Finished TiVoed 24
Late to the party, I know. I watch a lot of TV during the season, some less hot but still watchable shows get recorded and left till the summer, and 24 is a newcomer–this was my first season. And it was awesome. Kiefer Sutherland is fan-frickin’-tastic as Jack Bauer, and although the rest of the show at first had me struggling to suspend disbelief regarding the technical wizardry, timing, and inhuman task management of these people, I soon learned to forget all that and go along for the ride.
But I’m a little surprised that in his detailed summary of the show, Rick Moran apparently made no comment on the 24‘s skate-near-the-edge portrayal of President Logan as a corrupt, oil-motivated, power-mad executive who’d do anything, include endangering American citizens at the hands of terrorists, if it would satisfy his political aims. I flew into a huge rant at the screen when I realized where they were going with this. Isn’t it bad enough that people actually believe these kinds of things are possible in Bush’s world without having a major network TV show stir the pot?
I guess it’s fortunate that the frustrated writers, if they really do believe their own concoction, are left to vent through fiction. I’ll still be watching next season, but it would be nice if their agenda wore a few more clothes.
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Check out the previous seasons; it’s pretty clear to me that the writers are fairly conservative. Hell, they’ve even made the bad guys Muslim terrorists (even if they were Turks).
Compare and contrast with the movie studio changing the atomic-bomb wielding terrorists from the Arabs in the book to (nonsensical) Neo-Nazis in the film version of “Sum of All Fears.”
Comment by Mike Lief — August 16, 2006 @ 10:59 pm
I know I should have watched more seasons before judging, but having only this season to go on gave a fairly ominous picture. Turning it on its head, I guess it would be nicer to think they did it that way to show how ridiculous the same scenario is around Bush–i.e. that he’d never get away with it. :)
Comment by Anwyn — August 16, 2006 @ 11:15 pm
I think the bigger point the writers have made over several seasons is that the threat is real, that the bad guys are trying to destroy us, and that sometimes we have to be ruthless and brutal in order to prevent them from accomplishing their goals.
Best example is the appearance of a quasi-ACLU type in the previous season, appearing to represent a suspect being held by the folks at Bauer’s unit. He’s a sanctimonious, cliche-spewing prig, and Bauer’s expressions, comments — and ultimate actions — are very consistent with most conservatives thoughts regarding the “rights” of terrorists.
Comment by Mike Lief — August 18, 2006 @ 7:27 am
[…] … what Ace said. Mike Lief tells me that the show skews to the right in that Jack’s nemeses are usually foreign terrorists, but this year the enemy is the President of the United States and the Academy suddenly goes nuts for it? I definitely question the hell out of the timing. The cliffhanger led us to believe the Chinese will be on the seat next year. We’ll see. Congratulations to Kiefer Sutherland, but I was really hoping Jean Smart would take home the Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy for her role as the president’s wife. She was fantastic. […]
Pingback by Anwyn’s Notes in the Margin » 24 Wins the Big One… — August 28, 2006 @ 3:51 pm