46 / CHRONICLESnforce itself. And in 1976, MartinnScorsese’s Taxi Driver pushed the vigilantenfilm’s possibilities for violenceneven further with its story of TravisnBickle, a lonely Vietnam vet living onnsugar, scotch, and cereal, who decidesnto clean up some of the “scum” infestingnNew York City. By the late 70’s,nhowever, the vigilante film seemed tonhave died a natural, if perhaps premature,ndeath, except for the occasionalnEastwood or Bronson release.nThat all changed with the arrival ofnStallone, Schwarzenegger, and ChucknNorris. Suddenly, vigilante filmsnsprang up in surprising profusion, resultingnin the critical hatred describednabove. But are these films as bad as allnthat? Aesthetically, they range fromnthe classic Dirty Harry and DeathnWish to such frankly low-brow stuff asnClass of 1984 and Cobra. They rangenin tone from the bleak despair of ThenYear of the Dragon and The RoadnWarrior to the sober intellectuality ofnTrouble in Mind and Sudden Impactnto the raucous comedy of Ghostbusters,nBeverly Hills Cop, and the “PolicenAcademy” series. Aesthetic qualitynand film style seem to have little to donwith the criticism.nKael et al. hate these films, butnthey’ve never been able to say exacdynwhat it is they dislike about them thatnisn’t also in numerous films they like.nInstead of reexamining their reactionsnto the films, these critics have taken anscattershot approach, finding somethingnto dislike in every film in thengenre, while keeping up the pretensenof judging each film separately. Theirncriticisms, however, have inevitablynended up hammering at the samenpoints over and over. Misogyny ornantifeminism is among the most frequentncharges despite the aggressivenbehavior of Rae Dawn Chong in Commandonor Sondra Locke in SuddennImpact; and in Tightrope, Trouble innMind, Witness, and many other vigilantenfilms the women prove to benstrong, independent, and intelligent, ifnless bellicose than some of their malencounterparts. Furthermore, JamesnCameron’s two films as director andnco-scenarist. The Terminator and Aliens,nclearly put the lie to this caricaturenof the genre. In both films thenfemale lead is shown to be a strong andneffective defender of herself and thosendear to her precisely because of hernfemininity.nAnother tactic many critics havenused to defame the vigilante film is tonlink it to the one genre that is evennlower in their estimation, the “slasher”nfilm of the Halloween-Friday the ISthnvariety. Interestingly, critics havensomehow missed the one true similaritynbetween the two genres: the fact thatnthe slasher films deal with the samenfears of violence and anarchy the vigilantenfilms do, only pitched toward anteenage audience. Certainly such staplesnof the slasher genre as murderersnwearing hockey masks and usingnpower tools to kill or maim their victimsnreflect middle- and upper-classnteens’ fears of proletarian violence.nMost critics, however, merely avertntheir eyes and accuse the filmmakersnof glorifying violence, just as they donwith vigilante films.nVigilante films most decidedly donnot glorify violence. In fact, they takengreat pains to show the high cost ofnliving outside the law, even for thosenwho do so only in the pursuit ofnjustice. Their heroes are sometimesnkilled at the end—as in To Live andnDie in L.A., Uncommon Valor, andnReef Dawn—and friends, partners, ornfamily members are often injured,nraped, or killed in these films. Oftennthe hero himself is ironically the victimnof other vigilantes, as in DirtynHarry, when Harry gets beaten up by anneighborhood watch group which mistakesnhim for a Peeping Tom.nThe heroes of many of these filmsnsuffer from serious injuries or physicalndisabilities. Knee injuries are particularlynpopular: Max Rockatansky (MelnGibson) of the Mad Max series walksnwith a decided limp, as do Hawk (KrisnKristofferson) in Trouble in Mind andnDaniel (Ralph Macchio) in the finalnscene of T/ie Karate Kid. Head injuriesn(Max again) and gunshot woundsn(John Book in Witness, Harry Callahannin Dirty Harry) are also common.nFor a genre that supposedly presentsnthe hero as indestructible superman,nthe protagonists of these films do ansurprising amount of limping andnscuttiing on the way to their finalnconfrontations.nFurthermore, these physical injuriesnare only the outward reflections of thenmore serious psychic disabilities sufferednby most vigilante heroes. Thencost of going outside the law is evidentnnnin the abysmal home lives of manynvigilante heroes: There are troublesnwith wives in many films (e.g., 48nHrs., Raw Deal), trouble with childrenn(e.g., Tank, TV’s The Equalizer),nand unmarried, widowed, or divorcednloneliness (Johnny Rambo, Harry Callahan,nJohn Book). In some films, thenhero suffers even worse torment as hisnwife is murdered by his adversary:nMax’s wife is killed at the end of MadnMax, Paul Kersey’s wife is killed innDeath Wish, and the ex-wife of StanleynWhite (Mickey Rourke) is killed innThe Year of the Dragon.nTo say, then, that these films glorifynviolence or that they fail to show thennegative consequences of violence isnpatently false. Furthermore, thesensame critics have no qualms about thencomparable levels of violence in filmsnof which they approve: e.g., Kurosawa’snRan, Coppola’s Godfather films,nthe aforementioned Bonnie and Clydenand Butch Cassidy, and films by Kael’snbeloved Brian de Palma. It all dependsnon whose ox is being gored.nThe heroes of vigilante films arennever cold-blooded killers who like tonkill for the fun of it, although theirnadversaries often are. The heroes usuallynhave to be pushed into goingnoutside the law. Matrix (ArnoldnSchwarzenegger) in Commando has tongo outside the law when terrorists kidnapnhis daughter. Bronson, as notednearlier, begins his vigilante action innDeath Wish after his wife is killed.nJosey Wales begins his quest in ThenOutlaw ]osey Wales after his wife andnson are killed. John D’Angelo (TomnSkerritt) organizes a vigilance committeento protect his Philadelphia neighborhoodnin Fighting Back after robbersnbeat his mother and amputate hernfinger in order to steal her weddingnring.nNumerous films of this type haventreated the theme of violence as anthreat to the family unit. The heroesnare frequenfly called into action becausenof threats to children. Matrix’snadversary in Commando, for example,nis quite clearly a homosexual whonhates him for, among other things,nbeing able to fit into society and raise anchild; significantiy, the story beginsnwhen he kidnaps Matrix’s daughter.nThe Scorpio Killer shoots a youngnboy, holds another hostage, and kidnapsna school bus full of children inn