Maybe the "Make my day" line has so morphed into American culture that it has no meaning beyond a tough-guy taunt to a punk. A taunt asking the punk to be fool-hearty, so the unnaturally relaxed, cool-headed hero can unleash immediate and overwhelming vengeance.
But for those of us who remember the actual scene where the line was delivered from "Sudden Impact" -- and the scene it was designed to mimic from "Dirty Harry" -- one begins to understand the profound racist undertones in this line and its predecessor.
The scenes themselves mimic Eastwood's early Italian westerns where the "Man with No Name" confronts ruthless thugs and calmly deals out justice. But those scenes never had racial undertones.
Watch, if you will, the two "classic" scenes from the Dirty Harry movies and you will get a sense of why a roomful of white Republican crazies (most of whom would deplore most liberal Hollywood movies) would beg Eastwood to deliver the "Make my day" line and then enthusiastically chant it for him when prompted.
"Make my day"
"Well Do You Punk?"