Political question: is the TV show "24" making a political statement?

Question

If so, what do you think of it?

I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it yet, but Middle Eastern terrorists set off a nuke in an LA suburb on this week's installment.

Answer 1

I don't think it is intentionally making one, any more than other political shows like The West Wing did.

What 24 specializes in are if-then scenarios, during which one or more U.S. government officials and also average U.S. citizens have to make life or death decisions about people they love or people who are valuable to their cause, and where a slightly lesser good (like the release of terrorist prisoners) has to be sacrificed for a slightly greater good (like the terrorist leader's promise to stop the attacks).

24 is a show that isn't concerned so much with making political statements as is about making ethical statements.

Take Monday night's show for example.

All of the major decisions the characters make are extremely difficult ethical dilemmas: The man who has to choose between the life of his wife and that of his son because a terrorist holds them both at gunpoint; the same man who then has to kill a hardware dealer to get the weapon requested by the terrorist at his house because the dealer wants more money than the terrorist gave him; the same man's wife who has to risk her son's life by calling the police and CTU to stop the terrorist; the President who has to release terrorist prisoners from a prison camp so that the terrorist's leader stops any further attacks; and the most difficult decision in the show - Jack Bauer has to kill his old friend CTU agent Manning when Manning threatens to kill ex-terrorist-now-ally Al-Assad who is critical to CTU's hunt for the terrorists.

24 is to me one giant and spontaneous investigation of the most basic and penetrating ethical and moral principles behind the decisions of people in life or death situations, and makes me think about what is right or wrong as much or more than any ethics or morality textbook available.

Answer 2

show is making a statement......how far should we go to protect the homeland by locking up Arab citizens......

i think it is a great debate

we did this before with the Japanese but not the Germans or Italians during WW2

too many people say .....lock them up...kick them out
when most Arabs in this county are actually Christians that came here in 1920's when the Ottoman Empire broke up...

but it the most recent ones that get all the attention..
they are Muslim

Think of it this way......
they live here....do they want their own family, neighborhoods nuked or hurt in an attack..........NO

American Arabs will assist with threats here
and they are a lifeline to overseas Arab communities
to explain American policy and views versus the ruthless Arab government and groups lies about America
their homeland family and Friends

who would you believe, your son or daughter or the dictator ruling over you

great observation

Answer 3

No, its just touching topics that are relevant to every American these days, and that's the fact that Islamic extremists have attacked us before, and there is no doubt that they plan to do it again (based on video evidence and the countless prevented attempts)

Some want to say its right winger propaganda, but its just an entertaining show. No one claimed the Day After Tomorrow was left winger propaganda, and I refuse to believe it is. Same with 24. Just a good show

Answer 4

All fiction ---- sensationalism. The protrayed subjects are not correct. We do not understand that culture. Clearly