24: Conservative plot! Excepting where it’s a liberal plot
I saw on some liberal blogs recently that 24 is conservative propaganda because it shows What Could Happen if terrorists were allowed in the country–and in fact, liberals “hate the TV show ‘24′ because it dares to remind us” how dangerous our enemies are. And I’ve also seen on conservative blogs that 24 is liberal propaganda (”Features ACLU-CAIR-John Conyers Message“).
Okay, while I was writing this in my head a few days ago, here’s what I was going to write: liberals say conservatives hate 24 for the show’s liberal message, conservatives say liberals hate 24 for the show’s conservative message, and it’s funny how all these politically-minded people take the parts of the show that agree with their own views.
But now I can’t find the original post where I thought I read a liberal saying conservatives hate 24. So I had to go looking for it. And over the past half hour I had a hard time finding conservatives complain about the show. For the most part, it’s liberals complaining about the show’s conservative message, and conservatives laughing at liberals for complaining about it.
How can this be? If you’re going to take this fictional show to a level high enough to apply it to real life, how can conservatives not complain about it? Information collected on people without warrants for being the wrong race? Innocents scooped into detention roundups with no charges? The beginnings of internment camps? I mean, the liberals’ upset with torture and racial profiling is pretty obvious. But why aren’t conservatives saying “we wouldn’t mangle our American values in this way”?
I mean. I think I’m actually a little scared about this.
January 22nd, 2007 17:12
I’m a liberal and I don’t see a conservative message in the show at all. I actually view it as a cautionary tale, especially with the fact the events on the show, such as gathering information on people does nothing but reflect what’s making news. The NSA has been gathering records on anyone they feel like and the last I heard on any of that was, the current administration was threatening to sue the state of Maine if they opened an investigation into illegal wiretapping and Verizon handing over records to the NSA illegally.
The show does nothing but reflect what’s happening in this country. With some bombings thrown in for suspense.
January 22nd, 2007 17:13
Um, that ashould be do nothing, not does nothing. Sigh. Where is that edit button?
January 22nd, 2007 20:38
On the subject of spying on people: I was watching 24 season 1 again when I saw this entry pop up in my RSS reader.
What’s up with that?
January 23rd, 2007 10:18
When Jack Bauer is short-stacked against Doyle Brunson with the blinds increasing every 30 minutes, I’ll watch.
May 20th, 2007 23:29
Wouldn’t it be nice if we’d all stop spending all of our time on the internet and watching TV. Dealing with the real world is productive too. I’ve never seen an episode of 24, although I dislike the liberal message that Wheel of Fortune puts out.