You’ve seen reality TV shows like “Road Rules,” “Survivor” and “The Mole.” And you’ve hated them for their mind-numbing exploitations of popular culture.
It was then that “24” came rushing into the picture with its ticking clocks and exploding Air-Force Ones. And like an any good TV addict, you just wait to see what crazy ol’ Jack is going to do next. Will he save the president? Maybe he’ll help the terrorists this time. No, wait, maybe he’ll just kill everyone in the whole show. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
It’s this kind of increased intensity in television that is just a little too intense for its own good. Was America begging this kind of hard-core over-stimulation? It may be so, but it’s not only the drama show that is responding to the audience’s desire for a bigger and harder dose of extreme.
What happened to watching a football game that isn’t completely saturated with computerized images and exploding scoreboards? Is the real game just too boring for us now? How about the 6 o’clock news, with its ever-intensifying scare-tactic headlines? Apparently everything needs that extra edge of grossly exaggerated drama.
Even within its own genre, “24” oversteps the boundaries. Past government-related fare like “The X-Files” and “J.A.G.” carried with them a touch of class. “24,” though is a sort of retread of these shows’ ideals that manages to steamroll them on the way ridiculousness. What “24” does to the genre is what the new “Star Wars” movies did to the old ones.
What’s impressive is that even though almost everyone knows the cancerous affects of the over-stimulating “24,” everyone wants more. It’s the years of video games and the gradually escalating extreme-ness of TV that brought you here, to the age of “24.” And there’s nothing that’s going to take you out of it.
What comes next? How about a show called “The Colosseum” where people beat each other to death with their bare fists, as a low bass line thumps in the background, and some really loud ticking clocks? Oh wait – we already have “Ultimate Fighting Championship.”
I’m not one to talk politics, but let’s take one moment to draw some connections between the state of the USA and “24.” Ever since the day that we respectfully refer to by only it’s date, 9-11, the terrorism card has been considered a cheap trick. It’s just too easy.
But don’t worry, folks, your hero Jack Bauer is going to keep saving you from those nasty bad guys. And he’s getting paid more than $550,000 per episode, so he’s going to keep killing terrorists for your mindless enjoyment for a while.
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