rfmcdonald | [BRIEF NOTE] Audace, audace, toujours de l'audace (Reply)

This afternoon, I was pleased to read the latest article of Russell Smith, a new-generation Canadian writer of some renown and wit, and also a fellow graduate of the MA English program at Queen's. "Monday night torture" starts by examining Iranian actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo, star in the recent film House of Sand and Fog and now playing the mother in the fourth season of 24. Smith notes that, yes, 24 does make use of Muslim stereotypes. He also points out that the superabundance of torture (and venality, and treason, and simple incompetence) on the part of the United States' security forces doesn't paint them well, either. I'm particularly fond of his conclusion.

[One] tension-making device employed by the creators of 24 is the choice between Family and the Cause. One by one, characters on both sides of the conflict are put into unbelievable situations in which they must choose to sacrifice a close family member or abandon their military obligations. You must choose to sacrifice your mom to a nuclear meltdown if you want to save the nation from catastrophe. You must choose to ignore your daughter's need if you want to serve the nation. You must choose to sacrifice your son if you don't want to betray your people. . . .

This was a theme particularly common in French classical tragedy. In the plays of Racine and Corneille, a hero or heroine is frequently given an impossible choice between obligations to the state or the society and a lover or family member. It was a particularly interesting dilemma for people living in 17th-century France, a totalitarian state. Predictably, in their plays the state always wins.

Since 24 presents contemporary life as a perpetual state of war, the idea of constantly negating one's emotional ties also makes sense as a relevant theme. It is interesting that so far in 24, the only person to have chosen family over cause is one of the bad guys: It's Dina Araz, played by the regal Aghdashloo. Once she decides to save her son, everything starts to unravel for her: She gets taken into custody and has to betray her leader. And that's why her side is bound to lose. Our guys are much more steely: They choose state security over friends and family every time. That's what you have to do in a perpetual state of war.