Does '24' go too far? Is it damaging America's standing abroad (and why would soldiers pay more attention to it than their training)? Is this a free speech issue? Should torture be shown on TV? Has there ever been a real life 'ticking bomb situation'?
I've seen many many shows and movies equally as bad in terms of depiction of violence. I can't say that any one show is more responsible than any other for appalling behavior. Besides, presumably these persons are adults, they don't need any help coming up with ideas of how to torture. What they do wrong goes no further than their own minds for the blame.
Posts: 9124 | Location: PA, USA | Registered: 06-05-02
It's difficult to imagine the TV show having an effect on soldiers, but how about weaker-minded individuals, like senators?
'To the amazement of the audience, Graham said with a twinkle in his eye that "Americans don't mind torture; they really don't." Then he smiled broadly, almost gleefully, and said that the US had used certain interrogation techniques on "Sheikh Mohammed, one of the 'high-value' targets" - techniques that "you really don't want to know about, but they got really good results."
I firmly believe that Graham's statement acknowledged that US officials have tortured prisoners, and he, as a senator, knew what was done and agrees with the torture because "it got results."
Except you don't know what the results are. In the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, it appears that with torture you can get someone to confess to masterminding the entire al-Qaeda attack on the United States.' www.truthout.org
Would Graham even have considered speaking as he did, if it hadn't been for a certain atmosphere - an acceptance of torture - in part created by '24'?
