Scorpio actor Andrew Robinson discussed the Zodiac influence and how the killer's anonymity made research for the role nigh on impossible. "I didn't do much, frankly, because so little was known of the Zodiac killer, beyond these cryptic notes he had left," Robinson said. "The only research I did was that I watched a lot of film noir." The actor also explained that he used the character's paratrooper boots and peace insignia belt buckle to build an internal backstory for Scorpio: "I decided that the character would be totally messed-up after serving in Vietnam."
this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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In addition to the above, which explains the actor's thought process, I think it's an intentional choice by the filmmakers to juxtapose the "peace and love" iconography of the hippy movement / era against the depravity of Scorpio.
Obviously, Dirty Harry was directly inspired by the Zodiac Killer, whose confirmed kills occurred in 68-69. Significantly, the Zodiac's first and second letters were sent to newspapers on July 31st and August 4th, 1969. I say that this is significant because, not even a week later, on August 9th, the Tate-LaBianca murders occurred. Moreso even than the Zodiac murders, the Manson Family belies the viewpoint of Dirty Harry, i.e. that, for all the flower power aesthetic and grandiose ideas, the hippie movement was populated by anti-social, perverse, and dangerous criminals.
These people, if not representative of the hippies as a whole, were at least taking advantage the well-meaning idiots who would naively take their side. See this quote from John Wayne about the counter-culture: "I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living. I'd like to know why they make excuses for cowards who spit in the faces of the police and then run behind the judicial sob sisters. I can't understand these people who carry placards to save the life of some criminal, yet have no thought for the innocent victim."
I believe this sentiment is, in essence, Dirty Harry's thesis. Consider the scene in which Harry is reprimanded for obtaining evidence against Scorpio illegally, making it inadmissable and leading to his release from custody. Furthermore, in the final seconds of the film, after beating Scorpio in the quick draw contest, Harry spends a little bit of time ruefully gazing at his police badge before hurling it into the lake, presumably because of the number of obstacles that bleeding hearts put in between him and getting the bad guy.
Obstacles like due process and legal evidence. What kind of a monster would insist on those things? /s
Well-meaning idiots, in Wayne's parlance, and I doubt very much that Eastwood's philosophy differs that much. Unsurprisingly, the ideological bent of the film was a topic of some controversy, even during its release. The term "fascist" was thrown around with the frequency of a Lemmy politics thread, and not without good reason. For their part, the director claimed that he was a left leaning liberal who viewed Callahan as "as evil, in his own way, as [Scorpio]", and Eastwood, while denying the movie was right wing, stated it was about "frustration with the judicial system".
Suffice to say, the politics of these movies are complicated (at best), if you choose to engage with them on that level.
Oh that? It's just his side peace.
Yes, it signifies that his pants were likely too loose to wear without a belt. We can't be sure, because a belt can also be just a fashion accessory, a personal statement.
What we can say for sure is that the guy is wearing a belt with a belt buckle.