I mean we could blame it on the bush administration, but 24 started around the same time. There have many judges and politicians that refer to that show. I am sure the people in the field have watched that show. They see the show and sees that it works on the show. It is like "monkey see money do." TV has a very powerful grip on people's lives They see a product they have to go buy it. If fox news says this toy causes kids to shoot each, then we need to go boycott that product. If 24 were never around would torture be as accepted as it was? I don't believe it would be.
[disclaimer]never seen one episode[/disclaimer] don't know if tv has that much influence but I will say this, has there ever been a popular television program where the american hero is the torturer
Cartman's apple juice farts during Muslim interrogations that led to the torture. Yes, I do realize the actual "torture" came first.
The 24-second shot clock has indeed had untold consequences beyond the hard wood. For instance, look at the increase in cases of attention deficit disorder. It's link to torture is a good topic.
I know that some do not like to hear this, but the CIA has been conducting their own version of terrorism since the days of adam west as batman. We can't place blame on the joker's laughing gas for that. I mean every country, left or right, has their own way of conducting their "interrogations", but when you're doing god's work...It looks bad.
Surnow the creator of 24 is known to be very republican. I think he spins the show to the right to make what the bush administration did more acceptable. Ironically I also think he helped get Obama in the white house with his depiction of a black president.
Makes you wonder what's more acceptable, killing someone or torturing them. Jack certainly have done plenty of both.
IIRC, there were allegations leaking out when 24 started. I think it probably was done to crystallize the Repub position on torture, which, as we all know is: we don't torture so it would not be cool to admit to the torture that we did, even though that torture was effective.
I would find it very troubling if the CIA were actually taking their cues from 24 but I guess it wouldn't be the strangest thing to come out of CIA. I doubt there is much of a connection other than the creators and writers of 24 have done a good job on being topical. At the sametime the show provides an analogy for people discussing the topic to view.
Sure was a good way to inoculate the masses. Have a TV show about torture. No big deal. I've posted an article a couple of time about the Jack Bauer lie to justify torture. But no one really talks about what torturing did to Jack Bauer. Here’s just a para from the article Over the course of the show, Bauer loses his wife, best friends and colleagues, becomes addicted to heroin and alienates his daughter. It is clear that the brutality of Bauers job isolates him from society and makes him incapable of maintaining intimate and professional relationships. This suggests a subtle but important message that is lost on casual viewers: Not only is brutality not a panacea, it dehumanizes both torturer and the tortured. no one talks about that
I'm pretty sure 24 started a little bit after September 11th, even its pilot was delayed until November as a result; and I think there was even concern, before it aired, that it might not survive due to poor timing (and the fact that, pre-Idol, Fox just didn't make a lot of successful television). Granted, I don't think there were any Jack Bauer torture episodes in the first season, so Surnow could have explicitly included it later on just as a political point.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/06/20/justice-scalia-hearts-jack-bauer/ The Globe and Mail reported that Scalia came to the defense of Jack Bauer and his torture tactics during an Ottawa conference of international jurists and national security officials last week. During a panel discussion about terrorism, torture and the law, a Canadian judge remarked, “Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra ‘What would Jack Bauer do?’ ” Justice Scalia responded with a defense of Agent Bauer, arguing that law enforcement officials deserve latitude in times of great crisis. “Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles . . . . He saved hundreds of thousands of lives,” Judge Scalia reportedly said. “Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?” He then posed a series of questions to his fellow judges: “Say that criminal law is against him? ‘You have the right to a jury trial?’ Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer?” “I don’t think so,” Scalia reportedly answered himself. “So the question is really whether we believe in these absolutes. And ought we believe in these absolutes.” http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/27/army-wants-jack-bauer-to-speak-out-against-torture/ The Army has invited Kiefer Sutherland, star of the hit TV show 24 and opponent of torture, to come and discuss why it is wrong to torture prisoners. Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan recently pleaded with the makers of the show to cut down on torture scenes, arguing that they are sending inappropriate messages to the troops condoning torture: “I’d like them to stop. They should do a show where torture backfires.”
In the eyes of most conservatives, Kiefer Sutherland is the 21st century John Wayne. If you don’t believe me check YouTube and you will probably find some conservatives using his name in their stump speeches. Thanks to Wayne and especially David Palmer, it might have subliminally allowed Americans to fathom having a black president.
