They fucking did it - FOX plunges to new depths of Islamo-phobia *SPOILER*

[BushOut06]

The Bush administration could not have asked for a better commercial for their "war on terror" than tonight's 24 episode. By having Muslim terrorists detonate a nuclear device on US soil, FOX has played to America's basest xenophobic fears. Right-wingers will point to this as why their tactics are necessary, why it's necessary to step outside the Constitution to "protect us" from these evil Islamic brown-skinned people. This is akin to old movies portraying some brute black man raping a pretty white woman, preying on racist sentiments.

I think it's pretty obvious what FOX is attempting to do with this season's 24. I guarantee you there were millions of Americans glued to their televisions tonight, thinking "lock up every single one of those bastards." By preying on our fears of nuclear terrorism, they're conditioning Americans to condone torture and secret "provisional" prisons. "Whatever it takes" is the far right's mantra.


edited to include spoiler warning in headline.

[MadMaddie]

1. Yea... but the White Neocons already beat the terrorist to it..

Timothy McVeigh....

But you are right, it's brainwashing in a suttle way.

[tuvor]

2. So Homer can't call bush "Commander Kookoo Bananas" anymore?

Damn.

[sakabatou]

62. Aw, man!

[The Count]

3. OTOH, the Golden Globes are also on...

And they'll be creamed by Heroes when it returns...

[muntrv]

4. Sounds like "Birth Of A Nation."

[donco6]

5. I don't know anyone who watches it.

And besides, it's been done before - wasn't it Clear and Present Danger? One of those Clancy novels.

[spanone]

7. Whats 24?

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. A convenience down the street that sell all kinds of stuff 24/7

I think.

[Bucky]

18. And the one thing Hollywood can't stand for is... recycled plot lines!!!

Well, that and LCD sensationalism

[MrSlayer]

6. I've never seen the show.

Well you know Muslims are the new Communists so I'm not surprised.

[iamjoy]

8. HEY - Don't Be A Spoiler

add spoiler alert to your subject line, okay?

[BushOut06]

10. Why?

It was all over Drudge for the past few days that FOX was going to unleash the nukes on tonight's show. I don't think it was really that big of a secret.

Besides, this post isn't an entertainment review. It's about how 24 is using the most extreme action to generate anti-Islamic sentiments.

[bananas]

21. A lot of don't visit drudge

and a lot of people can't sit through 2 hours a night, especially two nights in a row - they record it and only watch an hour a night.
It's simple courtesy to mark your put "Spoiler" in the subject line if you are going to give away any details.

[BushOut06]

27. Done

Not that I necessarily agree, but out of respect for those who enjoy this show, and haven't seen it yet.

[PreacherCasey]

9. I have no cable. The only way I use my TV is to watch dvds.

It is liberating to be free from all this crap.

[bananas]

26. FOX is a broadcast network, it's not the same as Fox News

FOX is broadcast over-the-air on channel 6 in San Diego.
It's not a right-wing station.
It shows The Simpsons, Married With Children, etc.
The Simpsons is always poking at the Bush administration, Homer calls Bush "Commander Cuckoo-bananas".
Right-wingers tried to boycott it years ago because they were so upset with Married With Children.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

38. eer... who owns that network? check out his EARLY work: 1st PAGE 3 GIRL!...

right after Murdoch took over a nice family tabloid called THE SUN he began a rich tradition on PAGE THREE!

[Beaverhausen]

49. The producers of "24" are Limpballs buddies, remember?

They were with him on his trip to the Dominican Republic when he was caught with someone else's Viagra script.

That doesn't tie them in with Fox/Murdoch, but it puts them in the Right Wing wacko camp.

[poiuytsister]

81. KO is showing a clip of 24

and within the clip is a TV showing...Fox News. Surprise!!

[bananas]

82. That's also true of The Simpsons.

So by that logic, The Simpsons is pro-nuclear propoganda.
LOL.

[Greyhound]

73. Isn't it though.

Except for the constant references to the crap of the night (like threads on 24) that I don't get at all. The reactions from other people when I ask questions like "Amerikan Idol, what's that?" were a little disconcerting at first, but you get used to it.

[illinoisprogressive]

11. There is the possibility that it is for different reasons: to slash and burn Bushie

This may be a senario so they can point to the abuses and the stupidity of the Bush Administration. Get the chickhawks hooks and reeled in and then, lesson time.

[nebenaube]

13. from fox? wtf? are you deluded? n/t

[Seen the light]

67. Despite the fact that Limpballs likes it...

There are MANY progressives on the show. I've been to the set. There are pictures on set of Bush morphing into a chimp. Very funny stuff.

[Dean Martin]

12. 24 sucks

I think the show sucks. I think it gets stupider and stupider each season. I see it here at work as we're allowed a tv but I have to watch what others watch, or more often over hear as I read a book or something.

It sucks for the reasons mentioned in the first post. It sucks because it's just so damned unrealistic. It sucks because every single character is usually so unreliable except Jack Frikkin Bauer. It sucks because even though Jack Frikkin Bauer has repeatedly been the ONLY person the administration can trust, they always doubt him when he tries to tell them something. And then a calamity or near calamity has to occur for them to realize he was right, and of course he's always right. Ridiculous and completely unbelievable in my opinion. At the very least they have Jack breaking down some this season instead of being a rock all the frikkin time.



At least the brake ground by having African American Presidents. Oh, speaking of that, I can already tell that the President's right hand man in the new season is likely in league with the terrorists, or someone else that's really against the president. That one is just too obvious.

[bbinacan]

15. I really like 24 and disagree

with your take on it. They are showing the erosion of freedoms and Muslims who are not devils.

[Dean Martin]

20. Yep

Not to mention the CTU is so inept they have someone on the inside in almost every single season that turns out to be a traitor. Terrorism is their only business and they can't even police their own office?
I'm sorry, but that's just piss poor drama in my opinion.

[ellenfl]

25. i agree. they are very heavy into the

abrogation of civil rights issues. also, one of the muslims, who has been sent to stop the terrorists, is helping jack find the bad guys. i'm not sure how this season will play out but it is just melodrama. i haven't missed an episode, even if it sometimes smacks of propaganda. not all the seasons have been about muslim terrorists.

ellen fl

[Hissyspit]

16. 24 sucks and has always sucked. It's right-wing masturbation fantasy.

[TomInTib]

28. Bingo! That is it in a nutshell, Hissyspit.

The script might as well come straight from the Heritage Foundation.

Who knows?, maybe it does.

[Wetzelbill]

42. yeah especially the two black Democratic presidents

who are portrayed as strong in the face of terrorism...

Wait..

[JacksonWest]

47. They had a whole season dedicated to a right wing plot

that involved assinating an ex democratic President, and starting a war under false pretense to secure oil rights and military contracts.

That group is featured in two seasons, and it appears they are in this one as well. It's an equal opportunity show, and it's very well done.

[bbinacan]

40. I don't know what you've been

watching. I don't see 24 as you describe.

[grace0418]

66. Yeah, especially the parts where the RW neocons are portrayed as evil bastards

and the feisty moderate or liberal characters are standing up for the Constitution and calling them on their adendas. I hate when they do that. Oh, but wait, you'd actually have to WATCH the show to know that. Much better to decide based on what you've heard.

[bananas]

17. They've already done this

They had a nuclear bomb go off in the U.S. in a previous episode, they also had lots of nuclear reactors meltdown simultaneously killing thousands.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

19. Wouldn't you be complaining as well if were Germans...

...or Russians that were behind the attacks? 24 is a timely program. We ARE threatened by EXTREMIST Muslims whether you like it or not. 24 takes what's going on today and shows us what really could happen. I personally do not think that 24 has an agenda other than entertaining the masses. I think it's exposing the true shit that goes on in the prisons you are talking about. I don't think it's condoning anything. I think it's just showing us what is really going on in the world. I'm not buying into this whole propaganda paranoid right wing conspiracy stuff. I take everything I see on TV at entertainment face value. :shrug: I don't read so much into everything.
Duckie

[Seen the light]

24. I completely agree with you nt

[The Rock2111]

33. Thanks for the reasoning Duckie - I agree!

[Greyhound]

78. ...and there it is, the mistaken impression that somehow things are

different today. Try to grasp this, nothing changed on 9/11/01 other than the New York skyline. On 9/10/01 there were millions and millions of people all over the earth that hate us, many of whom were actively plotting to inflict harm on us. When Bill Clinton was President they hated us and tried time and again to hurt us, Same when 41 was in, and Raygun, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, etc. before them. They've hated us for over a century and with good reason, yet at no time was the possibility of going to war with the whole world ever seriously contemplated, nor would we ever have consented to the demolition of the very fabric of our nation in the name of safety.

The only think that changed in 2001 was that utterly incompetent boobs were squatting in the seats of power and the sheeple were fearful enough to go along with the fantasy/nightmare of the bogyman coming to get us if we don't lock ourselves in our self-constructed prisons. We have forgotten the lessons that Franklin and the others taught us.

[CoffeeCat]

22. Limbaugh shills for this show!

Rush Limbaugh spent almost an hour today--discussing the
wonder and joy that is "24". Rush can't get enough of
this show.

We all know how orchestrated his entire show. Several
of his callers were fans of "24", gushing about the show
and how we can "learn so much from it!". A woman
actually said that!

Figures. People who are ignorant enough to get their
talking points from Rush--will also obtain their views
of Muslims from a fictional television show.

How perfect for these ingrates!

[Norquist Nemesis]

64. Rush and his fans would much rather take their information from

a fictional show than a documentary. Does this mean they love Hollywood now?

[Supersedeas]

71. Limpballs was bragging about how the show creators participated in a conference run by the Heritage

Foundation.

[Seen the light]

23. What are your thoughts on this?

The VERY positive portrayal of Sandra Palmer as an advocate for Muslims? Assad turning from terrorism and helping the US?

I really think there is a kneejerk reaction to this show by some people here solely because Limpballs likes the show. It's the best drama on TV and has gone to great lengths to stay apolitical or to at least balance the show when it does take a rightward tilt. So I think you're off-base.

[BushOut06]

32. Seems like she's being sidelined to me

Even her assistant began spouting the "for the safety of America" line. While there may be those who oppose the government's actions in the movie, the show does appear to suggest that extreme measures are necessary in "extreme" circumstances.

There are already plenty of people in this country who would love to see anyone of Islamic faith rounded up and put in detention camps. I just don't see how this sort of fare really helps things at all.

[Seen the light]

35. The reaction of a friend I watched it with

When Walid was being assaulted by a US soldier, he looked at me and said "What's sad about this is that this is exactly what would happen if these attacks really happened."

I think that's a typical response from people. They're horrified at the reality that Bush or whomever would really have people from the Middle East or even all those with brown skin locked up.

We weren't sitting there watching tonight going "Hell yeah! Round all dem Islamics up!"

[hughee99]

72. I don't see it that way...

If the show was trying to demonstrate that extreme measures were necessary in extreme circumstances, wouldn't you think they'd try to show those extreme measures as being effective? Based on what we've seen so far, the extreme measures they've taken haven't really helped the government at all in solving any issues.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

29. K&R too damn typical... here's a few ANTI-FOX graphics for folks to use...

The Murdoch stuff is hard to find online...

[Swamp Rat]

30. What's "24?"

[ThePhilosopher04]

31. Never heard of 24...

until I saw a promo for it during the Bears/Seahawks playoff game this weekend.

[Dean Martin]

34. Well I have to say

....that I only see 24 because I over hear it at work. I never watch stuff like it at home. My fiance watches soaps and stuff like Gray's Anatomy, but I don't watch any of that stuff. The only stuff I watch on tv are movies, and Animal Planet, National Geographic, Travel Channel, or Comedy Central whenever Dave Chapelle or Reno 911 is on.

And since I work 3rd shift, I have to catch Chapelle and Reno 911 in reruns.

[ThePhilosopher04]

37. same here...

If it's not educational or informative in nature, a comedy or a sporting event, chances are the only way I'll see it is if I'm not controlling the remote.

[RamboLiberal]

36. Take a chill pill - it's just entertainment and IMHO 24

argues both sides. Hell last year they busted the president and his minions who were shilling up terror for their own oil-grabbing agenda.

The last time they used nukes it was a rogue element of our own military and those opposed to the first President Palmer with the U.S. government who attacked the U.S. to gin up war against a ME country.

And I see next week the actor who played Rocket Romano on ER is back as a bad guy mastermind - he's white as can be.

All is not as it seems on 24, and even if this season the bad guys are mostly from the ME - well damn there's reality in that - there are many there who would attack this country if given the chance.

And after being tortured by the Chinese now Jack Bauer has a hard time justifying torturing which in the past he easily resorted to.

If 24 makes you paranoid and seeing a Fox plot don't watch it! But let the rest of us 24 fans enjoy it!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

41. yeah you can say that again, ramboliberal, "DON'T WATCH IT!" still, it's fun to bash... good pics...

The Murdoch stuff is hard to find online...

[bbinacan]

44. Very well said,

let the narrow minds wallow in their own hatred.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

39. What utter crap.

It's an ENTERTAINMENT show. If you've ever seen any other seasons of the show, you would have known that the terrorists have come from all corners of the world, including white European countries as well as domestic terrorists.

And so what if a few idiots think it's real? I'm sure a lot of satire-impaired people thought that Archie Bunker was real, too.

:eyes:

[G Hawes]

52. Yes, what he said.

In season 2, it was people within the US administration who were behind the terrorism while trying to make it appear as though Islamic terrorists were behind it.

In other seasons, it's been European, domestic, and Russian terrorist. In season 5, it was again elements within the US administration at fault who were attempting to pin the blame on Islamic terrorists.

So the show certainly isn't conditioning the public to support the war on terror or to lay the blame for all terrorism on Islamic terrorists unless it is at the same conditioning the public to believe that the US administration are really behind it.

And, hey, it's only a television show.

[JacksonWest]

43. Your post is a disservice to people that don't watch 24.

Those of us that do know you're fanning the flames, for whatever reason. This is the sixth season. They have had "enemies" of all nationalities. This season, they are dealing with the loss of fundamental freedoms, and the harm in racial profiling. The show is critical of detention centers(that Halliburton was contracted to build), the suspension of Habeas corpus, and federal misconduct. In the first four episodes, they have a muslim group that is trying to set off nuclear bombs. They also have a muslim that is unjustly put in a detention center. They have another muslim that is working with CTU in the field, and an arabic woman working in CTU. Welcome to planet earth. If making a show that has muslim terrorists is xenophobic per se-I'm glad that you're not in a position of power to control content at any level of society. You are awarded no points, and may God have mercy on you.



If you can't pick up on that, stop watching the show. Seriously. If you just want to piss people off by shouting "Fox", knock yourself out. You either don't understand the show, or you're just trying to create a fuss. I hope it feels so good.

This is like one of those posts that called Colbert a right wing radical when he came on. I hope you know you're wrong, and you just don't care. Otherwise, it would be scary to know that there was someone that had such a dull perception of reality out there that considered him or herself "political".

[The Rock2111]

46. Ouch! There it is !

[Jeffersons Ghost]

48. wow, sounds like really cool propaganda! still, I like the earlier suggestion by ramboliberal...

"DON'T WATCH IT!"

[Patsy Stone]

70. Please don't worry

It's a slow day and there's nothing else to complain about. That will soon change because American Idol begins tonight. If you thought there was a prejudice towards 24, just wait until the "I hate American Idol and everyone who watches it" threads.

[Wetzelbill]

45. it's done in a way that you can find what you like in it

it's supposed to be for everyone. RW whackos can get off on seeing Muslims getting tortured and detained and people who are more liberal can empathize with the characters fighting for civil rights and liberties, as well as the shoddy treatment of the prisoners in the Gitmo-like prison. It just depends. As entertainment it is meant to be a fast-food like fix for the masses, but for us politically-inclined we tend to look at and for the shit that pisses us off. You can find propaganda in nearly anything, and for all sides if you look hard enough.

[JacksonWest]

53. Nice post.

[BushOut06]

55. Fair & Balanced?

It *is* Fox, after all.

[Wetzelbill]

58. well yeah

but at the same time The Family Guy and The Simpsons, for example, often have very liberal messages. Even American Dad is based on the premise that they Dad is a dumb xenophobic RW CIA agent who screws everything up. Fox's television lineup is could be construed as more liberal than anything if you actually look for that sort of thing.

[Cameron27]

65. And "House"

which is thoroughly anti-religion & anti-authoritarian, in addition to starring Hugh Laurie:-)

[Wetzelbill]

69. my friend helped construct the opening title sequence to "House"

He was nominated for an Emmy for it too, about a year and a half ago. He was only like 22 at the time, supremely talented guy. :)

[bluewave]

50. Don't watch 24. It's xenophobic trash. Modern day blackface.

It attempts to appeal to your base instincts. Watch Rome on HBO instead. Great series, no indoctrination, no fearmongering.

[JacksonWest]

51. If you don't watch 24, how do you know?

Trust me, one anonymous person on the internet to the other, it's a great show. If you like action movies, or Tom Clancy books/movies, it's great. Not everyone does, and that's ok. But it's not a vehicle to promote the shrubs agenda. If you're going to label it with such harsh terms, please back them up.

[bluewave]

74. Show's creators hanging out at the Heritage founation?

I think not. I don't like Tom Clancy. I don't watch movies glorifying our intelligence services or military. It's all propaganda packaged for mass consumption. They trot out x government agency, then operate on the assumption that x stands between us and bad people wanting to hurt us. Or maybe x is bad, but the brown-skinned/eastern European guy is certainly worse.

When they make a movie/show about the CIA overthrowing democratically elected governments in South America, installing brutal dictators, and stealing the country's natural resources (which is far more common than them saving anyone), then I'll watch.

[here_is_to_hope]

54. As to "24"...

Rush Limpy has a certain fascination for it and one of its starlets....
http://www.mensvogue.com/arts/interviews/articles/2007/01/rajskub

On edit, great article here...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/23/AR2006062301804.html?nav=E8

[The Traveler]

56. **heavy sigh**

Not everything is propaganda. The role of the artist is to ask questions and by asking them, show us a bit about ourselves.

Good art explores an edge. The edge 24 has explored is that difficult divide between idealism and necessity. Idealism places requirements upon our capabilities, what must be done because it is the right thing. Necessity derives of limitations ... our limited ability to achieve the right thing. At that edge, moral quandaries emerge. For example, am I morally correct to eschew torture, and thereby relinquish my opportunity to save the lives of X number of innocents? If I choose that path today, will I choose it tomorrow in less dire circumstance? Where does necessity fade into expediency? At what point do our tactics in opposing the horrible render us just as horrible as those we would oppose? At what point do the defenders become as monstrous as the monsters from which they are assigned to protect us? And can any of these matters of morality and spirit be trusted to a bureaucrat?

24 has explored this ground, suggesting answers here and there but always through a mist of ambiguity. It is a morally ambiquous drama, about a morally ambiguous and (let's face it) potentially lethal subject matter.

So, the show is not to your taste ... which is fine. I disagree that it has a particularly right wing viewpoint ... I know right wingers that have been driven to near apoplexy by certain episodes, and who are convinced it is really left wing propaganda intended to dilute support for the war on terror. Why, I wonder, does the same series draw so much vitriol from both left and right?

I call myself a centrist, because neither left nor right comes close to expressing my own views on things and that leaves me short of terms. One reason for my position is that they both demand I ignore certain truths that are not conveniently encompassed by their ideologies ...

[question everything]

57. This year "24" is very careful to show us how such a fear

can affect the basis of our country.

Very strong statements about detention centers, about subverting the Constitution, about hate crime of people who are different.

I hope that you can watch this program with a wider perspective.

These issues are out in front.

[halobeam]

61. good points

I'm personally trying to keep that "wider perspective". The challenge I think, is that these issues ARE out in front. It hits raw nerves at this time. Obviously. Many threads and posts on this show with strong feelings. I have my own too. They are mixed.

Looking at this artistically though, I laugh sometimes at the James Bond type of getting out of a mess (like the car that just happened to be parked right where they needed it...WHAT LUCK! LOL) and then I roll my eyes when some of it is predictable, which IMO, didn't happen the first two seasons, but did each season, since.

Love the special effects, love quirky Chloe... miss Edmund... so some of the characters are to sit back and enjoy....

[NYC Liberal]

59. So - any entertainment show that depicts a terrorist plot must be "Republican propaganda" and

Islamophobia?

:eyes::eyes::eyes:

PS Last season the terrorists weren't Arab or Muslim.

[sanskritwarrior]

60. It's season 5

they have gone after Defense Contractors, the Chinese, the President himself and Russian sepratists.........This season they chose muslims as the villian. (so far.........)

Where is the problem, they have taken shots at ever one, are muslims sacrosanct? Last season the President a very Bush like clone was proven to be responsible for terrorism...........This season its muslims, next season it might be blue haired aliens........Again what's the problem?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

63. ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

These threads on this are really beginning to crack me up. It's just a tv show, ya know, and I have not yet ever heard anybody say "hey, did you see 24 last night? Goddammit I've totally changed my convictions on things now. Those muslims just have to go!!!"

For the record, I find 24 to be one of the most explosively gripping, well written and entertaining shows on TV. I hate having to wait a week for each new episode.

24 rocks!

[milkyway]

68. Dick Cheney is the scriptwriter this season,

at least the first four hours. I've watched every season of 24 and like the show quite a bit, but this season's first four hours is a Fox News wet dream. Hannity must have come in his pants when the Muslim terrorists nuked L.A.

Upthread commenters are right that past seasons have shown many different groups of bad guys, and this season will change course numerous times. There are, however, many small elements of this season that are straight out of repug talking points.

First, the Gitmo-on-the-Pacific prison camp is portrayed as having only the most extreme terrorists locked away in it. This is simply not true of Guantanamo by any objective account.

Second, with numerous terrorists attacks having occurred in recent weeks, and just that morning a series of bombing in multiple cities, the unappealing lawyer is still whining about civil liberties. She even demanded to speak to her brother the President so he can drop what he's doing (trying to prevent nuclear annihilation) and listen to her whine about her client's first amendment rights. Could the scriptwriters have done anything more to make the Constitution and those that defend it seem like nothing more than a nuisance?

Third, and the most annoying to me, Jack is in the car with the Muslim terrorist that is cooperating with Jack. Jack says to him, "You may hate our country, and you may hate our values..." Jihadists may very well hate our values, but I don't think that's their main complaint with us. I almost expected Jack to say, "You may hate us for our freedoms."

One non-political complaint about the show is that it is more a cartoon than real life. Every season there is always a lot of petty office squabbling at CTU, even when the nation faces imminent obliteration. It gets more laughable every season seeing these agents portrayed as 2-yr-olds in a sandbox. And why is it that this one small CTU office in Los Angeles always gets all the heavy action? And why does it always seem that no matter how much has to be done to save us, there are only two or three people in the office capable of doing anything? The country is really screwed this season--Edgar's not around anymore.

This season also introduced us, for one night only, to the dumbest man in America. When given the choices of taking on a badly injured high school kid with a gun, calling the police, or acting as a courier for terrorists, he chose to become the courier. Even when forced to kill a man and then deliver this strange device to terrorists, he never thought of calling the police and telling them to walk up to the front window of his house and put a bullet in the back of the head of the high school terrorist kid with a gun. Even after delivering the nuclear detonator, he seemed genuinely perplexed that they wouldn't then release his son.

It figures that wingnuts would like this entertaining but frequently preposterous show because it seems so realistic to them.

[Homer Wells]

75. The Monsters are Coming to Maple Street. n/t

[treestar]

76. I never would watch anything on Fox anyway

But I don't watch that much TV.

Are we still boycotting ABC over "The Path to 911?"

One would think the boycott of Fox is axiomatic to DU.

:hide:

[geomon666]

77. Whatever man.

Last year people were praising the show for showing the rightwing president as evil murdering bastard and now it's rightwing propaganda? How about it's just a fucking show. By mid-season all of the islamic terrorists will be dead and there will be some new bad guy to take down.

[wordpix]

79. I haven't seen this show but CNN says it's a blockbuster. Worth watching? When is it on?

EST, that is.

[bidiboom]

80. True to a degree.

On edit: what G Hawes said in post 52

[Kelly Rupert]

83. This is an embarassment.

And by that, I mean this thread. Seriously, I thought it was supposed to be the other guys whining about offensive content in the media.