Critical Reaction To 24 (TV Series) - Controversy and Criticisms - Torture

Torture

Further information: Ticking time bomb scenario

The program routinely includes scenes of torture, both physical and psychological, and CTU is portrayed as employing several personnel exclusively for this purpose—characters Richards, Johnson, and Burke are only seen on-screen when they are torturing someone. Jack Bauer himself also is prepared to torture suspects both physically and emotionally.

In its first five seasons there were 67 scenes of torture—more than any other show on television, Melissa Caldwell, the Parents Television Council's Senior Director of Programs, said:

"24 is the worst offender on television: the most frequent, most graphic, and the leader in the trend of showing the protagonists using torture."

Subsequently, the PTC launched a campaign to try to persuade sponsors to stop buying airtime for 24, having named several episodes as "the worst television programs of the week"

The depictions of torture as effective and necessary have prompted considerable criticism from human rights activists, military officials, experts in questioning and interrogation, and even from fans of the series. The film Taxi to the Dark Side claims that the show popularizes torture. Stephen King, an admitted fan of 24, wrote,

"There's also a queasily gleeful subtext to 24 that suggests, 'If things are this bad, why, I guess we can torture anybody we want! In fact, we have an obligation to torture in order to protect the country! Hooray!' Yet Jack Bauer's face — increasingly lined, increasingly haggard — suggests that extreme measures eventually catch up with the human soul."

People affiliated with 24, as well as many of its fans, have responded to this criticism by stressing that the show is fiction and therefore is not required to portray torture and interrogation realistically, but in February 2007, The New Yorker magazine reported that U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan (dean of the United States Military Academy at West Point), accompanied by three of the most experienced military and FBI interrogators in the country, met with the producers of 24 to criticize the show for misrepresenting the effectiveness of torture as an interrogation technique, saying it encouraged soldiers to see torture as a useful and justified tactic in the War on Terror, and damaged the international image of the United States. Brigadier General Finnegan believed the show had an adverse effect on the training of American soldiers because it advocated unethical and illegal behavior. In his words:

"The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do."

Joe Navarro, one of the FBI's top experts in questioning techniques, also attended the meeting. He told The New Yorker,

"Only a psychopath can torture and be unaffected. You don’t want people like that in your organization. They are untrustworthy, and tend to have grotesque other problems."

The New Yorker article itself echoed many of these criticisms, and went on to suggest that the show's portrayal of torture was a reflection of the political views of its creator, Joel Surnow, an avowed conservative and supporter of George W. Bush. The New Yorker's criticism of 24 and Surnow was picked up by other commentators and bloggers. Andrew Sullivan, for instance, argued that 24 repeatedly used the "ticking time-bomb" scenario "in such a way as to normalize torture in the public consciousness."

• Gordon, who is a “moderate Democrat,” said that it worries him when “critics say that we’ve enabled and reflected the public’s appetite for torture. Nobody wants to be the handmaid to a relaxed policy that accepts torture as a legitimate means of interrogation.” He went on, “But the premise of ‘24’ is the ticking time bomb. It takes an unusual situation and turns it into the meat and potatoes of the show.” He paused. “I think people can differentiate between a television show and reality.”