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18 1 Challenging the Terrorist Stereotype Am I crazy or is attacking torture by lobbying the producers of 24 almost as ridiculous as trying to make nuclear power plants safer by urging the producers of The Simpsons to stop letting Homer play with plutonium in the lunchroom of the Springfield nuke plant? —Peter Carlson, Washington Post Intentionally or not—and for better and for worse—fiction can play a real role in the construction of political reality. Amid the global war on terror, those in Hollywood and those in Washington would do well to take heed of this fact about fiction. —Kelly M. Greenhill, Los Angeles Times In 2004 the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) accused the TV drama 24 of perpetuating stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims.1 CAIR objected to the persistent portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in the context of terrorism, stating that “repeated association of acts of terrorism with Islam will only serve to increase anti-Muslim prejudice.”2 CAIR’s critics have retorted that programs like 24 are cutting edge, reflecting one of the most pressing social and political issues of the moment, the War on Terror. Some critics further contend that CAIR is trying to deflect the reality of Muslim terrorism by confining television writers to politically correct themes.3 The writers and producers of 24 have responded to CAIR’s concerns in a number of ways. For one, the show often includes sympathetic portrayals of Arabs and Muslims, in which they are the “good guys” or in some way on the side of the United States. Representatives of 24 state that the show has “made a concerted effort to show ethnic, religious and political groups as multi-dimensional , and political issues are debated from multiple viewpoints.”4 The villains on the eight seasons of 24 are Russian, German, Latino, Arab/Muslim, Euro-American, and African, even the fictional president of the United States. Rotating the identity of the “bad guy” is one of the many strategies used by TV dramas to avoid reproducing the Arab/Muslim terrorist stereotype (or any other stereotypes, for that matter).5 24’s responsiveness to such criticism even extended to creating a public service announcement (PSA) that was broadcast in February 2005, during one of the program’s commercial breaks. The PSA featured the lead actor, Kiefer Sutherland, staring deadpan into the camera, reminding viewers that “the American Muslim community stands firmly beside 19 Challenging the Terrorist Stereotype their fellow Americans in denouncing and resisting all forms of terrorism” and urging us to “please bear that in mind” while watching the program.6 CAIR is not the only organization that has lobbied 24 to change its representations . Whereas CAIR objected to stereotyping Arabs and Muslims as terrorists , the Parents Television Council, Human Rights First, and faculty from West Point Military Academy objected to 24’s portrayal of torture as an effective method of interrogation. The Parents Television Council was concerned that children would become desensitized to torture; Human Rights First was concerned that viewers might come to perceive certain human beings as deserving of torture, not worthy of human rights; and the West Point faculty were concerned that some of their cadets believed torture was an effective method of interrogation because of 24’s portrayal of it. Tony Lagouranis, former army interrogator, stated, “Among the things that I saw people doing [in Iraq] that they got from television was water-boarding, mock execution, using mock torture.”7 Howard Gordon, one of the writers, responded by stating, “I think people can differentiate between a television show and reality.”8 The writers and producers of 24 explained that the show was fictional, that it was not intended as a documentary or military manual. They went on to say that the torture scenes are for dramatic, entertainment purposes only. Furthermore, the writers and producers of 24 stated that although the character Bauer uses torture and is a U.S. hero, torture is not glamorized because Bauer is traumatized by his use of torture. However, Joel Surnow, executive producer, defended the use of torture in the show, claiming, “We’ve had all of these torture experts come by recently, and they say, ‘You don’t realize how many people are affected by this. Be careful .’ They say torture doesn’t work. But I don’t believe that. I don’t think it’s honest to say that if someone you love was being held, and you had five minutes to save...

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