While the film is largely a celebratory romp within this ideal, it does show hints of self-consciousness, as expressed through the film’s slightly tongue-in-cheek nature with supporting characters apologizing for or explaining away Harry Callahan’s behavior. It is within this same vein that Don Siegel’s 1971 Dirty Harry presents a tough, no-nonsense male ideal in the form of Clint Eastwood’s eponymous character, who wants nothing more than to carry the biggest gun, solve the case, and perhaps look at some nude women along the way. From The Maltese Falcon’s Sam Spade and his one-punch knock-out of the effeminate Joel Cairo to Laura’s Mark McPherson saving the titular character from the bookish, possibly gay Waldo Lydecker, film noirs have sent a very clear message that the ideal man is strong, straight, and ready to beat anyone up at a moment’s notice. Since their inception, film noirs have provided a running commentary on American masculinity-more specifically, American society’s ideal of masculinity.
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