Susan Hated Literature

Last night we had our first Wii related accident. The flatmate and her boyfriend bought a Wii a week ago or so. It has been over at his new place for most of the time, but came back on Friday. Course what with the rugby I haven’t had much time to play with it, but I’ve had a few goes, and it is fabtastic.

So after watching the return of Lost last night we had one quick game^[1] of tennis before bed. But as it was late we decided not to bother standing up and playing properly, so we didn’t move the coffee table.
Can you tell where I’m headed yet?

Yup, attempting to get an ace the flatmate took an overenthusiastic swing, and bang, straight into her glass of wine which went flying in my direction.

Or should I saw the wine and shards of glass went flying. Luckily it all missed me, but the couch got a drenching. Didn’t stop us playing another game once we had cleaned it up.

Over at Metafilter they are discussing 24 and its impact on people’s willingness to accept torture. I’m not so sure that I’d go along with that, but that was one of the reasons I stopped watching the show. Ideological grounds

Some of the articles mentioned: Orwellian ideology of 24 - 24’s heroes as Himmler - Pop Matters.

But in news of a much better TV show, Life on Mars is back tonight. Yay! Course it conflicts with Battlestar, but I’ve been recording BSG anyways, so no real worries.

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So 24 started this week on Sky One. Two hours of Jack Bauer and twisty plots and turns. Yet, for some reason I’m not as into it as I have been in previous seasons. I haven’t seen Day 1 yet, but caught the others.

Maybe it is the fact that it is all a bit real; I don’t mean the “muslim threat” (they’re hiding under beds you know), but the whole torture deal. In the opening episodes Jack shot a man in the leg, fair enough if he had been running away, but no, he was a prisoner that they were interrogating just not breaking him fast enough.

I think I be able to handle it better if they showed CTU torturing people who are innocent as well as those they “know” are guilty. Aren’t the writers making it all a bit convenient if all the suspects are in the know about whatever is going on. Or are they just sparing us all those who were picked up because there names are similar to known terrorists?

I’ve often thought that if real people did what our TV heroes do we would despise them. The same goes for many heroes in books and films, its just that with 24 everything seems as though it should have more of an impact. On the show people are tortured, but always the guilty as though that makes everything alright, and always they give up some vital bit of information. They never lie to make the pain stop or simply agree in the hope that they’ll be left alone. Or admit to something, only for the real culprits to go free.

In real life torture doesn’t work, not if you want justice.

"If you tell me my family are being terrorised,
 keep me awake for six days and nights,
 confused and terrified,
 In the lonely dark of night,
 I'll swear that black is white,
if you'll let me just lie down and close my eyes.
 I'll sign anything, if you let me close my eyes"

-Scapegoats (Christy Moore), song about the Birmingham Six

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While watching 24 on RTE last night I started to think about what we approve of in our TV heroes, and what we would say were it real. Then this morning while I took a look at Crooked Timber there was a question about is it ever right to torture some one, and suppose you had, in order to track down and find a bomb that would kill millions of people. What should you do then?

John at Crooked Timber suggests that the torturer should turn themselves in and accept any punishment, which is a valid option imo.

But my thoughts were more with the difference between what we cheer on on the TV and in films. I’m not talking about way OTT Ah-nuld type films here, but ones that are based more in “real” emotions, even if the situations are totally unbelievable.
To take 24 as an example, I don’t think that while I was watching the second season that I was overly concerned when that fella (actor also in Buffy, cabinet man? worked with Sherry?) was tortured, this time round however, with what is going on in Iraq the question of whether Jack and Chase were right to stick a knife in someone’s hand in an attempt to extract information did bother me.

The difference between then and now? Last year it was just fiction. This time there is an element of reality in it.

I think that torture is wrong. Without a doubt, but if I had to weigh torturing one person with saving a thousand others?
Of course, is one life less valuable than another? And there is also the fact that maybe you got the wrong person? And once the first person is abused, wouldn’t it be easier to justify doing it again?

And here was me thinking that 24 was just harmless entertainment!

Current track: Lover, You Should’ve Come Over by Jeff Buckley

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