Interesting… but isn’t there enough actual torture to investigate? Do we really need to worry what’s depicted on a fictional television show..?

We make a seamless transition from reality to fiction each time a figurehead in the Bu$h administration speaks - believe me 24 isn’t the problem.
The last six years of Neocon reality is what we should all be worried about, they can call that show “43”.

I used to watch 24 regularly. It was such a gripping show. But come season 3 and 4, I just got tired of what started to feel more and more like preachy propaganda. Especially when such things like torture and illegal wiretapping were issues in our own country, I felt a little like FOX was using 24 to sell a viewpoint.

In the end, I stopped seeing Jack Bauer as a hero and started thinking of him as part of the problem. That pretty much ruined the whole show and I haven’t watched it since.

GW:

>>This show targets anyone who believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible, (re: Book of Revelation) and other such nonsense. And unfortunately, this group does not believe in psychothearpy, which they seriously need, because they can’t tell the difference between “fiction and reality”.<<

Being an agnostic myself, and a definite UNbeliever in Revelations, I find your conclusion rather confused. What is most interesting in this discussion to me is that there seem to be a lot of opinions based on knee-jerk reactions and very little consideration.  Yes, I like the show.  It’s edge-of-your-seat entertainment, but it’s also thought-provoking and in my view is anything but one-sided in it’s presentation.  If anything, I would say it leans left, not right, in that it raises questions that are difficult to answer in quick sound bytes.  I think it furthers discussion and reflection rather than supporting one point of view.  As for your opinion about “24” fans not supporting psychotherapy, I think you have us confused with Scientologists.

Phil G Said:

>>What these scenes do is show how torture is necessary in the most extreme circumstances and gets our tacit approval of it. We agree that Jack Bauer does what’s needed. So when we hear our goverments are torturing people (usually of a different ethnic background), it must be OK, like Jack, they only do it because there’s no other way. The problem is it’s barbaric, provides questionable intelligence (like the number of women who confessed to be witches under the inqusition) and the US should be better than that.<<

Have you ever watched the program?  The use of torture fails more often than it succeeds.  “24” is offering no clear point of view other than that every time Jack has used this tactic, he has lost a part of his humanity.  Now that he has been the victim of torture in a Chinese prison (where it did not work), he can’t bring himself to do it anymore.  What I find irritating about your post is that it appears to be based on the opinions of pundits and editorialists rather than on actual viewing and reflection.

In this season, Fox shows up what will happen if Obama is elected President (POTUS); the terrorists (who will likely have names similar to Obama’s) will bomb any city at anytime they wish; then they will sneak over some “suitcase” nuclear weapons, and Obama will be forced to call super-agent “GWBush”, former Commander in Chief (CIC) to come out, suit up, and chase the terrorists away; of course, Fox News (read Murdoc News) believes that if we don’t allow this Administration to do it’s job in Iraq, then we’ll be fighting “them” in our country!  Of course, we “cut and ran” from Vietnam, and the Vietnamese are now attacking us in our country, just like Johnson and Nixon said they would!

What these scenes do is show how torture is necessary in the most extreme circumstances and gets our tacit approval of it. We agree that Jack Bauer does what’s needed. So when we hear our goverments are torturing people (usually of a different ethnic background), it must be OK, like Jack, they only do it because there’s no other way. The problem is it’s barbaric, provides questionable intelligence (like the number of women who confessed to be witches under the inqusition) and the US should be better than that.

The problem as I see it, is that there is evidence to support that the “Christian Right” constitutes the largest single fan base for this piece of paranoid trash. All we need is yet another reason, whether fictional or otherwise (if that exists), for these nut cases to feed and sustain the monsters of fear that have taken over their guilt ridden and confused psyches. This show targets anyone who believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible, (re: Book of Revelation) and other such nonsense. And unfortunately, this group does not believe in psychothearpy, which they seriously need, because they can’t tell the difference between “fiction and reality”.

OK, let’s start with the admission that I like 24. Its an exciting television show. I find it odd that anyone would take it as more than that. Oh, I know the right has made it a rallying point [see Rush Limbaugh’s hosting of a “we love you” party at a right wing shindig last year with 24 cast and crew]. And the fact that the show is on Fox, given Mr. Murdoch’s propensity for injecting his own political viewpoints into his media empire, does make one wonder if the show’s producers have been coopted.

The point is, its a TV show. Its fictional. Torture has been portrayed in countless TV shows and movies. One could say any of them had a political viewpoint. I suspect most of the people who made them had some political viewpoint. So what.

The torture scenes are a dramatic device used to advance the story. It could be said that this encourages the use of torture, which has been proven and all interrogators know, does not work. It will only illicit responses aimed at ceasing the torture. In fact real interrogation takes a long time and is not suited to TV. So much of what we see on TV is obviouly bogus and yet engenders no outcry of concern for more realistic depiction.

So, watch or don’t watch. If you watch, draw no political or policy opinions from this, or other fictions, without first checking the facts.

This is actually an example of black mail rather than torture.  However i nseveral episodes of 24 he does do use torture.

The main thing to remember is that 24 is a fictional story.  When Jack tortures the bad guys, he alwasy gets the answers he needs within a few minutes.  This is far different from reality where torture has been proven to be a pretty unreliable source of information.

If you cannot tell the difference between fiction and reality, you should seek help.

Is it such a simplistic view when Jack Bauer returns from China covered in scars from being tortured himself?  I think the danger here is in interpreting “24” too simplistically.  The show endeavors to present more than one point of view, but it is easy for either the right or the left to pick up pieces to support their own views.  It’s also dangerous to take it too literally.  After all, its a TV SHOW - NOT REAL LIFE.  It’s not realistic but it’s good thriller entertainment.

Don’t be too hard on FOX. It’s easy to mix up torture with justice when you smoke crack and worship satan. I mean, clearly that’s what they do… right?

OK, two things.

1) 24 is wicked, and in fact, pretty much every case is the ticking time bomb case in this show, so I don’t think anyone can draw parallels with real life.

2) The article kind of takes Alan Dershowitz’s statement on torture out of context.  I think he was arguing AGAINST secret waterboarding in secret prisons, and saying that in extreme ‘ticking time-bomb’ cases, if the President thinks torture is necessary, he should put his name to it.

Showtime’s SLEEPER CELL has tapped into a lot of the nerves made sore by fear; but its two seasons have provided more opportunities for substantive reflection than the entire history of the 24 narrative!

You don’’t need a lot of physical torture, to keep the psycho torture ball rolling.  The Nazis proved that, and so has Bush.

If they come to get me, they will be met with Judo - not bluster.