Chaos of the 1970s: the birth of vigilante film

While the concept of vigilantism has been around in America since colonial times, vigilantism as a film genre became popular in the context of the political and cultural turmoil of the early 1970s. 

“[Vigilante films] had its first surge during the 1970s and that was when the counterculture movements were very strong. People were protesting about the Vietnam War and the civil rights and feminist movements, and from my perspective, a lot of these vigilante films were a reaction against that,” said David Laderman, a College of San Mateo film professor. 

The late 1960s and early 1970s were also plagued with rising crime rates, with the FBI even reporting that property theft rose by 73% and the rate of violent crime rose 57% between 1960 and 1967. 

The political climate of the time was also a major factor, specifically the court rulings of Mapp v. Ohio (1961) and Miranda v. Arizona (1966). Both cases put limitations on the powers of law enforcement and were met with significant backlash, especially during the presidential election of 1968.

“The Supreme Court has handcuffed the police. You had better be thankful for the police and the firemen. If it were not for them, you couldn’t even ride in the streets,” said George Wallace, a 1968 presidential candidate.

All of these societal factors infuriated many with the limitations of the law. This historical context saw these frustrations illustrated in what are considered by many as the first vigilante films, “Dirty Harry” (1971) and “Death Wish” (1974). 

“The Dirty Harry and Death Wish films had a lot of sequels and a lot of popularity and they featured angry straight white males taking the law into their own hands, often in a kind of revenge context, and the police were not able to uphold the law so they have to do it themselves,” Laderman said.