The Politics Of The Man Behind "24" from The New Yorker

[EV_Ares]

The office desk of Joel Surnow—the co-creator and executive producer of “24,” the popular counterterrorism drama on Fox—faces a wall dominated by an American flag in a glass case. A small label reveals that the flag once flew over Baghdad, after the American invasion of Iraq, in 2003. A few years ago, Surnow received it as a gift from an Army regiment stationed in Iraq; the soldiers had shared a collection of “24” DVDs, he told me, until it was destroyed by an enemy bomb. “The military loves our show,” he said recently. Surnow is fifty-two, and has the gangly, coiled energy of an athlete; his hair is close-cropped, and he has a “soul patch”—a smidgen of beard beneath his lower lip. When he was young, he worked as a carpet salesman with his father. The trick to selling anything, he learned, is to carry yourself with confidence and get the customer to like you within the first five minutes. He’s got it down. “People in the Administration love the series, too,” he said. “It’s a patriotic show. They should love it.”

For all its fictional liberties, “24” depicts the fight against Islamist extremism much as the Bush Administration has defined it: as an all-consuming struggle for America’s survival that demands the toughest of tactics. Not long after September 11th, Vice-President Dick Cheney alluded vaguely to the fact that America must begin working through the “dark side” in countering terrorism. On “24,” the dark side is on full view. Surnow, who has jokingly called himself a “right-wing nut job,” shares his show’s hard-line perspective. Speaking of torture, he said, “Isn’t it obvious that if there was a nuke in New York City that was about to blow—or any other city in this country—that, even if you were going to go to jail, it would be the right thing to do?”

Surnow, for his part, revels in his minority status inside the left-leaning entertainment industry. “Conservatives are the new oppressed class,” he joked in his office. “Isn’t it bizarre that in Hollywood it’s easier to come out as gay than as conservative?” His success with “24,” he said, has protected him from the more righteous elements of the Hollywood establishment. “Right now, they have to be nice to me,” he said. “But if the show tanks I’m sure they’ll kill me.” He spoke of his new conservative comedy show as an even bigger risk than “24.” “I’ll be front and center on the new show,” he said, then joked, “I’m ruining my chances of ever working again in Hollywood.”

Last March, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia, joined Surnow and Howard Gordon for a private dinner at Rush Limbaugh’s Florida home. The gathering inspired Virginia Thomas—who works at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank—to organize a panel discussion on “24.”Surnow said that he found the Clinton years obnoxious. Surnow told me that he would like to counter the prevailing image of Senator Joseph McCarthy as a demagogue and a liar. Surnow and his friend Ann Coulter—the conservative pundit, and author of the pro-McCarthy book “Treason”—talked about creating a conservative response to George Clooney’s recent film “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Rest of Article @ Link: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070219fa_fact_mayer?page=1

[bdrube]

1. The most dangerous show on television.

I boycot it, and I urge all progressives to do the same.  It
might just be the main reason why Americans by-and-large have
yawned at the revelations that our government is committing
torture.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

8. ROTFLMAO!!!! I'd Say That's A Tad Melodramatic. Personally, I Think It's The Best Show On TV.

It's the most gripping, intense, entertaining and nail biting thing on tv these days.

I love my 24!!!!!! Boycott? Don't hold your breath LOL

[PLF]

22. "on tv" are the key words, personally, I don't have time for idiotic propaganda

disguised as entertainment.

[Little Wing]

2. This thread is going downhill faster than

[StClone]

3. Gidget

:wtf:

[billyoc]

4. I never miss an episode.

I love that show, it's the only thing on tv I watch.

[Bluebear]

13. Well isn't that special. Any comments on the article?

[patrice]

5. I have not, nor will I ever watch that show.

TV is such a bore anymore!

[Ilsa]

6. Thsi show also presents the danger of leadership that manipulates

the facts to build a case for their policy. I thought it was very damning of Bushco and neocons recently.

The show also reflects how poorly toture works.

The program is fast-paced fantasy and well-acted drama, but there are too many holes in the stories to make them "prophetic" in any way, IMO.

[Seen the light]

7. Misleading article

I've read it and, while I think it's a great read, it doesn't give a true impression of the show. First of all, Joel Surnow is no longer the head honcho at 24, Howard Gordon is. He describes himself as a "moderate Democrat," but I honestly think he put in the "moderate" part to soften the Republican 24 fans that would eventually read that article. I've read many comments by him in the past and he seems pretty progressive. There are more progressives that work on 24 from top to bottom BY FAR than there are conservatives.

Second, I find it very humorous that all of this controversy on DU is coming up this season. This season has been the most anti-Republican one of them all and that's coming off the heels of a season where the Republican president was in cahoots with terrorists to detonate WMDs on US soil to start a war for oil! Did anyone see last week's episode? The President stood up to his slimy adviser and his vice-president who were trying to get all Muslims locked up because of a nuclear bomb that had recently detonated. It was a great great scene.

That's really all I have for now, I get tired of having to defend this show from people that have never seen it or have only seen clips of it on Keith Olbermann's show.

[nonconformist]

18. If I could, I would recommend your post. nt

[trumad]

20. Excellent post

It's funny--- but folks who continue to express that the show continues to use radical muslims as the bad guys must not be watching the show.

Jack's own Brother has been the mastermind the last couple of seasons. Throw in last seasons Repub President, ....Last seasons Repub Chief of Staff... The countless double agents that were American... and on and on...

The real bad guys the last couple of seasons are us....

[lpbk2713]

9. I've never seen an episode.

I've thought if Limbaugh likes it that's reason enough to avoid it. Now I feel justified.

It sounds more like propaganda than entertainment.

[donheld]

17. Any friend of Rush's in no friend of mine

[MisterP]

10. I need a bath now

"Constitution? Just an obstacle!"

[tomreedtoon]

11. So it's a fascist S&M show. When did you find this out?

In fact, the show had a chance to completely change in the start of this season. A terrorist actually manages to explode a nuke on American soil. I believe killing thousands or tens of thousands in Los Angeles.

If that had happened in reality, this country would be in an uproar and we'd be at war in less than 24 hours. In this case, everyne pretty much shrugged it off. All those dead people were just a backdrop to give meaning to Kiefer Sutherland's torturing of people.

What makes this sad is that nobody in any public position - politician or celebrity - has ever called this show on its pretensions and pointed out how it promotes a fascist American state.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

12. I've never watched an episode of 24.

Main reason being it's on Fox. The only time Fox is allowed to be shown in my house is during football season.

Even if it was on another network, I'd still never watch it. I don't get my jollies out of watching people being tortured, whether it's in a movie, television show or most importantly in real life.

IMO, the whole premise of this show is disgusting and just plays into fearmongering. Mr. Surnow should be ashamed of himself. He's a real moran.

[fujiyama]

14. I'll start off by saying *a few spoilers ahead*

I watch "24" and enjoy it, but I'll also readily admit there have been elements of it which can be considered fear mongering for the ignorant, and at times justification of torture. Season 4 probably was most blatant with it - "Amnesty Global" is "protecting" a terrorist by trying to give him legal representation. Don't forget the gay left wing son of the SoD who gives away information to the terrorist when he sleeps with a guy.

But it'd be difficult to consider the entire thing propaganda and that's why I'm a bit irritated when I read blanket responses saying "I've never seen it but it's racist propaganda". It's not quite that simple (and I think it's important to watch a TV show/movie before you condemn it). The show does try (albeit at times somewhat clumsily), that most Muslims are good, and only some are terrorists (though the fact that they are going back to Islamist terrorists shows some laziness in writing). Last weak featured the president rejecting his advisers in their proposal of expanding detention facilities of Muslims. Previous seasons have had the ultimate conspiracy theory - the president is behind giving away nerve gas to terrorists in order to launch a war to secure oil and gas in Central Asia - season two had a similar plot - oil and gas interests are trying to start a war against several unnamed middle eastern countries falsely accused of a terrorist attack - the democratic president and Jack Bauer are trying to stop it.

The show is completely over the top and ridiculous. The writing is cheesy (and has gotten somewhat lazy) and the scripts are pretty wooden. The acting for many of the characters is weak and there is little character development.

But the show has a hook. The plot twists keep making me come back, even when they are predictable.

[jonnyblitz]

15. I just finished season 5 of the DVDs. I went through all seasons

I love this show. Like you said, it is totally cheesy and i love it for that reason. I am sad i have no more episodes to watch except for the future ones as the come out. It's like crack. I haven't read the article yet so nobody please jump my shit for not commenting on THAT.

[loudsue]

16. I like "24". I was also an "Alias" addict.

They both show, intentionally or not, just how slimey and corrupt people are when they're in love with their own power.

:kick:

[Kingshakabobo]

19. I finally gave in and tuned in. Cheesy is the right word.......

.....but the again, most network shows are.

NOW I get where the O'Lielly pin-heads and their ilk get the asinine "ticking time-bomb" theory of torture. I suppose they believe every torture victim at Abu Ghraib had a nuke stashed somewhere in Baghdad.

[k-robjoe]

21. Update

"The grossly graphic torture scenes in Fox's highly rated series "24" are encouraging abuses in Iraq, a brigadier general and three top military and FBI interrogators claim."

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/496341p-418187c.html

"Conservatives continue to use Fox's 24 to support hawkish policies.

Summary: Cal Thomas is the latest conservative figure to use the TV show 24 to forecast a nuclear attack on the United States. Conservatives have also looked to the TV series for justification of aggressive interrogation procedures. "

http://mediamatters.org/items/200702020015