"Go ahead, make my day" is a catchphrase written by Charles B. Pierce and spoken by the character Harry Callahan from the 1983 film Sudden Impact. In 2005, it was chosen as No. 6 on the American Film Institute list, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.
Origins
The phrase "go ahead, make my day" was written by Charles B. Pierce, an independent filmmaker who is credited with "story by" in the film Sudden Impact. The actual origins of the phrase came from Pierce's father Mack, who used to tell him as a child, "Just let me come home one more day, without you mowing that lawn, son just go ahead.....make my day".
At the beginning of the movie, Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) goes into a diner for a morning cup of coffee where he discovers a robbery in progress. He kills all but one of the robbers in a shootout. However, the surviving robber grabs the fleeing waitress Loretta (Mara Corday), holds his gun to her head, and threatens to shoot. Instead of backing off, Harry points his .44 Magnum revolver into the man's face and dares him to shoot, saying with clenched teeth and in his characteristic rough grumble, "Go ahead, make my day," meaning that if the robber attempts to harm Loretta in any way, Harry would be happy to dispatch the robber. At the end of the film, Harry, again, says "Come on, make my day" just before shooting Mick the rapist, who aims his stolen shotgun at Harry's lover, Jennifer Spencer.
Influence
When speaking out against taxes at the 1985 American Business Conference, President Ronald Reagan, himself a former actor, stated "I have my veto pen drawn and ready for any tax increase that Congress might even think of sending up. And I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers. Go aheadâ€"make my day." Pierce reacted to this saying that his proudest moment was telling his father, "Tonight the President Ronald Reagan of the United States just quoted you."
The movie Sudden Impact became popular in Kenya in the early 1990s. Kenyan kids pronounced 'make my day' as "Makmende" probably due to influence of the local dialects. Over time, Makmende came to be used by children to refer to those who behaved in a conceited manner. In 2010, Makmende was turned into an Internet sensation all over Kenya's Internet community when Just a Band created a superhero character in the music video of their song "Ha He." The song Action by Finnish band LOVEX features the line in their song lyrics.
During his speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, Eastwood ended by referencing the line. In February 2015, The Economist featured the headline "Go ahead, Angela, make my day" in reference to the European debt crisis.
"Stand-your-ground" statutes referring to a person's right to self-defense are sometimes referred to as "make my day" statutes.
Italy
That phrase, although in its Italian localization "Coraggio... fatti ammazzare", was also chosen as the title for the Italian version of the film, and it has become a catchphrase in Italy as well.
References
External links
- Press release by AFI: 100 movie quotes of all time
