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Lethal Weapon
Movie

Lethal Weapon

1987 • Unknown

Woke Score
1.4
out of 10

Plot

A veteran cop and an unstable detective become partners who must put their differences aside in order to bring down a heroin-smuggling ring run by ex-Special Forces.

Overall Series Review

Lethal Weapon is a 1987 action film that focuses almost entirely on the emotional arc of its two male protagonists: one a suicidal former Special Forces soldier, the other a grounded family man. The central conflict and bonding stem from their mismatched personalities and Riggs's struggle with grief, which resolves into a restoration of his purpose through his connection with Murtaugh and his family. The movie is a product of its time, featuring a conventional buddy-cop dynamic where race is present but functionally irrelevant to the plot, adhering to a colorblind casting approach. Institutions like family and the military (via the villains being a *corrupt* remnant, not the institution itself) are central to the emotional stakes. There is no evidence of plot-driven lectures on social justice, identity hierarchy, or anti-natalist themes.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The pairing of a white officer (Riggs) and a black officer (Murtaugh) is a central device, but the conflict is purely one of personality and method—the suicidal loose cannon versus the cautious family man. The narrative relies entirely on character merit and personal trauma, not on race or immutable characteristics. There is no vilification of 'whiteness' or forced diversity lecture, instead promoting a universal meritocracy in the buddy-cop genre.

Oikophobia1/10

The film explicitly elevates Murtaugh's home, family, and domestic stability as the vital 'civilizing influence' that saves Riggs from his nihilism. Murtaugh is a devoted husband and father, and his family is the stake the villain targets, making their protection the driving force of the heroic mission. The primary villains are corrupt ex-military Special Forces, framing them as a betrayal of their prior service, not an indictment of Western military or police institutions as fundamentally corrupt.

Feminism1/10

The main focus is the male bond and the recovery of masculinity through duty and partnership. Roger Murtaugh's wife and children are his stability and life-affirming foundation; his motivation is to get home to them, representing the celebrated value of family and motherhood. There are no 'Girl Boss' or 'Mary Sue' female leads. The few female characters are largely supportive or victims, and the gender dynamics are complementary in a traditional sense.

LGBTQ+3/10

The core narrative contains no sexual ideology, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or focus on alternative sexualities. Traditional male-female pairing and the nuclear family are the established normative structure. A brief, casual homophobic slur is used by Riggs in a moment of physical contact, which is reflective of the cultural vernacular of the time but does not center or introduce queer theory into the plot.

Anti-Theism1/10

Riggs's nihilism and death wish are a product of personal grief, not an ideological attack on organized religion. A line about God hating him and hating Him back is personal despair. Murtaugh's family man ethos and the film's setting during Christmas suggests a moral framework that acknowledges objective truth (justice, protecting the innocent) without traditional religion being portrayed as the root of evil or morality being subjective 'power dynamics'.