February 3, 2006
JACK BAUER IN '08:
Jack Is Back (Peter Suderman, 1/23/06, National Review)
It's that time of year again, when heavily bankrolled terrorists rev up their engines of mayhem only to be thwarted by the one-man solution to the war on terror known as Jack Bauer (played by Keifer Sutherland). This week, Fox kicked off the fifth season of the hit series 24, which will once again chronicle a single day of explosions, car chases, and relational entanglements as the fictional Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU), fronted by Bauer, takes on yet another America-hating villain with a diabolical plot and a gaudy foreign accent.The show is famously built around the gimmick of real-time storytelling: Each episode covers one hour, and each season makes up yet another action-packed day of terror-thwarting escapades. [...]
Kiefer Sutherland plays Bauer, CTU’s toughest counterterrorist hombre, as an Americanized, cowboy version of James Bond: more brutal, more determined, more prone to extreme measures. Bauer is the sort of guy who, even after more than a year in hiding, still answers an innocuous knock on the door with a Glock held behind his back. Supervisors, bureaucracy, and regulations are merely obstacles to be bulldozed. He doesn’t just ignore the rulebook; he shreds it, incinerates the scraps, and blows up the building the incinerator is in on the way out.
But his relentlessness is perhaps appropriate for an existence so fraught with high-stakes perils. In the first two hours of this season alone, Bauer hijacked a helicopter, stole a car, kidnapped the son of his pretty landlady, knocked unconscious and impersonated an FBI agent, won a gun battle with a squad of terrorist henchmen, was framed for murder, killed a presidential assassin, and somehow managed to evade 167 federal agents while escaping from the top floor of a Los Angeles apartment building. And you thought your job was stressful.
Other seasons have seen Bauer hold up convenience stores, become addicted to heroin, and even execute his boss (it’s complicated). In season two, he was actually tortured to the point of being declared clinically dead — and yet despite all this, he never fails to charge out swinging (and shooting, and running, and swearing). He lives a lifestyle that would give an adrenalin junkie pause.
Through it all, he remains fanatically devoted to protecting his country. For as much as Bauer despises the stranglehold of bureaucracy, he dedicates himself to the safety of America — even to the point of total self-sacrifice. The last season ended with Bauer faking his death and leaving his entire life behind in response to an earlier decision to engage in an off-the-books operation. Jack’s behavior may be brash, but he also displays a willingness to take responsibility for his actions, which gives the show a moral center.
For those of you who have not yet seen this show and are wondering if it is worth your time, here are three things to consider:
1.) The show is unabashedly pro-American and politically incorrect, which has ensured a large conservative cult following for the program.
2.) The show's co-creator, Joel Surnow, describes himself as a "right wing nutjob."
3.) In one episode, when a Islamist terrorist discovers that one of his underlings has been kidnapped and is about to be tortured, the viewing audience learns that he has a liberal human-rights organization on his speed-dial.
Posted by Matt Murphy at February 3, 2006 6:10 PMOn the negative side, Keifer Sutherland's grandfather was socialized health-care guru Tommy Douglas, but I'm guessing only the Canadians on this site really give a fig about that.
By the way, to see the quote where Mr. Surnow calls himself a "right wing nutjob," scroll down to paragraph three.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at February 3, 2006 6:41 PMWhoa... someone spent a lot of time thinking of an interesting way to say that this show is entertaining.
If I took as much out of the show as that reviewer did I'd tatoo Rush Limbaugh's measurements on my forehead and burn crosses on every lawn of any non-WASP I knew.
This is entertainment. It's not meant to be some political pill that we have to swallow.
And by the way, the best way to watch this show is an hour after it's been recorded on TIVO so you can fast forward through the capitalist commercials! ;-p
Back in the day, such non-stop action features were called serials. The day-in-the-life gimmick of "24" is so contrived.
King of the Rocket Men never slept, either.
Posted by: Ed Bush at February 3, 2006 6:52 PMEntropyXP:
Of course it's not a political pill: There are plenty of situations in the series that liberals will enjoy (like evil corporations), it's just that any show about protecting America is likely to appeal to conservatives. People don't watch this show to get preached to, they watch it because it's all-around great fun.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at February 3, 2006 7:06 PMI don't know about Tommy Dougls, but of course you know that Keifer's father is the stone moonbat, Donald Sutherland.
==
Choking back tears, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF star Donald Sutherland warned this week: President Bush "will destroy our lives!"
The star of the new ABC drama, which follows the first woman President of the United States, lashed out at the real White House during a dramatic sit down interview with the BBC.
Sutherland ripped Bush and his administration for the war and Hurricane Katrina fallout.
"They were inept. The were inadequate to the task, and they lied," Sutherland charged.
"And they were insulting, and they were vindictive. And they were heartless. They did not care. They do not care. They do not care about Iraqi people. They do not care about the families of dead soldiers. They only care about profit."
At one point during the session, Sutherland started crying: "We've stolen our children's future... We have children. We have children. How dare we take their legacy from them. How dare we. It's shameful. What we are doing to our world."
Sutherland went on rip Karl Rove's "methods and means" against people like Cindy Sheehan.
"We're back to burning books in Germany," Sutherland said of NBC's editing out of Kanye West's comment on Bush during a hurricane relief telethon.
==
That must be one interesting Thanksgiving table.
Posted by: Andrew X at February 3, 2006 8:14 PMAndrew X:
Keifer Sutherland strikes me as much more laid-back than his father and the only political subject I've ever heard him pontificate on is government-run health care, which is understandable considering his family history.
I recall hearing that Rush Limbaugh was invited onto the set of "24," and while he didn't ascertain Keifer's political views he did say the actor was very warm and friendly.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at February 3, 2006 8:18 PMEntropyXP:
The best way to watch any show is with a TiVO.
Posted by: Mike Beversluis at February 3, 2006 9:30 PMI was going to mention the CCF/NDP (ie, Canadian Socialist Party) connection...
I remember asking my grandmother why she was such an ardent NDP voter. Well, she knew Tommy Douglas and "he was a good Christian man who wanted only the best for Canada."
Canadian "socialism" began in Saskatchewan as a Christian, farmer, old-age pension and health care for everyone movement, NOT some union/communist/paid for by Stalin outfit. It has, of course, become a government union party, but they are also marginal in Canadian politics and serve mostly to shed away Liberal votes. (In other words, they are handy to have around.)
The NDP really took root here in B.C., but they only win when the Conservatives/Liberals really (and I mean REALLY) screw up.
Kiefer is smart. He didn't marry Julia Roberts when he found out she was a man (according to OJ). And he lives in the U.S.A., where there is real money to be made. And he doesn't talk about politics. And he is willing to work for FOX.
Posted by: Randall Voth at February 4, 2006 3:08 AMMy relunctance to wholesale identify with shows that will no-doubt disappoint me ad naseum with their politics, also requires I don't absolutely love shows that I think are on my side of things. It might be refreshing, but I watch everything with a grain of salt these days.
Posted by: RC at February 4, 2006 3:46 AMMy brothers are addicted to this but I could never get into it.
All the conspiracy nonsense reminds me too much of the X-Files.
Posted by: Ali Choudhury at February 4, 2006 6:44 AMIf I took as much out of the show as that reviewer did I'd tatoo (sic) Rush Limbaugh's measurements on my forehead and burn crosses on every lawn of any non-WASP I knew.
X - Please clarify what you mean to say in the sentence above.