Two 24 related pieces of news recently caught my attention. The first is a radio program that devoted it's entire show to discussing 24's ultimate message and how that might effect people. The host, Tom Ashbrook, led the discussion about how many conservative politicians have tried to almost claim the show as their own, saying that it portrays real-life decision making. Guests debated if the show was overly conservative and if that was their message.

Tricia Rose, a pop culture commentator and professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, made the best point I think when she said, "I do think that the real problem is not that the show is portending what will happen politically but that our political culture is so bereft of serious reflective engagement that we look to pop culture to engage these huge issues. Our political culture is what’s immature." She also goes on to say that the people in control of the White House are more cartoonish by portraying people as "good" or "bad." I think Rose raises some very good points in saying this. I think a lot of times people in power will not know the solution to a problem so will point to the media, entertainment or gaming industries as a scapegoat. Many times in the Iraq War, military officials have not admitted the war is going badly but that the media is only reporting the "bad news." With a show like 24 that is so popular and creative, many people on the right want to associate themselves with that. It's very sad that some of the most real debate is associated around a television show rather than from people in charge of the country.

James Poniewozik, a media critic for Time Magazine, was also on the program saying that the main goal of the show is to entertain people. While this seems like an obvious observation, we sometimes might forget that all of the things that happen on the show might simply be to keep us guessing and watching, nothing more.

I think listening to this program is worthwhile, they bring up some interesting points, especially when Ashbrook plays audio of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Chertoff lauding the show.

But I also came across this article which I would like to talk about. The headline of this article is "Muslims rip ‘24’ for renewed terror role." In seasons 4 and now 6, Muslim extremists were the terrorists plotting some kind of attacks. This article discusses how this has upset many in the Muslim community. One quote from the article is as follows:

“The overwhelming impression you get is fear and hatred for Muslims,” said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. She said Thursday she was distressed by this season’s premiere. “After watching that show, I was afraid to go to the grocery store, because I wasn’t sure the person next to me would be able to differentiate between fiction and reality.”

While I can understand why many Muslims have a problem with they way they are portrayed on the show, I feel like this is a bit of an overreaction. I guess now would be a good time to establish that I don't think the entertainment media has a big influence on people's actions. I don't think that some child is going to go beat up someone and rob a car after playing Grand Theft Auto and I don't think that a bunch of white teenagers will go beat up someone who has darker skin than them after watching 24. I do believe that Muslims are not portrayed fairly in the American media, and the best example of this might be 24, even though there have been white, Russian, German and European terrorists on the show as well. In a post-9/11 society negative portrayals of Muslims might be more harmful than in the past, so I can see the point Ahmed was making. There's a new show airing in Canada trying to offset these negative images, that I wish was being broadcast in the U.S. It's a comedy about a Muslim family in a small town that has a wide audience already. I would be interested to see how popular this show would be if it came to the U.S.

I feel like I've gone a little off-point now though. My main point is I can see why Muslims have a problem with the roles they always have on 24, but I don't think these negative images will lead directly to some kind of backlash. Any stereotypes that people believe are true most likely come from places besides television shows. Another thing that would be worthy of noting now is that even though I love 24 probably more than is healthy, I do not agree with almost anything that happens on the show, in the ways of obtaining information. I do not believe that torture is an effective way to gather information, no matter the seriousness of the situation. I also do not agree with all of the times someone will ask Jack for a lawyer during questioning and he essentially laughs in their faces. I do not agree with some of the civil liberties that people are willing to give up or ignore on the show. I also do not believe that all terrorists are foreigners. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the show anyway, it's an incredibly well-done, well-acted, creative show. Which is my point, in a roundabout way, I can differentiate between television and reality, and I like to think that other Americans can too. But I could be wrong, any thoughts?