And by World, I mean the Cosmos We Know As American society
So everyone knows I’m a pacifist and makes that point so clearly when they accuse me of being a hypocrite for watching the Jack Bauer Power Hour for the past eight years. This post is dedicated to them.
Yes, we all know that Jack Bauer tortures people. He defies executive orders of Presidents in order to set his own agenda to save the world. Yes, Jack Bauer dehumanizes other human beings in order for America can win again. Imperialism, violence, male domination, patriarchy, need I say more? It is a theme so very clear. But if we stop there, I would argue, that that is only a superficial reading of 24. Yes, it may be pro-war conservative propaganda for some, but what about those like me, who are pro-peace and enjoyed this show? Something must be said.
Jack Bauer is who he is for several reasons. He is not a hero; he is the very disfunctional post-September 11th 2001, anti-hero. God does not exist in Jack’s universe; only as a thing to give recognition to or curse at every time a tragedy happens. The lives of women are superfluous; they have no meaning outside of their interactions with the alpha male, Jack Bauer. Even the first woman president of the U.S.A., Allison Taylor, has no agency outside of what Jack Bauer allows. Bauer’s subjectivity is so influential (read: Bauer’s numerous violent acts, including his threats) that he limits the decision making of others. Possibilities are suppressed, fatalism and urgency set in.
24 is a commentary on the Western notion of the self after the downing of the World Trade Center. The self exists apart from the Other, exists for domination, and urgency is the way forward in the manipulation of others. [Male] selves have no need for female selves so progress must come at their (women’s) expense. [Like, whatever happened to Kim Bauer?]
I think more importantly however the Jack Bauerization of the world (the U S American cosmos) in the re-telling of other stories via movies and politics.
It was not long ago I was an eight year old, watching the original Batman movie with Adam West and gang. It was light hearted, action packed; there was basically a comic-book like care-freeness, even with the villains. Fast forward to my early and mid-twenties, and the story of Batman has been re-told, Batman re-casted as an anti-terror anti-hero whose identity formation occurs without his mother or women. Or, for those James Bond fans, well, you know there is a difference. Less on the comedy, more on the action and story, a more realist approach today. Jason Bourne. Jack Bauer. James Bond. They all have a similar narrative being told.
In politics, we see on the left and right, the Jack Bauerization of the American republic. With the 2008 economic decline/recession, the media took the opportunity to scare everyone into a panic; urgency was the key, bailout was the only options. In the name of an emergency, all other policy options were suppressed, and dissenting voices marginalized (and they still are). The War on Terror was another urgency. The Healthcare debate, still another. BP’s handling of its Oil Spill, and immigration.
All exemplify the short-sightedness of political policies made only for the here-and-now, with the children of the future not in mind.
It is the Jack Bauerization of the World.
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