Kevin Drum at the Washington Monthly concludes that the iconic television series is actually schizophrenic. After last night’s episode it’s also disappointing and boring. Personally I’ve gotten tired of ‘conservatives’ and hawks being portrayed on 24 as freakish immoral criminals. Drum gives us the history of how hawks have been exclusively portrayed as Bad Guys in 24, even surpassing the ugliness of terrorists.
IS 24 LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE?
Last week 24 reverted to form: after learning early in the episode that CTU had been infiltrated by a mole, the (suspected) mole was located and immediately hauled off to an “interrogation room.” Within a few minutes, this season’s bad cop, Mike Doyle, had her tied up in a chair and was just about to start cuffing her around when he was suddenly called away to avert a drone headed for San Francisco with a nuclear cargo.
So this is yet more fodder for the fire: is 24 an inherently conservative show because of its message that torture is necessary, torture works, and only weak-kneed liberals object to it? Jane Mayer reignited the debate last month with a piece in the New Yorker that investigated 24′s conservative roots…
So what’s up? The hyperkinetic world of 24, where good and evil clash, torture is a necessary tool, and terrorist threats are everywhere, is indeed a paean to modern Bushian conservatism. But when the action switches to the Oval Office, hawks are almost universally portrayed as either ideologues who panic at the first sign of trouble or else scheming superpatriots who are desperate to push the United States into unjustified wars as a way of advancing their own mercenary agendas. If Joel Surnow’s name weren’t attached to the series, you might guess that it had been produced by Michael Moore.
Actually, the 24 message is a double-hit against conservatives — that their only principle is the use of violence (torture, coups, war), while the liberal message is reasonable, mature and, of course, peaceful.
It’s not too much to ask for television and film to portray this nation and her people accurately — that decent people, too, expect and demand this nation be fought for and defended. I thought 24 would be able to send that message. Boy, was I wrong.
I saw this from early on, which is why I never cared for the show and stopped watching.
It only took them what, 4 or 5 seasons to finally show muslim terrorists?
It’s good entertainment and it’s very doubtful that it affects how anybody votes. The show can be parsed to death. “24″ is not the conscience of America. It’s for amusement.
I thought it was hot when Doyle had Nadia tied up last week and she was sweating. Very hot. Kind of the way women liked the torture scene in the James Bond movie “Casino Royale.” Milo must have liked it too because that was a serious kiss he slapped on her last night.
Is “24″ liberal or conservative? I’d say it’s schizophrenic.
I’ve watched the series since its first season, and recall the mention in season 1 that the current president Palmer’s now deceased brother (the former president Palmer) was a Democrat.
Which means, likely, that the current president Palmer is a Democrat, and probably that disgraced former president Logan was a Republican.
It fits the Hollywood stereotype so far: Democrat presidents are popular and generally sagacious in their policymaking, but can be prone to personal failings that can interfere with their job performance; Republicans are corrupt, scheming criminals.
But, how to explain this season’s vice president? He acts like the Hollywood Republican stereotype – belligerent, power-hungry, conniving and possibly mentally unstable – but it’s highly unlikely that a Democrat president would choose a Republican veep.
So what gives?
Anyway, it’s just an entertaining TV show that requires a tremendous amount of what storytellers call “suspension of disbelief.” One thing’s for sure, though, give Jack Bauer the job and you can be sure of two things:
1. The job will get done; and
2. Lots of people will die.
24 can indeed be parsed to death. While David Palmer may have been a democrat and reasonable, mature and peaceful, he authorized the torture of a member of his staff and when called on by President Logan, authorized torture and ordered the illegal extraction of a Chinese Embassy employee from said embassy, his defense secretary implored his son to drop his “sixth grade Michael Moore Mentality”. Jack Bauer managed to blunt the efforts of a member of “Amnesty Global” to come to the defense of a terror suspect who had info on an imminent attack. Said Amnesty official was portrayed as a smarmy arrogant do-gooder, quick to jump on any bandwagon that portrayed intel and defense agencies (and indeed America) as evil, imperialist entities.
This season isn’t nearly as good as previous years, but there’s always enough little sub-plots to at least keep me interested. I know a few on the Left who studiously avoid the show because of it’s reputation…and the fact that it’s on FOX.
>>But, how to explain this season’s vice president? He acts like the Hollywood Republican stereotype – belligerent, power-hungry, conniving and possibly mentally unstable – but it’s highly unlikely that a Democrat president would choose a Republican veep.
Good point Gaius