Olbermann on Fox's "24" and the use of "Entertainment" to promote Fear...

[Junkdrawer]

Keith and "Outfoxed" documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald discuss the use of "entertainment" to promote a pro-torture agenda:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=1ca8317d-62b8-4904-bdb2-c138c29a6fc9&f=00&fg=copy

[Seen the light]

1. Worst segment I can remember on Keith's show

He really should be ashamed. It's one thing to go after Fox for the legitimate crap they put out there. It's quite another to go after the best show on TV which, ironically, can be seen as one of the more progressive shows out there just because it has the Fox logo stamped on it.

Bad journalism Keith.

[Junkdrawer]

2. "Best show on TV"???????

:rofl:

[Seen the light]

4. Seen it from Day 1

And of the major dramas out there, it's the best. My opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Obviously, at least some people share my opinion since it did win the Emmy for Best Drama last season.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. I totally agree with you.

:thumbsup:

[OwnedByFerrets]

7. Yes, and 30% still think monkeyboy is

a great leader too.:puke:

[Mike Daniels]

31. It's fellow actors, writers and producers awarding the show

I find it hard to fathom that a generally liberal crowd like writers and actors would be bestowing award upon award on a show if they thought it was pure RW propaganda.

[Jawja]

20. Me, too.

I love "24." I've watched it from the beginning and agree it's one of the best shows (if not the best) on TV.

:thumbsup:

[Judi Lynn]

12. Alternate universe! n/t

[truebrit71]

24. I agree...

:rofl:

It's a pile of right-wing mastabatory clap-trap....

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. So, what did he say that was wrong? -nt

[Seen the light]

9. He cherry-picked the show to make it fit what he wanted it to be

That scene at the beginning that he showed? He conveniently left out the rest of the scene where a racist prick refuses to let that Middle Eastern looking man on the bus because of his skin color. The joke's on the bus driver as he's then blown up by someone that was already ON his bus, a person of Asian descent.

The whole thing is a joke to begin with though. I remember the threads on DU last year praising the show because it featured a crooked Republican president that gave WMDs to terrorists to start a false war because of his ties to the oil industry. Geewhiz, that sounds like pro-Republican propaganda to me!

[Kagemusha]

15. My view is right-wingers cherry-pick the show too

and get what THEY want to see out of it, and ignore the rest.

...But where is that not true of many, if not all, shows?

[slj0101]

27. Actually, I agree.

That scene was taken completely out of context. Other than that, I can understand where KO was coming from.

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. Yeah, best show on television if

you believe that the answer to everything is to torture it out of people. I stopped watching it two years ago when that became the crutch and answer to every situation. We dont need a popular tv show propagating that crap.

[Seen the light]

10. It's also shown in the past the horrors of torture

As our fearless leader Jack Bauer has been on the receiving end of some frightful torture. Also, Kiefer Sutherland has stated in interviews that he realizes that a lot of the torture they do on the show where it yields a successful result would never ever happen in real life.

If people can't see the difference between fact and fiction, it's their own fault.

[Judi Lynn]

16. They also advance the misperception you can live through vigorous torture session, like Jack Bauer,

snap right back, and carry on immediately as if nothing has happened. No psychological trauma, no lasting ill physical effects.

They are attempting to void people's natural inhibitions against it through repetition, desensitization.

Hideous. People's natural reluctance to harm others is being maniupilated, like some filthy old dirtbag trying to coerce/seduce a child into seeing things his way.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

25. Actually, no.

This season has shown Jack, through mental and physical reactions, finally realizing the futility of torture, particularly since he was tortured by the Chinese for two years.

[Mike Daniels]

32. Just like all those James Bond movies?

Given that Bauer is just another version of James Bond in that respect I presume you have the same issues with the Bond movies?

[Little Wing]

8. Sorry in advance for the rambling, wordy reply

*YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWNNN*

[Az]

11. Its not just promoting fear

Entertainment has been in the business of reprogramming the US citizens to be good little isolated consumers for a long time now.

Reality shows? There is nothing real about them. They create artificial situations in which human is pitted against human in a way that does not occur naturally. It teaches people that they are on their own and everyone is out to get them. Its corporate mindthink. Social Darwinism. Its not our natures. Its the nature the corporations want us to have.

If everyone is set against each other then we are not striving to make our lives better together. And isolated we must rely on corporations and their products to make our lives safe and livable.

[Junkdrawer]

14. If you believe that Big Money has taken over the news media...

do you really think that the entertainment media would be overlooked? :shrug:

I think this will be the vanguard of a new breed of "propa-tainment" shows. Limbaugh was an isolated phenomena - for a while.

[Az]

17. The News Media was enveloped by the entertainment dept

It used to be the News was a service the media provided as the cost of using our airwaves. Its the law. The FCC Stipulates that the media must provide news to the population in exchange for the use of our airwaves. And for a time the news was considered inviolate. A nearly seperate institution that had a mission to provide the people with information.

But then the media corps figured out that they could make money with the news as well. Sensationalism and fear we huge motivators in this. They found they could move more people with fear than they could with simply entertainment. And that was the beginning of the end of the news. Infotainment is what became of the once mighty institution of the News.

Go watch the movie Network. It is a movie that was ahead of its time even though it was too late to stop it.

[Junkdrawer]

19. LOL. I bought it a year ago on DVD....

BTW: About 2 years ago, NPR did a piece that pretty much said what you said: the removal of Public Interest clauses in the licensing process was the death knell of the kind of journalism we baby boomer grew up with.

[bryant69]

13. Kind of a waste of time attacking that show I should think

It's well made, well written and popular. It's politics do veer pretty dramatically from time to time, and Rush Limbaugh is a huge fan of 24, but it's still more enjoyable than most other programs.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[CBGLuthier]

18. I always thought 24 was a liberal show

They have tortured the wrong people, the bad presidents are obviously republicans, and it seems to constantly suggest there is a shadow conspiracy of evil white men behind everything.


Sounds like 90% of the posts on DU to me. :-)

[RamboLiberal]

22. Read a comment from Kiefer Sutherland

last night in Men's Vogue (he's on the cover). Kiefer said the writers are both Democrat and Republican and both views get on the show.

BTW, I've been a fan since first season. Certainly there are elements that get Rush off, but there are plot points that have me rooting for Bauer or the good guys in the government i.e. President David Palmer, Karen Hayes, or I think the President Wayne Palmer this season.

BTW, interesting that this show so far has shown two strong black men as President.

[Az]

26. Knowing Keiffer's family history

I can well imagine that he will speak out against any excessive conservative hogwash. I don't watch the show but the Sutherlands are from strong socialist canadian stock .... so to speak.

[Virginia Dare]

21. One person's entertainment is another person's propaganda...n/t

[fishnfla]

23. why do lawmakers spend more time fundraising than law making?

why do lobbyists and special interests bribe lawmakers so much?

So the politicians can run their own fictional programs: campaign ads

[gauguin57]

28. Off-topic but interesting: Kiefer Sutherland is a liberal (grandad founded canada health system)

From what I've heard from Kiefer Sutherland's occasional discussion of politics, he is a big ole liberal. His dad, Donald, is a big ole liberal, too, I believe (at least he was when he was Jane Fonda's boyfriend, and making an anti-vietnam-war film with her) ...

From Kiefer's IMDB biography:

"... (Kiefer Sutherland) is the grandson of former Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas, leader of the first elected socialist government in North America. Douglas was premier from 1944-1961, and was known as the father of Canada's government funded medical system."

"During the fourth season of "24" (2001), (Kiefer) filmed a Public Service Announcement to tell viewers that the show's creators were not trying to exploit 9/11 in their storylines, and that the whole terrorist storyline was fictional."

[Junkdrawer]

29. "24" and The Heritage Foundation Panel Discussion....

...The company you keep....

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/rush_photos_main/24paneldiscussion.guest.html

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. If you look back at old superman comics from the 40's...

you'll see him beating up Japanese people with big buck teeth and slanty eyes.

I'm sure fifty years from now people will look back on stereotypes in modern pop culture in the same sort of way.

[generaldemocrat]

33. Who cares about these TV shows?

90% of the shows on TV these days are crap anyways. As if "24" is supposed to be indicative of what goes on in the real world.

[Junkdrawer]

34. .