Ep 125: Deal with the Consequences Later: Vigilantes

Just A Story: Urban Legend Podcast

There is a time honored tradition in America of elevating the heroes amongst us, who are willing to take matters into their own hands. They quickly become legends. We seem to love an antihero, and at no time was this more apparent than in the 1970s. The heyday of the vigilante film, saw such classics as Shaft, Taxi Driver, Foxy Brown, and Dirty Harry hit screens for the first time. So, what does this tell us (other than that Tarantino was a child of this era)? What can we learn by looking at the people who are willing to put their lives on the line to either preserve an order that benefits them, or upends system that oppresses them? Can extralegal justice ever be a good thing? Join us this week as we talk about historical vigilantes, from twelfth century Gaul, to the Wild West, to World War I and the legends they have become.