24: Mad Discourse

I must be the mad one. I set the Sky box to record the whole of season 6 of 24 plus 24:Redemption. It kind of gets a grip on you doesn't it? The thought that I'm actually recording 24 hours of 24 and then having to practically watch it in 24 hours because I no longer have any memory left to record any other shows, I can't skip any episodes because I won't have any idea what is going on. High class problems, aren't they?

This show is quite revolutionary in many ways. People are so dumb, they think it's real. The problem is that Joel Surnow, the producer of that most underrated of shows "Le Femme Nikita" writes seasons and seasons of this stuff all vaguely related to real-world events and all our deepest yet uncontrollable fears related to getting blown up on a train or wiped out by a nuclear blast. It plays on our prejudices and misunderstandings, largely by confirming we were right to feel that way.

What is most impressive to me is that Mr Surnow, who probably carries out his craft under the influence of more than a couple of macchiatos, is creating discourse in our society. He is crafting our reactions, our conversations and even our outcomes to these problems without them ever even happening. We get a picture of government in the USA which is not similar to its counterpart on the West Wing. We also get a picture of the simulated workings of the "intelligence" community which whilst not being true in any real sense shapes our views about whatwe read in the newspaper, governmental and societal control, surveillance and citizen responsibility. Its as if we feel that somehow we are preparing for something we will one day actually see.

The best thing about 24 from my point of view is that I'm able to watch each hour episode in 42 minutes by ffwding the adverts. Finally some control in this crazy world.