Posted on 01/22/2007 1:30:58 PM PST by presidio9
When the ABCNews.com column assignment arrived mid-morning --"Is the TV show "24" going too far by depicting a nuclear attack in Los Angeles in its opening episode?"-- the drama went out of tonight's two-hour program. Or so I thought. As zero hour approached, I found myself assuming that the program really wouldn't actually depict a nuclear detonation near Los Angeles. I noted as the show unfolded that the script had the doomsday scenario putting the casualties of such an event at somewhere north of a hundred thousand, a remarkably low estimate, and that no mention was made of the catastrophic impact of radiation sickness or the second level but still devastating impact to surrounding infrastructure, the immediate refugee problem, or the collapse of the national economy. Given that the consequences of such a blast, I found myself doubting that the program would risk absurdity by depicting a post-nuclear attack America far more simple than anyone has a right to conceive.
But blow the nuke, the writers did, and apparently there are four more where that came from. How Jack and gang deals with the aftermath remains to be seen --martial law at least from Bakersfield to San Diego, and from the Pacific to Vegas, perhaps, and a Dow 1200? -- But the question put to me remains: Did the program "go too far?"
Given that there are easily, oh, 10 million people in the world who would stand up and cheer at the real version of Monday night's fictionalized attack, and at least a few tens of thousands trying hard to do a deed of at least proportionate scale given the weaponry available, it is silly to argue that "it" couldn't possibly happen. Of course it could happen. Eventually another nuke will go off, and it is not likely to be the obvious action of a state actor. So what is the "too far" in the question supposed to mean? It can only be that "24" is engaged in fear-mongering, and that is as stupid a charge as can be made.
Would the BBC have been going "too far" if in 1937 it had broadcast a radio drama depicting life in a Hitler-authorized death camp where hundreds of thousands of Jews were being executed in gas chambers, one of a string of such camps springing up across Europe?
Would a Paris newspaper have been going "too far" if it had run a short story in 1913 supposing trench warfare that would claim millions of casualties?
Had PBS run a drama proposing a Communist massacre of millions of Cambodians in 1973 or a Rawandan genocide of more than a half million Tutsis twenty years later, would those prophecies have been going "too far?"
The problem of the last century was a failure in the imagining of evil, a failure which was in some ways evil's accomplice. "It can't happen" often masked the very unfolding of the too-awful-to-occur event.
So now a few people are shuddering that "24" has gone and done it: Blown up Los Angeles and left the most productive part of the national economy crippled and hundreds of thousands dead. An event much more likely to occur in our lifetime than any catastrophe unleashed by global warming has been put on the table (and the LCD) and suddenly tongues are wagging about responsibility.
"Israel must be wiped off the map," Iranian President Ahmadinejad has declared, and he's been repeating the same basic message for a couple of years. No "too far" language regarding him from the critics of "24" I'll wager.
It isn't "only a television show," and appeals to the First Amendment are beside the point. The key question is whether the drama is a bit of absurd science fiction, or the projection of a not-so-distant future, not in its particulars, but in its awful core depiction.
Americans don't like to think of such an attack upon America. But prior to 9/11, they didn't like to think of airplanes crashing into skyscrapers and thousands dead in a moment and the government within hours of being decapitated.
Give the producers another fistful of Emmys and settle in to see how Jack handles post-nuclear America. "OK, I think we can agree that this is a big step up from the canister plot," Dave Barry wrote on his blog in real time after the blinding flash, a reference to the rather labored plot from last year, and an indication that even the veteran humorist who has been dining out on "24" for the past few years to the delight of a huge audience was taken aback. A shock to many, an upsetting nightmare for others.
A depiction of a happy ending for our enemies.
24 is on tonight--after Prison Break--so stop beating yourself up!
The first 4 hours is for sale now. i saw it at Sam's Club last week for about $9.00. I'm sure Best Buy has it.
Welcome to 24! I didn't watch it the first year or two--it was two violent for me. Actually I hid behind the Washington Times and peeked out when the roar subsided. Sometime I'll have to watch the first two years.
Glad you didn't miss it after all.
They were selling the first 4 episodes of this season on a DVD, with some other bonus stuff starting last monday.
http://www.foxstore.com/detail?item=2703
I would call before heading over there....I am sure I heard them say they were selling it at Best Buy also.
I agree. And sadly, I think it's obvious that such a cataclysm is now the only kind of event that can break the iron grip that political correctness now has on our society.
MM
definately not!
I was 9 1/2 when WW II started and my girlfriend and I went to the movies every Saturday. They were usually war films--my mother wouldn't allow me to see Back to Bataan--she was afraid it would be too graphic for a young girl to see. Hollywood practically cranked out one a week. I remember worrying about Japanese parachuting into the apple orchard down the street at night.
We always looked forward to seeing the News because then we could see live shots of the battles we heard about on the radio. Back then people who gave aid and comfort to the enemy were called traitors; today they are called politicians and newsmen. The Demoncrats must be proud of themselves for sounding just like Al Zawarheri (?)--they're calling for the same thing he is.
He took a bite out of crime.
TFTP! Do you have a link to the Dave Barry blog? I misplaced it.
I can still "see" the news shorts in black and white sandwiched between the cartoons and the movie feature...that radio tower with the lightening bolts...or the old fashioned movie film camera counting down the seconds in grainy B&W.
Less than fourteen minutes.....
Yes, it was written before 9/11. It came on TV either immediately before or immediately after 9/11.
I've been watching 24 since the beginning.
I read about it during the summer of 2001.
Without knowing too much what it was all about, I decided I was going to watch it because the "real time" aspect of the show intrigued me.
To leftists President Bush is the enemy so they make movies in which Bush is assasinated, that's their fantasy. To conservatives, terrorists are the enemy and it's terrorists we portray our country fighting.
Ditto.
"If we leave Iraq with tail between legs, they will follow us home. And they'll be armed..."
They're already here.
Too mean? Not when that is the only way to save your life it isn't. It made perfect sense in last week's dramatic episode.
2 things need to happen:
Jack needs to waterboard his terrorist brother.
Pres needs to send his ACLU sister to Guantanemo Bay.
David and Wayne Palmer were/are Democrats. That said, David at least was an honorable man in the mold of Harry Truman who was respectable even if you might not agree with him on policy.
A far cry from the real Democrats.
The Cain/Abel story was a stunning twist!
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