Friday, October 2, 2009
24
od as it is i havent seen the show 24 i rarely have time to watch tv i did however read the readings it seems to me that it is no different than most movies about war i do watch NCIS and there has been tuture on that show i dont know if i could call it positive or negative because people know its just fiction most people any way terrorism is a very touchy subject in america post 9/11 and in the eyes of america seeing on tv what our government might be doing or in some cases what we hope our government is doing to fight terrorism post 9/11 america minds are still in retaliation reading normalizing torture on 24 got me thinking about it and i started asking people i knew if they watched 24 and the ones who did seemed to enjoy the torture on the show kinda makes you wonder if our government really does that kinda thing but that is a whole other blog all together but most the people i talk to it kinda gave them peace thinking that they deserved it
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Hey Partner,
ReplyDeleteWhen you wrote “Post 9/11 American minds are still in retaliation….” you hit on what I think to be the most important point as it relates to the success (not to discount the quality writing & acting) of the television show 24. When we were exploring our final website idea of constructing and deconstructing the matrix, I spent some time reading about the influence of cinematic Westerns, their evolution, and how they reflect and/or change our perceptions of the cowboy and the west. I think we identify so easily with the American cowboy because it has become the idealistic embodiment of the American male.
There’s an interesting quote in the novel Six-Gun Mystique written by John G. Cawleti: “Physical prowess is the most important thing for the ten-or-twelve-year old mind. They are constantly plagued by fear, doubt, and insecurity, in short, by evil, and they lack the power to crush it. The cowboy provides the instrument for their aggressive impulses, while the villain symbolizes all evil.” Times have changed. The events of 9/11 led to fear, doubt, and insecurity for the entire American psyche, not just adolescents. I wrote in my blog that President Bush should be commended for reminding all Americans that the enemy is not the Muslim religion. But who is the enemy, and how do we beat them? At least in Vietnam, we could identify the enemy in a specific geographic location, and we all know about the damage of that war to our collective psyche. To beat this new enemy, there simply isn’t a clear answer. We need a hero.
Jack Bauer is the perfect cowboy for the post 9/11 era. He has unwavering loyalty to his country, which really means that he’s loyal to you, me, and all of our fellow countrymen. He has the stomach to do whatever necessary to defeat evil, and in doing so, gives us the opportunity to vent our frustration vicariously. In Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, Clint Eastwood became famous playing the tough cowboy, who similar to Jack Bauer, seemed to successfully straddle the line between good and evil. But unlike the character played by Eastwood, Bauer doesn’t do his job for money or personal gain. There’s no bag of gold for a job well done. He does it because he must live on the trail of personal moral and patriotic code. I’m not saying he’s Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. He has more of Eastwood’s ability to bring the devil to work. I’m not saying he’s Will Kane in High Noon. Bauer is much better at his craft. Jack Bauer is the 21st century cowboy – one that has evolved into the hero we need in today’s world.
Matt
I’ve never seen the show either, made it kind of hard to start writing the blog huh? I watch NCIS and CSI and all those kinds of shows too… they do sound very similar, I guess 24 just goes more to the extreme with all the torture. I didn’t ask many people I know if they watch it, but that’s interesting what you said about that most of the people you asked said they enjoyed it. It sounds strange, but I guess if I watched the show I wouldn’t oppose to it either. It’s different to sit and talk about torture and whether or not it’s wrong or right… then to actually watch the show and see the terrorists putting so many lives in danger, like you said it makes people feel that they deserved what they got.
ReplyDeleteThat was a good question that you brought up, does our government really do that kind of stuff? I wondered that too… I wondered the same exact thing, though we have the right to know I had to ask myself if I would even want to know, I decided I wouldn’t. But that would however have been an interesting blog topic.
Hey Josh, I had never seen or even heard of the show '24' before these readings also. I would have to agree with you on the point that almost everything that you see in movies and what not, there is a lot of violence, so what makes '24' any different? In my personal opinion i think that '24' is a little different in that the violence and torture on the show is justified. The reasons that Jack is torturing is to obtain information to try to prevent more violence happening to innocent people. I also feel that this is why so many people are okay with torture. I feel that it does make it okay because of the horrible things that these people have done in the past and are capable of doing in the future to innocent people. That is the main difference to me in the debate over torture. The U.S. is using torture techniques on terrorist who are either plotting attacks on Americans or know information that can help us prevent to deaths of thousands of innocent people.
ReplyDeleteJosh your blog this week is very interesting. I had only seen the first season of the show and I found it hard to believe that the show is still on. I find it hard to watch a show with already been done feeling to it. The torture in 24 is way over the top. I like to watch NCIS and the torture in it is no were near the severity that is in 24. Most of the time in NCIS the people being tortured are the good guys and they are only shown mostly after they have been beaten up not while they are being tortured. 24 is a very disterbing show in my opinion.
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