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Recent discussions of torture often refer to examples or dilemmas portrayed in the popular television series, 24. Each season covers the unfolding drama of a twenty-four-hour period during which terrorists attempt to cause devastation and mayhem across the United States. The action dramatically races from one crisis to another as the authorities just about manage to avert most, but not all, of the attacks and bombings. Leading the defenders is Jack Bauer, former head of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU). Bauer is the classic indestructible hero who always finds a way to save the day.
Part of the success of 24 has been its remarkable timeliness and even prescience of current events. The first season was in production in 2000 and aired on Fox Broadcasting just a month after 11 September 2001. US agents were portrayed using torture on 24 well before photographs were released from Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. "Enhanced interrogation techniques" were portrayed and discussed in 24 long before they became a commonplace of news analysis and debates about the "war on terror". 24 has captured the Zeitgeist of at least part of the early twenty-first century's reaction to terrorism.
Jack Bauer has become a lightning-rod for debate over the war on terrorism. Not only will he find a way to avert disaster, he will resort to any way-including torturing. To date, 24 has shown the torture of known terrorists, suspected terrorists, US agents, a former director of the National Security Agency, the son of the US secretary of defence, Bauer's girlfriend, his brother, and sundry relatives and other citizens suspected of knowing something vital. When it became clear that the US president was behind season five's terrorist plot, the audience was left to wonder whether Bauer would torture even the president.
Traditionally, torture has been portrayed in popular media as a tool of psychopaths and megalomaniacal monsters.1 The terrorists in 24 also engage in torture, and Bauer has been the recipient of horrific torture. Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry character introduced the possibility that the hero would resort to torture. Now 24 shows numerous examples of the "good guys" resorting to torture, even if some agents remain uncomfortable with the practice.
Not only does 24 frequently show the hero using...