This is a really interesting and thought provoking piece of writing! I am presently rewatching the series, and you’ve opened a depth to it I wasn’t explicitly conscious of.
Richard Harrow is one of the best characters in modern television. He is a self-aware embodiment of Solhenitzyn’s line of good and evil.
There’s a line from the movie Fury, where the veteran tank gunner is schooling the new guy, “Wait till you see it.” “See what?” “What a man will do to another man.” The implication is that you won’t believe what you will do to others. Most people have no idea what circuits are buried in their wiring. Richard Harrow, knows what he is capable of. His injury, his nihilism comes from going to do something ‘good’, unaware of the monstrosity lurking inside, and his shame at witnessing himself behave as such.
As you point out, the other characters in the series all rationalize their behavior, if they think of it at all; but Harrow does not, he accepts himself, and condemns himself, as a monster. The terrible nature of his wounds are a physical reiteration of the truth of it. He is the only honest character, the only one truly willing to look in the mirror.
This was so excellent. I love how you tied it together with deadwood and even to our current times. I had never considered what a large role prohibition really played. Very eye opening. Thank so much, I’m looking forward to the next part!
Yes, your concluding comments are of course spot on in regard to our own societies today. In fact it could be argued that as well as organised crime probably off-the-scale compared to any other part of our Western history, we have a "legitimate" industries which quite openly pay for politicians and the judiciary. In plain sight. Eisenhower's valedictory warning about the MIC was well-given, but it was seemingly too late (or inconvenient and personally expensive for successive political establishments) to do anything about it. Not just the NIC, but of course the other corporate interests we all know of and don't need listing. And yes, if we are really honest with ourselves, those tendrils of immorality reach potentially as far as anyone who has investments or a pension. Or buys products that might have been created by slave labour. Or eats food that is grown in hugely environmentally-damaging ways in order to keep costs "competitive". And it goes on. Such is a structured and liberal society (in the original sense). No simple answers, and we are a mass of contradictions and inconsistencies, as you bring out in this excellent analysis.
This is a really interesting and thought provoking piece of writing! I am presently rewatching the series, and you’ve opened a depth to it I wasn’t explicitly conscious of.
Richard Harrow is one of the best characters in modern television. He is a self-aware embodiment of Solhenitzyn’s line of good and evil.
There’s a line from the movie Fury, where the veteran tank gunner is schooling the new guy, “Wait till you see it.” “See what?” “What a man will do to another man.” The implication is that you won’t believe what you will do to others. Most people have no idea what circuits are buried in their wiring. Richard Harrow, knows what he is capable of. His injury, his nihilism comes from going to do something ‘good’, unaware of the monstrosity lurking inside, and his shame at witnessing himself behave as such.
As you point out, the other characters in the series all rationalize their behavior, if they think of it at all; but Harrow does not, he accepts himself, and condemns himself, as a monster. The terrible nature of his wounds are a physical reiteration of the truth of it. He is the only honest character, the only one truly willing to look in the mirror.
We’re all wearing a mask, not all of us know it.
This was so excellent. I love how you tied it together with deadwood and even to our current times. I had never considered what a large role prohibition really played. Very eye opening. Thank so much, I’m looking forward to the next part!
Yes, your concluding comments are of course spot on in regard to our own societies today. In fact it could be argued that as well as organised crime probably off-the-scale compared to any other part of our Western history, we have a "legitimate" industries which quite openly pay for politicians and the judiciary. In plain sight. Eisenhower's valedictory warning about the MIC was well-given, but it was seemingly too late (or inconvenient and personally expensive for successive political establishments) to do anything about it. Not just the NIC, but of course the other corporate interests we all know of and don't need listing. And yes, if we are really honest with ourselves, those tendrils of immorality reach potentially as far as anyone who has investments or a pension. Or buys products that might have been created by slave labour. Or eats food that is grown in hugely environmentally-damaging ways in order to keep costs "competitive". And it goes on. Such is a structured and liberal society (in the original sense). No simple answers, and we are a mass of contradictions and inconsistencies, as you bring out in this excellent analysis.