The Dukes

Dukes of Hazzard

In Hazzard County you are bound to see a car chase or a fight no matter what day or time it is. At least that’s what happens in the “Dukes of Hazzard” every time it’s on. No matter what the issue is, may it be a bank robbery or a fight, the Duke boys are always getting blamed.

Imagine you are driving down Main Street in your home town. All of a sudden you see two men in ski masks holding bags of money running out of the bank. Of course you stop and try to catch them, but they get away. Like any law abiding citizen you go to the local Sheriff’s office and report the crime, but instead of gratitude you get blamed for the crime. This is a very normal day on the lives of Bo and Luke Duke.

If I were in this situation I would stay and attempt to explain to the Sheriff what had happened. Not the Duke boys; they will run from the police almost every time. Bo and Luke will come up with some scheme to get themselves out of jail, like having their cousin Daisy come in and distract the Deputy with her amazingly hot body. After they get out there will of course be a chase involving the Sheriff Rosscoe P. Coltrane and his clumsy Deputy Enus Straight. No matter what happens next the Duke boys will almost always get away. So what does seeing all of this convey to the young minds watching it? I guess running from the Police really does pay off! If simply running from the Cops would in time make all of your problems go away, why wouldn’t everyone run?

In the Duke boys’ defense, they’re set up a lot of times by Boss Hogg. There is a lot of Police corruption going on in Hazzard. When visitors come to town, Rosscoe places a fake fire hydrant next to their car so he can ticket them. A lot of times Boss Hogg will pay some people to rob his bank so he can blame the Duke boys and collect money from insurance, in which case he doubles his money. This is another bad message being delivered by “The Dukes of Hazzard.” This example is pretty much telling people breaking the law is O.K. as long as you don’t get caught.

The last message that I will address in “The Dukes of Hazzard” is a hot body will get you what ever you want. A lot of times Bo and Luke can’t get out of trouble on their own, so they call upon their cousin Daisy. She can persuade any guy to do whatever she wants, by just showing up in a bikini. And of course she will never get a speeding ticket because she just has to bend over or seductively lick her lips.

Even though I do believe “The Dukes of Hazzard” is one of the best shows ever, it conveys a few messages that may not make a great impression on society. Such things as running from the law will always pay off, doing illegal things is O.K. if you don’t get caught, and if you know how to properly seduce people you can get away with anything.

Letter to the Editor

February 11, 2008
Letter to the Editor

3:10 to Yuma was a bad movie because it glorifies violence and the acting was sub-par. In your article “3:10 to Yuma – An Outstanding Movie,” you mentioned this movie is a good example of a true Western movie. Your thoughts of a “true Western” are like everyone else’s, distorted. Not only does this movie give a bad depiction of the Old West, but it does so in a way that makes the criminals seem to be the better men. Movies like this make outlaws seem like gods because they shoot lawmen and rob banks. What good can come from a movie that teaches people violence is alright? No good can come from mindless violence like this.
Recently the media has made a big deal out of violent video games and the effects they have on children and young adults. In your article you mentioned movies such as The Unforgiven. I believe the media should target movies such as The Unforgiven and 3:10 to Yuma because scenes such as the stage coach robbery from 3:10 to Yuma showed huge amounts of mindless violence. When Ben Wade’s gang rides up to the stage coach they show no mercy while killing every person possible. When the gang takes over the stage coach, they believe everyone has been killed and accounted for. When one of the people in the stage coach get up and attempt to take a gang member hostage, Ben Wade decides to shoot both of them. He then walks up to the gang member and told him this was his fault for not being thorough enough in his killing.
The acting in 3:10 to Yuma was a nightmare. I think the best actor in this film was Ben Foster who played Charlie Prince, Ben’s right hand man. Christian Bale just doesn’t seem like the right type of person to play Dan Evans. He has over the years made a name for himself by playing the roles of quiet characters. Dan Evans is not in any way supposed to be a quiet character.