DREDD opens today-- who knows maybe I throw caution to the wind and run out to see it this afternoon-- I was pumped, it's gotten great reviews, they showed it at Comicon last July and Judge Dredd is one of my favorite characters but this one line from a friend who wrote me about it has tempered my enthusiasm;
"like the Stallone film, they don't get that Dredd is actually the bad guy in the series."
I laughed at that-- because in a way he's right but its a deeper thing for me. You see Dredd was created by comic book artists in the 70s in London and you likely couldn't get more liberal than that. If Elizabeth Warren and Joe Stalin came up with a comic book character to parody those evil Republicans you'd likely end up with Dredd.
Dredd, to the left, is a symbol of facist ideal, because in his world he is Cop, Judge, Jury and Executioner all rolled up into one. He catches you at a crime, he arrests you and on the spot he gives you the sentence-- sometimes death.
Like Dirty Harry (1971) or Patton (1970) two very influential films heralded by both the political left and right as great movies but for different reasons Dredd is kind of absurd.
But in a good way.
It's like my house-- I saw a sign once that said WE DON'T CALL 911 and it had a picture of a handgun on it-- if I have a mantra that's it for me. I won't hide under the bed calling the police-- like Crazy Joe Devola on SENFIELD I've often left my door wide open "to encourage intruders"-- yes, I am that crazy.
Dredd is fearless in a world that should be ridiculously scary-- and that's what I like about the character. Am I a Facist myself? Probably a little bit closer to the truth than I care to admit when it comes to crime. Trust me, I once caught a guy breaking into my car and I guarantee the punishment I offered him changed his mind about his career choice much more effectively than the probation he likely would have gotten from the courts.
Should the future become apocolyptic and there is a need for Judges, I hope they have my number.
Oh, and today Village Wings opens up-- finally after MONTHS and MONTHS of teasing me with a coming soon sign-- and my love of wings is legend-- so I'll defintely be swinging by to check them out as well as writing a choice YELP review of my findings.
