Jack Bauer, Citizen Soldier
Note: Spoilers for the current season of 24 below.
As anyone who knows me knows, I've read a lot of superhero comics in my day. One of the character types that tends to reoccur is that of the patriotic hero, most popularly seen in a character such as Marvel's Captain America. It's an interesting character type, because it allows for an analysis of a country's ideals versus its reality. As a recent example, there was Micah Wright's Citizen Soldier in Stormwatch a few years ago. The plot of the arc was that there was an undying "Spirit of American Revolution" that acted like a guardian angel, being reincarnated in moments of great crisis for the American people. The current Citizen Soldier was one that felt the Bush administration had commited gross and egregious crimes against its own people, and as such waged war against the American government.
While it started as a comic book hero archetype, it's been applied in other media as well, and I think Jack Bauer from 24 is an interesting iteration of this hero type. 24 has been criticized, in some quarters, of having an unfair right-wing bias. When you first see it, as well, it's easy to interpret it that way; the world of 24 is one where America is constantly threatened by terrorist threats that are real and credible, and as such its defenders have to take extraordinary measures in order to combat those threats.
Despite that, though, I've felt for a while that there's a lefty undercurrent of subversion to the show at the same time. While there are terrorist threats against the US in the show, they show time and time again that the greatest source of those threats are the military-industrial complex, if not those in the halls of government power. For each of the past four seasons, we've seen that the greatest threats come from within.
What's most interesting, and most subversive, though, is when we look at 24's own Captain America, Jack Bauer. Jack is, at heart, someone who wants to be a good person. He has committed horrible acts, and has admitted to such, but we've constantly seen in Sutherland's performance that doing so has slowly torn the man apart. Much like the Operative from Serenity, he believes in building a Utopia, but realizes at the same time that it is a place that he could never comfortably live. When you've taught someone to be nothing more than a killer and torturer, what becomes of him when there are no more wars left to fight?
In the current season, we see that taken to its logical conclusion; Jack was exposed to a "prion variant bioweapon" that is destroying his mind and body. This is the end of Bauer; his wars have brought an end to him, with the commentary being that America has brought itself to the verge of destruction in its actions over the past decade. Hopefully, as much as I've enjoyed watching Jack over the past years, this will be his swan song, and he'll be able to rest after this season, reflecting the new government administration's hopes to end the failed policies of the "War on Terror".
As anyone who knows me knows, I've read a lot of superhero comics in my day. One of the character types that tends to reoccur is that of the patriotic hero, most popularly seen in a character such as Marvel's Captain America. It's an interesting character type, because it allows for an analysis of a country's ideals versus its reality. As a recent example, there was Micah Wright's Citizen Soldier in Stormwatch a few years ago. The plot of the arc was that there was an undying "Spirit of American Revolution" that acted like a guardian angel, being reincarnated in moments of great crisis for the American people. The current Citizen Soldier was one that felt the Bush administration had commited gross and egregious crimes against its own people, and as such waged war against the American government.
While it started as a comic book hero archetype, it's been applied in other media as well, and I think Jack Bauer from 24 is an interesting iteration of this hero type. 24 has been criticized, in some quarters, of having an unfair right-wing bias. When you first see it, as well, it's easy to interpret it that way; the world of 24 is one where America is constantly threatened by terrorist threats that are real and credible, and as such its defenders have to take extraordinary measures in order to combat those threats.
Despite that, though, I've felt for a while that there's a lefty undercurrent of subversion to the show at the same time. While there are terrorist threats against the US in the show, they show time and time again that the greatest source of those threats are the military-industrial complex, if not those in the halls of government power. For each of the past four seasons, we've seen that the greatest threats come from within.
What's most interesting, and most subversive, though, is when we look at 24's own Captain America, Jack Bauer. Jack is, at heart, someone who wants to be a good person. He has committed horrible acts, and has admitted to such, but we've constantly seen in Sutherland's performance that doing so has slowly torn the man apart. Much like the Operative from Serenity, he believes in building a Utopia, but realizes at the same time that it is a place that he could never comfortably live. When you've taught someone to be nothing more than a killer and torturer, what becomes of him when there are no more wars left to fight?
In the current season, we see that taken to its logical conclusion; Jack was exposed to a "prion variant bioweapon" that is destroying his mind and body. This is the end of Bauer; his wars have brought an end to him, with the commentary being that America has brought itself to the verge of destruction in its actions over the past decade. Hopefully, as much as I've enjoyed watching Jack over the past years, this will be his swan song, and he'll be able to rest after this season, reflecting the new government administration's hopes to end the failed policies of the "War on Terror".