So the word is allegedly official now--no new eps of 24 until 2009. In a way, I don't mind. I'd rather have a full, contiguous season in which all creative juices are flowing at once, without, say, a strike's interrupting it all. Plus, last season was really a stinker. It started out so well, but then you could pretty much paint it by numbers if you had ever seen the show before.
On the other hand, a good season of 24 makes for some of the best TV on the networks, so I'm bummed that we won't get to see my boy Jack kicking terrorist butt for another year.
And herein lies my struggle with that word "hypocrisy." I'm a card-carrying liberal. I don't believe in capital punishment, government-sanctioned torture (or any other kind, for that matter), or violence as a solution to problems. And yet I love Jack Bauer.
Look, I long ago resolved to turn off my brain and ignore 24's logical inconsistencies. I don't think too much about their breaking their own "real time" concept whenever it's convenient. And until last season, I even avoided complaining about how a mole infiltrated CTU every freakin' season. So when it comes to this show, I do a lot of whistling past the graveyard in the name of some good old kinetic drama.
But I always struggle with the fact that, if Jack Bauer were a real person, I would loathe his methods, his rationalizations, his constant tromping on the rights of pretty much anybody who crosses him, his shoot-first-but-only-in-the-leg-so-I-can-torture-him-later approach. I would lament the existence of people like him. I would protest him. I would refuse to elect officials who justified him.
But I love the TV show. Can I justify the contradiction? Is it hypocrisy? I don't tend to buy the "it's just a TV show" argument, as it too often seems a justification for refusing to think. But here, it seems to apply whether I want it to or not.
Anyone have any thoughts on this or other shows that you enjoy, even though they or their characters contradict your own firmly-held convictions?
Comments
t3hdow 02/19/08
It's easier to stomach the more deplorable elements of fiction if you let reality, and in the case for movies based off true events, aunthenticity filter through. Not that I discourage mindless viewing or nitpicking more ridiculous details, but the more you let it nag over you, the more your enjoyment will suffer. 24 would bug the crap out of me, otherwise.
Even with the show's negatives, it introduces some corollary around the corner. Although the show pigeonholes various groups into the insta-suspect category (e.g., any black woman or anyone under Middle eastern descent), you see enough characters that counter the villanous portrayals. Despite some nasty portrayals of torture, the show proves it doesn't always work. And of course there's Jack, whose sanity suffers from saving the country every 18 months, comitting his morally bleak actions.
I say don't worry about it and enjoy the show.
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