Here’s an interesting article from National Review on the popular show 24 and national security. Some key quotes:
Make-believe antiterrorism and real antiterrorism have some things in common and many things different, but they matter to one another in this respect: What Americans watch on TV about counterterrorism operations, whether fact or fiction, affects what they expect in real life. Further, what we expect of their homeland defenses affects politicians, which in turn influence the agencies. This is where 24 matters to our real war on terror, it seems: Jack Bauer sets our expectations, which can make things tough for our leaders.
More on Jack Bauer:
On deeper examination, however, this overdependence-on-Washington criticism does not apply to 24, because 24 is a true American drama and Jack Bauer is an American hero. When I was in Germany a few years ago, a Cabinet official said that Europe was once half-full of free-thinkers and independent spirits, but then they all got up and moved to America. The American hero is the cowboy: He is Maverick, he is Han Solo, he is Batman (though, when Batman is in trouble, he turns on the Jack Bauer signal), he is the rag-tag minuteman fighting the well-trained Lobsterbacks.
So Jack Bauer is not Big Brother, and he is not the establishment. Jack Bauer was expelled from CTU and he disobeys orders. He does what needs to be done and he does it in his own way. (Jack Bauer once played Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun, and won.) He is the fitting heir to Rambo and Maverick.
And like Rambo and Maverick, Bauer’s inhuman excellence (Jack Bauer, for example, could strangle you with a cordless phone) still doesn’t keep us from identifying with him. “Jack Bauer is an everyman,” Writer and Executive Producer Howard Gordon said on Friday, “he is the guy who stands for that American, can-do thing.”
On a closing note, Jack Bauer can eat five times his body weight in terrorists.
Those of us in law enforcement have had this problem for a long time.
The fictional media cops set the standard and expectation for the American public. Since many folks don’t have any contact with the real police this mythical standard goes uncorrected.
The politicians and the brass won’t be honest with the people. It’s left to the ground level worker bees to correct this image. This is the source of alot of frustration.
RBT
Jack Bauer can eat five times his body weight in terrorists.
The truth is, though, that in a fight between Jack Bauer and Osama Bin Laden, the winner would be Chuck Norris.
I’m sorry, scooby, but Chuck Norris is afraid of Jack Bauer. So afraid that he was unable to roundhouse kick anyone to the face.
There is a web site that is dedicated tour national existence called Society of Americans for National Existence, http://www.saneworks.us. They have some very interesting articles worth reading.
Jack Bauer once played Russian roulette with a clip-loading pistol and won.
Jack Bauer is okay, I guess.
“Jack Bauer is okay, I guess.
Laurie · June 27, 2006 05:35 PM”
Okay? Okay! WTF! You can’t be serious!
I am also a big fan of SecDef Heller. Although that bar is not set too high. I believe Rumsfeld would drive his car off of a cliff for the good of the country.
*grin*
Maggie, the show is pretty good, I watch it if I’m not doing something else. But Keifer just doesn’t fit the part for me.
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London-born rapper Sway is to be honoured at the BET Hip-Hop awards in the US…
The judge who put coded messages in his Da Vinci Code plagiarism trial ruling has written another…
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