The Eternal Question: Just how much does the entertainment media impact how we see the real world?
Following in the wake of Keith Olbermann's bashing of the show 24 as Right-Wing Propaganda, and an article in The New Yorker which discusses the impact the show seems to be having at West Point comes the revelation that shows such as "24" are exactly where our troops in the field are getting their direction.
And to me, that's not a good thing...
Republicans are constantly stating that every little utterance by the left "sends a message" to the troops. Well, maybe it does - but exactly what is that message, eh?
Although "24" executive producer Howard Gordon has recently promised to "Tone Down the Torture" on the show because it's simply becoming too trite - this issue still has legs because of the numerous copies of DVD's which have been shared among our troops in combat like trading cards.
From Thinkprogress.
The television show 24 has become a foreign policy guide for the right wing. Numerous conservative pundits have cited 24 as a sanction for harsh interrogation practices. In September, Laura Ingraham stated, "The average American out there loves the show 24. ... In my mind that’s close to a national referendum that it’s OK to use tough tactics against high-level Al Qaeda operatives as we’re going to get."
Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan recently told the 24 producers that he was concerned that the show’s promotion of illegal torture "was having a damaging effect on young troops."
It can and has been argued that "24" isn't entirely the province of the Right-Wing since it has shown a neo-con President being taken down while attempting to create a false WMD situation in order to prompt a unjustified war. It has also shown two African-Americans as Presidents - something that hasn't happened in cinema since Morgan Freeman first portrayed President Tom Beck in the 1998 Steven Speilberg produced film "Deep Impact".
(Since then Freeman has actually played "God" in 2003's Bruce Almight and it's upcoming sequel "Evan Almighty" - so he's batting way ahead of the curve I would think.)
Be that as it may it should be noted that both Presidents David and Wayne Palmer have been beset with multiple assasination attempts, attempts which ultimately succeeded in the case of the former Palmer at the beginning of season 5 (Just in time for Dennis Haysbert to join his new series "The Unit") It should also be noted that only in the deluded right-wing fantasy would absolutely none of these assasination attempts have anything to do with their race - people on the left, who aren't invested in the rights myriad attempts to deny the very existence of racism, unless it's racism by liberals ala Dinesh D'Souza, know better! See Macaca-Man the ex-Senator or possibly Reps Virgil Goode, Tom Tancredo or CNN Host Glenn Beck for more examples.)
My ultimate point here is that not everything on this show is either pro-left or pro-right - sometimes it mixes the two perspectives, for example President Wayne Palmer's right-wing chief of staff Tom Lennox attempts to foil the plot against Palmer by his own deputy in the latest episode. Lennox may support the mass random interment of Muslims, but he draws the line at a coup. Good for him, uh, I think.
It's not always simple to decipher the various messages of the show, simply because often there is no message only the twists and turns of a plot intended to keep the audience off balance and in constant suspense.
But one thing that is consistent and decidedly right-wing, is the torture. And for our real troops in the field who are attempting to gather intelligence on the insurgents, Al-Qaeda, the Mahdi Army and the Taliban - it's not just the fact that "24" repeatedly offers excuses and justifications for torture, it's also the fact that the U.S. Government has failed to offer them proper guidance and training on Geneva and War Crimes.
And I for one, don't think that's an accident.
In a new interview with Newsweek, former U.S. Army specialist Tony Lagouranis, who left the military with an honorable discharge in 2005, confirms Finnegans fears — that U.S. soldiers did take cues from 24 to torture prisoners:
Interrogators didn’t have guidance from the military on what to do because we were told that the Geneva Conventions didn’t apply any more. So our training was obsolete, and we were encouraged to be creative. We turned to television and movies to look for ways of interrogating. I can say that I saw that with myself, also. I would adopt the posture of the television or movie interrogator, thinking that establishing that simple power arrangement, establishing absolute power over the detainee, would force him to break. ...
[We adopted mock] executions and mock electrocution, stress positions, isolation, hypothermia. Threatening to execute family members or rape detainees’ wives and things like that.
In the absense of proper and clear guidance from their leaderes - these guys are basically making shit up on the fly and gettings tips from anywhere that they can. If that includes "24" - so be it.
The situation as described by Lagouranis is essentially identical to what was described in HBO's "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" which I dairied about this weekend. A permissive and lax attitude by higher ups - mixed with heavy pressure to "get information" at the Abu Ghraib Hard Site led directly to clear violations not only of Geneva, but also U.S. Law.
It led to the murder of Manadel al-Jamadi.
Fortunately, some at "24" have choosen to take some responsibility...
Lagouranis has teamed up with Human Rights First to advocate against torture, noting that what is seen on 24 "is not an effective technique for gaining intelligence." Kiefer Sutherland, the actor who stars as Jack Bauer, has also said that the torture techniques employed in the show are not effective ways to get information in real life. He recently agreed to speak with cadets at the West Point military academy to teach them that torture is wrong.
It shouldn't have to be Keifer's responsibility. An actor shouldn't have to basically go out and explain that - he's just an actor and it's just a TV Show. People shouldn't be taking this stuff to heart and taking it literally.
But in the absense of a strong argument (with the possible exceptions of Battlestar Galactica and Sleeper Cell) from either the media or government to the contrary that torture doesn't work, that it undermines our moral standing and authority, that it's a crime - this is what we're left with.
Actors educating our military.
We need to do better than this. Much better.
Oh, and just in case you thought Mr. Gordon was actually serious about his claims that the excessive torture would be written out of "24", next weeks episode features Jack breaking into the Russian Consolate, capturing the Consolate General and threating to "Cut off his fingers one by one - until he talks."
It seems that despite what Gordon says, the perspective and views of "24" co-creator, producer and admitted "right-wing nutbag" Joel Surnow continue to hold sway.
"It’s a deep, dark ugly world out there. Maybe this is what Ollie North was trying to do. It would be nice to have a secret government that can get the answers and take care of business — even kill people."
Whaddamean by "It would be nice..." Joel? That's exactly what we do have.
Vyan
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