAG-TAG GROUP OF FLAWED BUT POTENT COLLABORATORS TO CLAMP DOWN ON THE THREAT, INCLUDING THE OFT-INEBRIATED RUGGED MARKSMAN DUDE [DEAN MARTIN], THE YOUNG INEXPERIENCED GUNSLINGER COLORADO RYAN [RICKY NELSON] AND THE WILY OLD LAME FORMER DEPUTY STUMPY [WALTER BRENNAN].  GIVEN HAWKS PENCHANT FOR DIALOGUE AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, MUCH OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THESE KEY FIGURES VARIES IN TONE FROM SOMBER AND COMEDIC TO EVEN JUBILANT WITH A FEW RANDOM MUSICAL NUMBERS THROWN IN FOR WHAT REASON I DO NOT KNOW.  BUT WHAT PRESENTS AS A FAIRLY TRADITIONAL TAKE ON A BOILER-PLATE NARRATIVE IS ACTUALLY A COUNTER TO ANOTHER HIGH-TOUTED FILM, i.e. FRED ZINNEMAN's CLASSIC WESTERN HIGH NOON (UNITED ARTISTS, 1952).

IN HIGH NOON THE SHERIFF PLAYED BY GARY COOPER IS SIMILARLY TASKED WITH GATHERING A POSSE TO FIGHT OFF AN APPROACHING THREAT AND IS UNSUCCESSFUL IN THAT ENDEAVOR WITH REGARDS TO THE LOCAL TOWNSFOLK, WHO ARE CAUSTICALLY PRESENTED AS FICKLE, SELF-INTERESTED AND COWARDLY.  THE TARGET OF SUCH A META-NARRATIVE WAS UNDERSTOOD TO BE THOSE IN THE FILM INDUSTRY THAT DIDNT SUPPORT THE HOLLYWOOD PLAYERS THAT WERE UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE OBVIOUSLY UNJUST POLITICAL WITCH HUNT THAT WAS THE HUAC INVESTIGATIONS MADE FAMOUS BY UNITED STATES SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY OF WISCONSIN.  UNSURPRISINGLY WAYNE BEING AN ARCHCONSERVATIVE AND UNAPOLOGETIC PROPONENT OF A CERTAIN TRADITIONAL MODE OF MASCULINITY THAT SUPPORTED THE MCCARTHYIST RED SCARE AND ALL ITS RUINATION AND TOOK BITTER OFFENSE TO THE EMBEDDED CRITICISM OF PEOPLE LIKE HIM IN HIGH NOON.  SO RIO BRAVO WITH ITS ADROIT AND CHARISMATIC SHERIFF, WHO IS ABLE TO PROJECT STRENGTH AND COALITION-BUILDING ACUMEN IN A SMALL DESOLATE ENVIRONMENT, EVEN TURNING AWAY THOSE SPECIFIC VOLUNTEERS IN THE PROCESS THAT HE DETERMINED TO BE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO THE UNNECCESARY RISK OF DEATH.  HIS LEADERSHIP IS SO FORMIDABLE THAT IT IS HIM THAT ALLEVIATES THE LOCAL TOWNSPEOPLE TO BYPASS PERSONAL PARTICIPATION IN ARMED HOSTILITIES AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.  CHANCE IS THE SHIELD LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY THAT THE COMMUNITY STANDS BEHIND AND SUPPORTS AS THE ENFORCER OF THEIR SAFETY AND WELL-BEING.  OH AND HE GETS THE GIRL, FEATHERS [ANGIE DICKINSON], FOR GOOD MEASURE.

IN MY ESTIMATION, ITS ALL A BIT TOO CONVENIENT, BUT SUCH IS ULTIMATELY THE BEAUTY OF THE WESTERN GENRE AND ITS ABILITY TO MOLD ALLEGORY AND MORALITY PLAYS INTO A PARTICULAR WORLDVIEW WITH OBVIOUS CONNECTIONS TO CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY.  THESE FILMS ARE MEANT TO BE MICROCOSMS OF DAILY LIFE AND THE ISSUES THAT ARISE FROM THE HUMAN CONDITION.  IN WAYNE's VISION OF THE CASE, THE COMMUNITY NEEDS A CHARISMATIC, BARREL-CHESTED EXEMPLAR OF MANHOOD TO TAKE THE REIGNS AND DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, UNILATERALLY IF NEED BE.  THE COMPLEXITY OF CONSENSUS AND COALITION-BUILDING THROUGH NEGOTIATED RESOLUTIONS AND CONSIDERATION FOR THE AIMS AND NEEDS OF OTHERS IS TOO WISHY-WASHY AN ACTIVITY FOR WAYNE, WHO IS ALL ABOUT POWER AND DOMINATION.  IM NOT SURPRISED THAT HE DIDNT APPRECIATE HIGH NOON AND ITS BITTER CRITIQUE THAT MAYBE AS CITIZENS WE DONT DESERVE A SOCIETY WE ARE WILLING TO COLLECTIVELY FIGHT FOR.  I GET IT.  WAYNE WANTS TO DO THE FIGHTING.  HE WANTS THE ADMIRATION.  HE WANTS THE GLORY.  ITS A MENTALITY THAT UNFORTUNATELY PERVADES THROUGH TO THE MAJORITY OF THE CURRENT TRUMP 2.0 ADMINISTRATION TO THE UNFORTUNATE DETRIMENT OF EVERYONE. 

BUT THERE IT IS IN RIO BRAVO FOR ALL TO SEE.  DEFINITELY RECOMMEND WATCHING THIS FILM IN TANDEM WITH HIGH NOON.  A FASCINATING CINEMATIC DIALOGUE HAPPENING THERE THAT IS WELL WORTH LEARNING ABOUT.

IF NOT KEPT IN CHECK, OBSESSIONS CAN BE DANGEROUS.  THAT IRRATIONAL CERTAINTY OF EXPLODING THE IMPORTANCE OF A MINOR DETAIL, PERSON OR SITUATION TO THE DETRIMENT OF ALL OTHER CONTEXTUAL CLUES CAN LEAD ONE ASTRAY.  AND IF ONE HAS SIGNIFICANT AUTHORITY TO BOOT THAN THE POTENTIAL PERIL IS COMPOUNDED ACCORDINGLY AS  IS THE CASE WITH NYPD DETECTIVE JIMMY "POPEYE" DOYLE [GENE HACKMAN] AND HIS UNPERSUASIVE HUNCHES CONCERNING AN IMMINENT MAJOR NARCOTICS TRANSACTION IN BROOKLYN IN THE ICONIC WILLIAM FRIEDKIN-directed CRIME THRILLER THE FRENCH CONNECTION (20TH CENTURY FOX, 1971).

NORMALLY IN NOIR AND CRIME FILMS THE AUTHORITIES ARE SEEN AS CAUGHT IN THE AMIDST OF SOMETHING OF A DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH DYNAMIC IN TERMS OF BEING UNDERFUNDED, UNDERMANNED AND OUTGUNNED TO THE MORE CONSOLIDATED AND DISCIPLINED EFFORTS OF MAJOR ORGANIZED CRIME SYNDICATES.  SUCH IS NOT SEEN AS A FAILURE OF SOCIETY BUT THE END RESULT OF A LATE STAGE CAPITALIST SYSTEM THAT IS ALL ABOUT SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPLOITING SYSTEM VULNERABILITIES.  THE COPS THUS ARE TRADITIONALLY GIVEN A PASS FOR THEIR OWN INCOMPETENCE, LACK OF MATERIAL SUPPORT OR RELEVANT FIELD EXPERIENCE.  NOT SO WITH THE FRENCH CONNECTION WHICH TAKES PLACE IN A DILAPIDATED EARLY 1970s HELLSCAPE THAT WAS NEW YORK CITY DURING ITS pre-"FEAR CITY" ERA WHERE BUDGET CUTS AND WHITE FLIGHT LEFT MANY EDIFICES ABANDONED, ELEVATED CRIME RATES AND A SENSE OF OVERALL LAWLESSNESS SHARED BETWEEN PEOPLE AND AUTHORITIES ALIKE.  ITS IN THIS DEPRESSED ECONOMIC CLIMATE AND DYSFUNCTIONAL POLITICAL CONTEXT THAT DOYLE AND HIS ASSOCIATE BUDDY "CLOUDY" RUSSO [ROY SCHEIDER] ROAM THE CITY STREETS WITH ABSOLUTE IMPUNITY.

ITS UNFORTUNATE BECAUSE HIS HUNCH IS CORRECT IN THAT THERE IS A MAJOR TRANSATLANTIC NARCOTICS TRANSACTION IMMINENTLY ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE BETWEEN FRENCH SELLERS AND LOCAL ITALIAN-AMERICAN BUYERS HOPING TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF A RECENT DROP IN AVAILABLE PRODUCT ON THE STREETS.  THAT DOYLE CANNOT AMASS A CONSOLIDATED EFFORT AND TOO OFTEN ASSUMES AUTHORITY HE DOESNT NECESSARILY HAVE IS A TENSION THROUGHOUT THE FILM AND A MODE OF CORRUPTION IN AND OF ITSELF.  DOYLE SUBVERTS THE WILL OF HIS OWN DEPARTMENT AND IT SHOULD COMES AS NO SURPRISE THAT VIRTUALLY ALL PERSONS ARRESTED EVENTUALLY WERE LET FREE FROM LONG-TERM INCARCERATION DUE TO A LACK OF FOLLOWED PROTOCOL.  DOING THINGS BY-THE-BOOK IS THERE FOR A REASON, ITS LITERALLY WHAT SEPARATES DEMOCRACIES FROM ORGANIZED VIGILANTES AND AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENTS.  AND WHEN DOYLE COMMITS TO THE FAMOUS CAR CHASE SEQUENCE THROUGHOUT BROOKLYN IN ATTEMPTS OF CATCHING AN ABOVE-GROUND RUNAWAY SUBWAY TRAIN AND THE ASSASSIN IT HOLDS, THE WHOLE CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS ARE BASICALLY COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN THE PROCESS.  WHO IS SERVING WHO?  AND WHEN HE FINALLY SHOOTS THE ASSAILANT RATHER THAN ARRESTING HIM, ITS UNCEREMONIOUSLY DONE IN THE BACK.

LIKE A COWARD.

SUCH IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE JUDICIAL AND CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE LANGUISHES AND EVENTUALLY WARPS AND DECAYS, SEVERELY LIMITING ITS EFFECTIVE ABILITY TO EFFECTUATE ITS OWN MANDATE WITH SOCIETY.  IN THAT SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCE, WHICH NEW YORK CITY EFFECTIVELY WAS DURING THE EARLY 1970s, YOU ARE BASICALLY ASKING FOR A DOYLE-type CHARACTER TO RISE FROM THIS MORAL MORASS AND BECOME AN EFFECTIVE VIGILANTE WITH A BADGE, THE WORSE POSSIBLE SITUATION.  DONT BELIEVE ME, THE FILM CLOSES WITH A LIST OF ALL THE CRIMINALS SET FREE FROM THIS INVESTIGATION DUE TO IRREGULARITIES REGARDING THE COLLECTION OF PERTINENT INFORMATION, i.e. ACTUAL POLICE WORK. 

THE FRENCH CONNECTION IS A THOUGHTFUL AND CHALLENGING RUMINATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNAL CORRUPTION REGARDING CORE CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SOCIETY'S RESPONSIBILITY IN MAINTAINING THEIR END OF THE BARGAIN.  ONCE ONE GOES OR THE OTHER ALL HELL IS TO FOLLOW AS SEEN IN THIS DEMANDING AND ENIGMATIC FILM.  REQUIRED VIEWING IN MY OPINION. MUCH RECOMMENDED.