There's always somebody who thinks it's incredibly clever to point out that Judge Dredd is a fascist. And while it is always a valid point to make, it's also one that has been constantly pointed out throughout the 46-year history of the Dredd saga.
There are way more interesting things to say about the character and world - a new book by PR droid Michael Molcher goes in deep on the parallels between Dredd's world and real world police states - but of course he's a fucking fascist. It's been pointed out so many times in the text itself, characters have said the exact words out loud in numerous occasions, and co-creator John Wagner has been very much open about this.
But one of the things that keeps Dredd from being completely irredeemable - along with his sense of fierce fairness, absolute badassness and ultra-dry sense of humour - is that the big chin espouses a kind of fascism almost never seen in the real world
Because Dredd is the ultimate fascist in the most pure of ways, with no ego to tarnish the golden eagle on his shoulders. He doesn't purge political enemies, or desperately grasp after power - Judge Joe Dredd has no interest in any of that that, and has actively rejected it.
This lack of a desire for power, or for any more authority than he needs to do his job on the mean streets of MC1, comes close to some kind of weird utopian fantasy, if it wasn't for the dangerous and dire life of the poor citizens of Mega City-One.
Dredd tried democracy once. It didn't take, and the lunatics who were willing to burn millions of people to bring it back only hardened that resolve. Dredd himself has embraced his role as the ultimate voice of his fascist state, but he is still one of a faceless mass, his individuality never seen beneath those lightning bolt eyes.
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