I didn’t exactly intend to do a whole series of posts on the TV show “24,” but as long as I started down this road, I might as well let readers know about the resolution of the “torture question.” As it turns out, there may be a less offensive outcome.
Fox’s 24 will become less torturous, but not because the U.S. military, human rights groups and children’s advocates want it to.
So says Howard Gordon, an executive producer of the hit thriller starring Emmy winner Kiefer Sutherland as secret antiterrorist operative Jack Bauer, whose interrogation tactics make oatmeal of the Geneva Conventions. […]
The decision to cut back on torture is driven by creativity, not criticism, according to Gordon. In its sixth season, 24 has become so torture-heavy that it borders on cliche, he says.
“What was once an extraordinary or exceptional moment is starting to feel a little trite. The idea of physical coercion or torture is no longer a novelty or surprise.
“It’s not something that we, as writers, want to use as a crutch. We’d like to find other ways for Jack to get information out of suspects,” says Gordon. “Our appetite has decreased. Personally, I think the audience may be tiring of it as well. My wife says it’s too much.”
For what it’s worth, Ms. CB and I already gave up on the show, in part because of the predictable and near-constant use of torture in almost every episode. I’m glad to hear that the executive producer is willing to finally go in a different direction, but have we reached a point in which torture is now a “trite” cliche on mainstream network television? Apparently so.
Gordon acknowledges that he’s aware of the concerns, but wants to make it clear that he’s ignored them — and will make the change for narrative purposes, not political ones.
Gordon says he’s not oblivious to issues raised by various groups, among them, [Parents Television Council], the U.S. military and human rights groups.
In November, he met in L.A. with Brig. Gen. Patrick Finnegan, dean of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, retired military interrogators and Human Rights First representatives. (They also met with producers of ABC’s Lost.)
In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, some worry that Bauer’s unethical techniques may influence young, real-life American interrogators in Iraq.
“We’re not nearly as naive as some people think we are,” says Gordon. “Once upon a time, we looked at torture in a kind of antiseptic way, not in a broad political context. It’s become politicized because of very real stories and events.”
Perhaps, but isn’t Gordon missing a political opportunity here? If the military has asked the producers to tone down the show, what’s the point in saying, “We’re toning it down, but not for you”?