Torture on 24

If you watch "24", you know that the show is violent, to put it mildly. There is a torture scene every few episodes and the characters have little to no problem with killing others, particularly if it's in the "interest of the country". Recently, the US Armed Forces have been speaking out against the content of the show, saying that soldiers use "24" as inspiration for ways to torture prisoners. Army generals have appealed to the show's the producers and Keifer himself, the actor playing Jack Bauer, is going to speak at West Point, speaking out against torture that his character practices so often.

BTW, I'm opposed to torture. Plain and simple. Except if that torture is fictional. Like the entire show "24". In fact, I came to dislike torture even more after seeing it in action on TV.

What I feel that everyone is missing is the fact that the media, the public and the politicians are attacking TV and other influences, like video games, in their proclaimed interest of protecting soldiers and impressionable youths, the only groups that are not entirely responsible for their actions. Certainly, when a soldier or a young person commit a crime, they are made to pay. But we also realize that the fault does not lie entirely on them. What about the parents of the child or the commanding officers of the soldier? The soldiers that claim to get inspiration for torture from "24" are doing so after their superiors told them "the Geneva convention doesn't apply". Where are we living that "24" gets more news coverage than the violation of key standards for international law for humanitarian concerns? About the video game issue: a grandma is suing Take-Two, the company that made the GTA series, because GTA: San Andreas, the game she bought for her 14-year old grandson, has sexual content. Not the sexual content normally present in the game and warned against right on the box, but the sexual content that can be unlocked using third-party utilities, the oh-so-popular Hot Coffee mod. Next we're going to see the lawsuit that the porno tape a parent bough for their 12-year old has "too much full-frontal nudity".

Why are people so concerned about kids being influenced by the media? Sure, they're easily swayed, which, coincidentally, means that it is not only the media that can have an effect on them but also their parents. Where are the parents in all of this? Why do we blame "24" and San Andreas when it is the parents' responsibility to make sure that their kids grow up with a healthy perspective on the world? Same goes for soldiers. It is up to the commanders to make it clear as day that torture is not acceptable. Is it a surprise that soldiers demean human life when they see their commanding officers spit on the Geneva convention?

So, why are we so overprotective of these groups? Why doesn't anyone care about the effect "24" and San Andreas, two of my favorite past-times, have on me? Is it because there is no one to blame but myself? Someone, please help protect me from being brainwashed by the media!

Here's the link Pat sent me that started this whole rant.

This somewhat reminds of IMDB trolls. A troll, in this context, is a person who goes on discussion groups, forums or mailing lists and starts discussions for the sake of argument. One of my favorites was a goober who posted on the Saw III message board asking if the movie has a lot of swearing. See, he wants to take his kids to see the movie but needs to know if there are any naughty words in it. Loving it.