I have no problem with "24," as a pure television drama. I thought the concept was interesting, at first, though the storyline was a bit much. And if it had stayed a middling "super-secret-agent" television show, that would have been fine.But it didn't. Just like Archie Bunker legitimized being an ignorant bigot, Jack Bauer has been used by those of the Right who, at their core, really do hate freedom and liberty, as an argument for dismantling our civil liberties and protections. The morally-challenged morons in Dick Cheney's office used Jack Bauer as an argument for the de facto legalization of the committing of war crimes by people in the American government. A sitting justice of the Supreme Court has referred to Jack Bauer as justification for truncating the rule of law and the right of access to the courts.
The Right's greatest justification for the use of torture has been a fictional character. Think about that for a minute and then substitute "Santa Claus" for "Jack Bauer" to see how utterly insane that truly is. Imagine a vice president of the United States or a Supreme Court justice using Santa Claus in an argument for any purpose, and you will instantly see how low this country has sunk.
It is not Jack Bauer's fault. But he has been a harbinger of our descent into the status of being the most heavily armed rogue nation in world history. For that, he needs to die soon.
Life imitates art? Art imitates life?
ReplyDeleteGood choice.
I think I read somewhere that Kiefer Sutherland himself thinks they should kill off the Jack Bauer character eventually.
ReplyDeleteHaving people like Dick Cheney using the character to justify torture is indeed a good reason to kill him off.
Since Santa Claus is real, why don't you substitute that Dick Cheney fellow. No one that can exist outside the realm of fictional supervillainy.
ReplyDeletethat evil. I really should enroll in that typing class.
ReplyDelete