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Jack Bauer Meets Leni Riefenstahl

I’ve always respected “24”’s taut storytelling prowess, while being seriously troubled by the proto-fascist underlying morality of the series – roughly in the same way, I suppose, as you might respond to Leni Riefenstahl’s diabolic cinematic aptitude. This week’s New Yorker carries an excellent analysis of “24” and it’s pro-torture creator. I’ve always suspected that a significant proportion of the audience for shows like this find some trouble (or maybe don’t even care) in distinguishing fact from fiction, plot-life from real-life. “The show doesn’t have much patience for the niceties of civil liberties or due process”, frankly admits the network executive who originally bought the show.

David Soul once told me that he felt “Starsky & Hutch”’s enduring legacy was that it spread the notion (often in countries whose human rights record was close to non-existent) that detainees had certain basic rights. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you…” Starsky or Hutch would recite as they reeled off another Miranda warning to a hapless suspect. If it’s true that S&H spread liberty and light worldwide, then you can’t help but wonder about the values now being propagated by Donald Sutherland’s son and his cast.
The New Yorker

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