With last night’s torture-by-electric-drill of Chloe’s ex-husband Morris O’Brian, the sudden flare-up of protests against 24‘s use of extreme force will probably stoke an even Read the full post.
Feb 14
2007
12:07 AM ET
Has torture on TV gone too far?
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Give me a brake, if u dont like torture dont watch the show its part of the show, hello do u think when people are heald hostage in irag they feed them tea and chips, lol man ive watched this show since 1st season and torture is part of the show u dont like it dont watch the show,,, and the i think the ew writer that rips this this show might wanna talk to better writer then him and critic by name of mr king, and ask his opinion on the shows torture since he loves this season!! and i think mr king should do the tv watch for 24 because this guy doesnt have guts to enjoy good quality torture tv.
i bet u anything the 9.1 million people that watched the show in 1st and 2nd season dont have problem with the torture its these weak bandwagon people that just watch it because its cool thing do, u people can go back to watching boring housewives,and gays anatomy with little retarded law and orders…
Um, Mike, nobody said that a little nuclear explosion is nothing — it is horrible, and if we had to sit and watch what happened to the people in it, it would be even more disturbing than the drill scene. The point is, we DIDN’T see the close-up effects of the nuclear bomb. In the drill scene we heard the screams, we saw the blood. THAT’s the issue. Unlike Nick, who enjoys “good quality torture TV”, some of us don’t want to be so intimately familiar with pain and horror.
I think we should boycott the liberal newspaper and magazine writers who whine about torture. On 24, there really isn’t time to use any other method of information extraction than to beat it out of someone. The numerous postings about violence in other show, especially movies, is dead on. Where’s the righteous indignation about a movie where someone must saw his hand off to get out of a cage? What point is there to that plot other than someone is watching and getting off on it. There is never any torture on 24 that isn’t a means to an end…usually an end that saves thousands of American lives.
And, yes, a nuke just went off in suburbia, killing 12,000 people. Is there not a problem with that? It’s ok to kill people 12,000 at a time, but not to kill 1 slowly?
Like I said…boycott the writers who complain about torture on a fictional TV show. Leave 24 alone. It’s one of the best hours on TV today.
nick, the torture on Lost was Danny kicking Sawywer’s butt.
nick, as much as you’re whining about Ken Tucker not enjoying the show, he stated in this very article:
“But I also think anything that stirs debate is good. Better that 24, with its FINELY CALIBRATED SUSPENSE AND TERRIFIC ACTING, should move people to discuss political and moral issues than a primetime wasteland full of American Idols…”
Ok, so he was disappointed in yesterday’s episode. It’s his opinion and frankly, I agree with him. He loves 24 (as do I) but this recent episode left something to be desired. When it’s the other way around, I bet some of you are still going to rag on him.
And as much as you’re slamming Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Law and Order viewers, those shows are just as graphic as 24, if not moreso.
But I do agree that Lost’s torture scenes are really tame compared to 24. Pffh…Heroes is more violent than Lost. Why no mention about that?
But that’s the point, Joe Cool, of the problem with the scenes of torture in 24. On the show, almost everyone who’s tortured actually has something to hide, and they give up the game when they are tortured enough. But in real life, when people are tortured enough, they’ll say *anything* because they just want it to stop. Yeah, 24 is fiction, but unfortunately, torture is not, not in Iraq and not in Afghanistan (Abu Ghraib, anyone?). And as far as I know, the American government isn’t asking anyone to chop off their hand in order not to die, a la Saw. 24, and the ideas that drive it, are a little too close to home for the “it’s just a TV show” excuse.
People who complain that 24 is “too violent” are just as bad as those who claim that Lost is “too confusing” or that they “don’t know when to laugh” when watching The Office. In short, these people are NOT true television fans. They aren’t interested in how incredible many network shows have become by rewarding those of us that are devoted to our shows, those of use that are immersed in the years of character development, plot construction and underlying themes these shows construct. Sure, someone flipping through the channels and seeing Monday night’s drill scene on 24 might be shocked, but those of us who have watched every episode since the premiere understand the sociopolitical context the scene took place in. When writers and producers go back to making TV for the channel-flipper, the “network televsion renaissance” we’re in right now will come to an end. (Note: the network television renaissance does not include Deal or No Deal or Accoding to Jim.)
Also, the press seems to randomly pick a show to rail against and then they really stick with it. Before, they had a problem with 24′s depiction of Arabs. Now that most of the villains this season are turning out to be either Russians or Americans rather than Arabs, the issue over the torture scenes has arisen. If the 24 writers excised all the torture scenes, they’d cook up a new issue to take it’s place. I can’t wait for the New York Times article on how CTU’s dimly lit interiors are causing eye damage to viewers.
I am personally getting sick and tired of this depiction of torture on TV, and not only in ’24′. I am also appalled by some of the comments, dismissing criticism of torture as some ‘liberal poo-pooing’. I am a retired soldier and a qualified military interrogator and I know that torture doesn’t work. I also believe that its use is morally indefensible, against anyone. Defending its use against terrorists only corrupts our own society, without giving any real valuable info. A person being tortured will simply say anything or invent a lie to make the pain stop. Another point many should think hard about: if you use torture, then your ennemies will use that to justify torturing our own soldiers, even if they should be entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions. And don’t use the ‘but they would torture our soldiers anyway’. Some would, but some would not, at least as long as we don’t torture their people. Let’s stop inventing justifications for the use of torture!
“I also think anything that stirs debate is good.”
Well then, you must think that the War in Iraq is WONDERFUL!
Debate is good, but many things that stir debate, like unjsutified wars, torture chic on TV, etc., are NOT “good”.
maya, you are right about how people (I’m sure) will say anything to get torture to stop…not that I or your or hopefully any of us have any actual experience with that subject.
My point with the Saw reference, was that the New Yorker writer and others getting so worked up about a fictional depiction of torture and violence on one show and not all of them. I suspect a liberal/ conservative issue there.
I don’t enjoy the torture scenes, either, but they are a part of this most excellent show so I grimace and hope the scene isn’t too long, which they usually aren’t.
If we want to talk about torture on TV, let’s talk about the tool at Fox News that had himself waterboarded on television for a story and came out of it saying that it wasn’t torture and it was a fine interrogation technique. Forget the fictional torture, this was supposed to be NEWS.
Ken Tucker your liberal agenda is showing. How could you even bring up an issue as silly as boycotting a program as great as ’24?’
And why are these problems with the show coming up 5 seasons too late?
Go stir up the fire for some other shows on tv for truly being the crap they are – not my ’24′
I wonder if Ken Tucker and others would now like to advocate that we boycott showings of “Marathon Man”. That movie had one of the most terrifying torture scenes in cinematic history.
I am really becoming dissatisfied with the route “Entertainment Weekly” is taking. They are an entertainment journal, not a political magazine. Their writers CONTINUE to infuse their pet political causes and beliefs into their TV and movie reviews. I read EW to find out if shows, movies or books are good or bad, not to hear Ken Tucker philosophize on the moral relativism of torture on TV.
If he wants to watch real torture, he can TIVO “Entertainment Tonight”.
24 is a great action/drama show. In my opinion, a truly great action/drama makes you feel emotion, good or bad, and makes you squirm, feeling as if you are right there with it. No show does this better than 24, and that’s why anyone who has been watching from the first season, is still watching: that being sucked into the story feeling and stirring of emotions.