WHAT'S THE PRIMARY TARGET? -Jack Bauer

As you may know by now, I'm usually of the belief that people aren't that heavily influenced by what they watch on television. The group Human Rights First doesn't seem to agree. The group is concerned about a recent study that shows that prior to 9/11, the only torture depicted on television was perpetrated by the bad guys. Now, the good guys are the ones doing the torturing, and they're often praised as being patriotic. The instances of any torture scenes at all have also been steadily increasing as a whole.

While I usually find myself rolling my eyes at articles like this, I found that this one has some validity. I found a similar article in the New Yorker entitled "Whatever it Takes." Both of these articles reference a recent meeting between U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, the dean at West Point, and several top producers of 24. The meeting was arranged by Human Rights First, over their concern that the show is facilitating false images about torture. The following is an excerpt from the New Yorker article.

Finnegan told the producers that “24,” by suggesting that the U.S. government perpetrates myriad forms of torture, hurts the country’s image internationally. Finnegan, who is a lawyer, has for a number of years taught a course on the laws of war to West Point seniors—cadets who would soon be commanders in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. He always tries, he said, to get his students to sort out not just what is legal but what is right. However, it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by “24,” which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ ” He continued, “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”

This is more than a little disturbing. Along with a reference in the Yahoo article that claims that one serviceman in Iraq saw people mimicking torture scenes from 24 on actual prisoners. That scares me, quite a lot actually. I'm of the John McCain school that torture isn't affective. Since McCain was actually a prisoner of war and tortured for years in Vietnam, I think he's a pretty good source. I read an interview with him a while ago that said during his imprisonment when he was being tortured, he was asked to give up the names of generals in the army. He claims to have given them names of football players. McCain has said that if someone is being tortured, they will say anything, especially false information, to get someone to stop the pain.

A big part of 24 and the so-called "necessity" for torture is the "ticking time-bomb" scenario. As is referenced in the New Yorker article, this never actually happens in real life. If you need to justify Jack Bauer's actions, you can say that the threat is imminent, and hurting one person will save the lives of thousands. However, this does not translate into real life, because this scenario never comes up, and is simply not plausible.

Also on the show, until Morris gave in to Fayed, the good guys are never affected by torture. Usually it takes Jack about 5 minutes of inflicting pain for someone to give up everything they know. Jack was tortured for 2 years and didn't say a word. This undermines the fact that torture actually works if you stop and think about it. One of the most intense scenes of season 4 shows Jack shooting a suspect in the knee asking him what the primary target of the day's attacks are. He quickly tells him the answer. This would never happen in real life. Radical extremists are brainwashed and trained not to give up any information, no matter what happens to them. If they are convinced to die for a cause, what makes us believe that they would give in to a little pain?

I've also been reading some articles recently that say that fans are a little bit put off by the increasingly more gruesome torture scenes. No one seemed to be a big fan of the drill in Morris's shoulder. This thought never occurred to me until I read other people's distaste of it, but I think that's because I've become about 99% desensitized to all television and movie violence. Yet I can't watch a boob job on Nip/Tuck. Figure that one out.

To say the least, these articles are a little unsettling. I'm usually the person who will respond to an article about a kid jumping out of a building because he saw Superman on tv fly, "well what were they really going to contribute to society anyway if they're so dumb to think Superman is real?" But if military personnel are finding truth and justification in torture because of a fictional tv show, maybe the threat is more serious than I once thought.

On a less serious note, I know that my Boston constituents will like this video. Never again will our commutes be delayed by 10 minutes!