MovieChat Forums > High Plains Drifter (1973) Discussion > It was a rape

It was a rape

posted 15 years ago by conundrum
83 replies | jump to latest

I find it rather worrying that so many people are convinced it wasn't, or at they very least are trying to convince others (and themselves?) that it wasn't.

Is it because this is a Clint Eastwood movie and a Clint Eastwood character that people have a hard time seeing it as rape?
I mean, it's not the usual sort of thing your screen idol does in a movie, is it? So surely it can't be happening here, right? I hate to be patronising but seeing how wafer thing some people's arguments are that it was not rape, I think there might be at least a little of that going on ... sorry to say.

But that's the whole point, people!
It's NOT the usual thing your screen idol does in a movie which is precisely why it's included here! The Stranger is NOT a nice man; he might be the protagonist but he's still a villain. He's a Bad Guy. This rape scene, so early in the movie, is a clear demonstration of that fact and is intended to demonstrate right from the word go that you are NOT watching a "lovable rogue" "anti-hero" like The Man With No Name. The Stranger is a completely different character, on a completely different moral scale.

You're not supposed to like him.

That's why this rape is shown. So that you don't like the main character. He's a villain. He's as big a villain as those he takes revenge upon if not more so; their crimes were to stand still and not help, his crimes are rape and murder.

He's the villain. It is rape.

[–] Zuider_Zee 11 years ago

If it was a rape, I have to say that she rather enjoyed being raped.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

Agreed! And she should never have got in his face and harassed him in the first place.

Stop! Stop! I love it!

[–] Nikon11 11 years ago

Didn't matter whether she wanted it or not.

He was punishing the town for their sins.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

No doubt...and well deserved IMO.

[–] ck1-5 10 years ago

And, like every rape victim, she later had dinner with her rapist and went up to his room with him for some more of that good, good rape.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] usfnaa 10 years ago

Why do you think 50 Shades of Grey is so popular with beaches? They love being taken by a man.

[–] thesnowleopard 10 years ago

Of course it's rape--so? The men in the story get beaten, shot, and otherwise killed in horrible ways. She gets raped and, even more humiliating, she ends up enjoying it. It's about what they all did in collusion to kill the Marshal and get away with it. As the town slut, she used sex as a weapon and a tool to manipulate others. So, sex was the weapon the Stranger used against her.

Is that a retro way to see women? Okay, yeah. But in the context of the film and what kind of a character he is, it's not inappropriate. Based on what theory you favor, he's a vengeful relative, ghost, angel, demon, take your pick. None of those options is going to be kind, gentle, or inclined toward mercy. In her case, she got what she secretly wanted and feared, but wasn't punished further because she was a minor villain at best.

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[–] Michael71 10 years ago

@condundrum, I completely agree with your post, it is a completely different character than the man with no name, he is a villain, completely the opposite of Clint's other movies, Dirty Harry films etc.

He raped her simple as that, though might I add that the Woman was a bit of a bitch too not that she deserved being raped but still, also doesn't give her the right to nearly kill him in the tub lol.

[–] gd5150 10 years ago

She practically raped him the way she through herself at him. It was embarrassing. But we all have needs I suppose.

[–] Druffmaul 9 years ago

So, three criminals murder a good man in cold blood. The callow townspeople not only put them up to it, but then they betray them afterward and get them sent to prison. Then a man comes and avenges the murder and brings justice to the town.

But he's a villain?

You just need to face the goddamn facts. This movie was made over 40 years ago, and attitudes were different then. "No doesn't always mean no" and "Your mouth says no but your eyes say yes" etc. were endorsed by both men and women. It's only relatively recently the the PC police and SJWs have managed to outlaw these things.

Yes, he raped her. And she loved it. She's a two dimensional character in a old movie. Deal with it.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (60202122) 9 years ago

He is a villian because he raped an innocent woman. You are a jerk. I will never watch this film again becuase of this scene. We don't have to get over it cause you say so.

When you find yourself with the majority
It's time to stop and go with the minority.

[–] ck1-5 9 years ago

You have the comprehension of a toad.

[–] TheMan18 (13015) 7 years ago

2 Druffmaul, on a very basic level, would you then say that morality is NOT absolute and that "good" and "evil" are not as simple terms as people make them out to be?

Because my grandmother for instance has ALWAYS thought such things were wrong without EVER questioning them and that facts are facts, was she not right then?

[–] cheapfrill 9 years ago

Well you know what the guys from NAMBLA say. There's no such thing as rape.. only surprise sex.