TIME: The Evolution of Jack Bauer

[question everything]

Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007

The Evolution of Jack Bauer
By James Poniewozik

(snip)

Certainly 24, which debuted just weeks after 9/11 and returns Jan. 14, comes as close as anything has to being the Official Cultural Product of the War on Terrorism. Co-creator Joel Surnow is a rare Hollywood Republican, and John McCain has done a cameo. Dick Cheney is a big fan too, and you can understand the Administration's wanting to associate itself with Bauer's badass competence. (He nabs nuclear masterminds; we get Jose Padilla.) Most damningly to critics on the left, Bauer's means of gathering intel (grab terrorist's finger, snap, repeat) make 24 a weekly rationalization of the "ticking time bomb" defense of torture.

(snip)

Muddy a terrorism thriller with liberal concern over root causes and you get Syriana, whose plot audiences couldn't follow with a GPS device. "The politics of the show," says executive producer Howard Gordon (a registered Democrat), "are narrative politics." But beyond that, things get more complicated. As the war has dragged on and become less black-and-white, so has 24. In 2003 it featured a conspiracy to provoke a Middle East invasion using bogus WMD evidence. (Yellowcake, anyone?) Last year's villain was the President, who had his predecessor assassinated. In the new season, a string of suicide bombings has led, chillingly, to federal "detention centers" for Muslims, much like in the liberal pre-9/11 movie The Siege.

(snip)

He (Bauer) keeps fighting, of course (he has 24 episodes to fill), but for people, not politics. 24's ideology--Jack Bauerism, if you will--is not so much in between left and right as it is outside them, impatient with both A.C.L.U. niceties and Bushian moral absolutes. This season, Bauer allies with Hamri al-Assad, a (putatively) reformed terrorist leader, to stop an attack. He thus displays a better grasp of realpolitik than has the Bush Administration, which resisted the Iraq Study Group's recommendation to work with Iran and Syria. A fellow agent asks Bauer if it matters that al-Assad has murdered hundreds of people. "I don't know what means anything anymore," he answers. "The playing field has changed."

That playing field can change again, and probably will. On 24, there are a few very good people, a few very bad ones and in between, a lot of question marks who can upend the plot (and the political analogies). That may be the biggest lesson of 24 in the Iraq era: don't stubbornly hang on to your preconceptions when the facts on the ground change. Undoubtedly, Bauer will continue to give liberals and libertarians conniptions before his latest day is over. But if conservatives and neocons think 24 is working for them, they don't know Jack.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1576853,00.html

[Kagemusha]

1. I'm sure they just cherry pick and ignore the parts that don't agree

just like with military intelligence.

[NoodleBoy]

2. it's a TV show... sit back, shut off the real world for a little bit, and enjoy

[Webster Green]

3. Enjoy watching torture and violence?

Not me. That show sucks. Its the stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen.

Too much like the real world, actually.

[Briar]

4. I agree

and it's no coincidence that it is put out by a Murdoch owned station, nor that it pushes propaganda against muslims and for torture. It's ridiculous to assume that people aren't affected to some degree by the mainstream culture in which they live and propagandist narratives like 24 are part of that culture - significant for some, neglible for others, counter productive for people like me, for whom it epitomises the human rights abusive, violence-addicted, xenophobic right wing culture I loathe. The reason why the fantasy situation in which torture secures information that saves millions of lives has any credibility in debate is because it is given it for millions by rubbish like 24. And that credibility means that ordinary people are prepared to tolerate government policies that implicitly legitimise it. It blurs the essential line in the sand and allows the torturer a grey area in which to operate.

[question everything]

13. "24" has been praised by all the TV critics

It certainly is more relevant then "American Idol," or "Friends" or "Desperate Housewives" or the other trash aimed at the masses.

Have you watched this program, at all? Yes, it shows torture. This is what is happening in our world. But, at least, in this season, it shows how a series of attacks on American soil, with hundreds killed in several major cities, can scrape the veneer of civilization, promoting hate crime. But it also shows the debate, in the Oval Office of a Democratic President, about setting detention centers for all American Muslims - the President said NO. They have already relaxed the rules of search and seizure and detention.

And if you really are watching the show - and from the comments above it appears that you do not - you will have to ask yourself: will I be willing to sacrifice the Bill of Rights to prevent the next suicide bombing in public places that can kill or maime those who are dear to me?

Am I ready to change my life style, to avoid going out to public places for fear of the next suicide bomber?

I don't have the answers. But such questions could become real. After all, it happened in Madrid and in London.

Or, perhaps, as so many on DU and across the country have switched their public gathering to doing this online, anonymously, perhaps some of these questions won't be relevant.

In both "24" and in another excellent program from last month "Sleeper Cell" on Showtime, the Muslim community has been treated with respect, realizing that most of its members just want to live happy, productive life, while being active in their communities.

[BushOut06]

10. Birth of a Nation is just a movie - I guess we should sit back and enjoy that also?

I think this show will help stir up, or at least reinforce, anti-Muslim feelings in many people around this country.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Clint Eastwood on crack.

You get tired of the plot contrivances to justify cruelty, torture and suspension of habeas corpus. The blond girls in peril was the giveaway.

Good characters, though (except for the blond girls in peril--what drips!), and lot of talent in acting and production. I don't mind violence (Shakespeare is violent!) if creaky plot machinery of virtuous revenge vs. evildoers doesn't rust on the set (which it too often does in 24), and if the story is a good one (which 24 sometimes is). We certainly cannot tell the human story without violence.

One thing I would defend--thematically--is action hero Bauer in contrast, say, to George Bush and Dick Cheney, such dreadful bullies and cowards. If all we had to worry about was Sir Lancelot going too far, we would be okay, I think. But these total creeps and fascists who are running things are not heroes. They are the scum of the earth. And 24--although it has some byzantine twists and turns regarding presidents and politicians--doesn't make that clear enough. Bauer and his rogue activities ultimately serve...what? Exxon-Mobile and the death of democracy. The helpless blonde women in peril (and other helpless, hapless civilians about to have their city nuked, or whatever) are somehow supposed to substitute for the ideals of our way of life, that Bauer's "black ops" violence and valor are defending. But they do not fill the bill. What he is really defending is an empty shell--a once great democracy, beacon to the world, whose light has gone out, due to the greed and genocide of its illegitimate and fascist leadership. Bauer is the "Rebel Without a Cause"--only Bauer doesn't realize it. This subtext of 24 is very sad and depressing. The subtext is the show's obvious relationship to the ugly, vicious Bush Junta and its phony "war on terror." THIS is what today's young knights and heroes (and anti-heroes) are fighting for? The fatcats and war profiteers who manufacture war, and who fund "terrorists," and who ARE terrorists? And thus, the valiant, the strong, the courageous, the skillful, the energetic become twisted and dark, like our ugly rulers. The impulse to be valiant, in the Bauer character, is a good impulse--in contrast to the sick cowardice of our government leaders--but it ultimately has no point. It is valor in the service of fascism and sadism, and a culture of death.

[Mythsaje]

8. I was griping to my wife about "The Unit"

and, lo and behold, the next episode sent them into S. America to assassinate a fellow who was trying to protect his country's oil against American interests...when the soldiers on the ground found out what was up and contacted their commander, who ostensibly ONLY answers to the President, the guy told the people who'd set up the mission to go fuck themselves and told his men to abort.

I was surprised by the storyline, and by how clear they made it that certain politicans served corporate interests (particularly the oil industry) rather than America as a whole. That surprised me, coming from something that I'd taken to be more or less RW propaganda.

[question everything]

14. Bottom line is that the "Unit" is an excellent written and played

show. We started watching it because it was created - and sometimes written - by David Mamet, one of the best play writers in our country. Perhaps the best.

As with "24", though to a lesser extent - it shows that the men (mostly) in charge of our safety are humans. They have life, or are trying to have normal life with spouses and children.

The very first scene of "24," back in 2001 though it was produced before 9/11, showed Jack Bauer at home with his spouse and daughter.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. I don't know, Launcelot can get carried away in his own particular ... idiom?

FATHER:
Did you kill all those guards?
LAUNCELOT:
Uh... Oh, yes. Sorry.
FATHER:
They cost fifty pounds each!
LAUNCELOT:
Well, I'm awfully sorry. Um, I really can explain everything.
HERBERT:
Don't be afraid of him, Sir Launcelot. I've got a rope all ready.
FATHER:
You killed eight wedding guests in all!
LAUNCELOT:
Well, uh, you see, the thing is, I thought your son was a lady.
FATHER:
I can understand that.
HERBERT:
Hurry, Sir Launcelot! Hurry!
FATHER:
Shut up! You only killed the bride's father, that's all!
LAUNCELOT:
Well, I really didn't mean to...
FATHER:
Didn't mean to?! You put your sword right through his head!
LAUNCELOT:
Oh, dear. Is he all right?
FATHER:
You even kicked the bride in the chest! This is going to cost me a fortune!

http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/grail/grail-16.htm

Jack Bauer seems quite like him, all in all.

[elocs]

6. If Cheney is a fan, then that is reason enough not to watch 24.

I enjoy action shows and would normally watch them, but not this one. Apparently it is a guilty pleasure for many here who might find it easier to protest the war or abuses of prisoners than to give up watching 24. Or is 24 actually the West Wing in disguise? The West Wing, too, was "just a tv show", but many Republicans were upset about the point of view it presented, and I could understand their reaction. Not only is 24 it on Fox, but it certainly is a Republican and neocon wet dream.

[Sherman A1]

7. I tried to watch it last night

and found it to be just boring.

[underpants]

12. There is a whole RW PR movement around this show-all the usual suspects

Savage and Glenn Beck especially-Beck even has a live chat about the show immediately following the show on his website.

Ann Coulter took the lead on this when she wrote an idiotic column about being surprised by the number of conservatives that there were in Hollywood. Seems that the producers of "24" help a conservative Hollywood party and invited Ann. She had no idea that there were so many or that people drank amongst other people.

Rush hosts a forum on this that I saw briefly on C-Span. The most important thing that came out of it was Rush suprising the female lead with a full open mouth kiss.

There was even a guy (we both would recognize him) from some thinktank on Bill Maher opposite Barney Frank. "Jack Bauer justice" he said was fully supported by the American people and must work because the show won an Emmy.

Seriously the right has fully hitched its wagon to this show.

[question everything]

15. This is stupid. Just because someone with whom I disagree

like a program does not mean that I should not watch it.

At least, I have watched it since day 1, when it was struggling to get viewers (and finally got boosted from American Idol that preceded it) and have been a fan ever since.

Like every program, it has its ups and down. The one from a few years back, dealing with Mexican drug lords, and a dangerous virus, and a Russian virus merchant, we were going to give up and then an interesting twist kept us there. But I think that this was the weakest.

That it is basically a well written action series is evident by the many loose ends that never resolve and by the facts that I cannot ever remember how previous seasons were resolved, with so many twists and turns.

But, as with the Unit, NCIS, CS, and Numb3rs - these are good programs that are worth my time to watch and to follow. Yes, I sometimes wonder about most of them showing the side of law enforcement but.. this is what is there.

Then there are Boston Legal and House that, again, have great writing and quirky characters.

I am not going to watch American Idol, or How I met your Mother, or My Two Dads (I think) or any reality show.

[underpants]

16. I didn't say you should or shouldn't watch it

I watched the first four shows (I think)of it but it got lost on my radar screen. I saw the last 20 minutes last night. I understand that a lot of people really love it so there must be something to it.

[sarcasmo]

9. This new season appears to be nothing but Propaganda, IMHO.

[Stuckinthebush]

17. Gotta say...I have enjoyed 24

and still do.

I liked the first four hours because it showed (to me) a Jack Bauer who was wrestling with the whole "good guy, bad guy" thing. Also, it showed him as a man who had started to question the use of torture as a means of extracting information.

All in all...it's a show that discusses some very important topics that we deal with today in America. I like it as a TV show and understand that it doesn't reflect reality in most ways.