Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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(and Popeye almost does harm a number of people during the chase).
When he finally does kill the hit man (unnecessarily; he could just as
easily have wounded the disarmed man), the audience is prepared to
desire the release of the tension that ensues. Police brutality is thus
legitimated stylistically. (1988; 42) [parentheses in original]
This analysis is prefaced by describing it as one of “the other major conservative
films of 1971...” (41) along with Dirty Harry (dir. Siegel).
Berliner, however, highlights the film’s incidental focus on Doyle’s
indifference to the bystanders that are either killed or endangered by the surrounding
events which are the focus of the narration. (2009; 108-9) Their very inclusion,
Berliner argues 6 , problematises any potential ideological readings, rendering such a
focus superfluous. Instead, he stresses that ultimately, the film’s form and narration
are used to play with generic expectation to demonstrate that what we think we want
from the genre is itself problematic. In his words, “That scene (in which Doyle and
his partner are taken off the case) is one of many that prompt questions about the
ethics of the film’s hero and the ethos of the film itself.” (108) [parentheses mine]
This is the statement that leads into his analysis of the car chase. In his conclusion to
the chapter, Berliner’s point is made more overt: “The ending of the movie
capitalizes on the fact that the stock virtues of a generic police detective have a
darker side. In Doyle, these virtues emerge ambiguously as character flaws, the
cause of his failure as a cop.” (116) This is a clear exemplification of how, as
Berliner says, “Cultural and ideological analysis may demonstrate the ways in which
6 His argument is apparent throughout the chapter, as well as on a lecture of his that I attended that
focused on this film as a subject, in 2001.