The Four Lessons of ‘24’

When “24: Live Another Day” came on the air, my wife and were quickly hooked on the narrative of Jack Bauer: a deeply flawed protagonist fighting incredible odds to save a world not always very appreciative of his methods, and with good cause.

This summer we set a challenging goal for ourselves — to watch the entire series from the beginning. And, starting with season one, we did just that. To be fair, we had points where we wanted to give up on the story, but eventually we saw it through to the end. From this intense viewing experience, I learned four valuable lessons about the world around me.

The first thing I was reminded of was that our world is a very scary place. To be fair, we have not been attacked with nuclear weapons, had buses exploded in downtown L.A., or watched world leaders die on our soil at the hands of assassins, but I imagine that is not from a lack of trying by terrorist groups or foreign operatives. When we hear of such plots being disrupted by our intelligence agencies, I imagine I am not the only one who wonders how many other operations were halted that the public never learns about. I know this is an argument from silence, but considering the violence and unrest occurring in other parts of world, I doubt we are as immune, or as safe, as we would imagine. And, while I often cringed at the methods Bauer used to obtain the information he sought, and how this offended the civil liberties we cherish, I understand those who argue such methods have kept our country safer. The fact we have to decide whether to use such tactics, even when they violate our core principles, is part of what makes me worry.

The show also reinforced the idea that while we may live in a world dominated by moral ambiguity, negotiating with terrorists never ends well. Every time I see a bad character on a TV show or in a movie uses blackmail as leverage, I wonder, often out loud, why you would negotiate with someone who is threatening you or your way of life. Perhaps is our fear doing the thinking for us, but what makes anyone believe a person who threatens to kill you will actually let you live if you comply with his or her wishes? On a grander scale, there is a reason nations refuse to negotiate with terrorists: when you give in once, people reasonably assume you will do so again.

A third lesson I learn is one that bears repeating in our celebrity-obsessed culture: Sometimes those who are right aren’t always popular and the ones who are popular aren’t always right. While he may have been written at times like a comic book superhero, we have to agree Jack Bauer was right much more often than he was wrong. People refusing to listen to his wisdom did so at their own peril. The challenge was he didn’t always have the ability to follow up on his leads because those in power blocked such moves for their own, often selfish, motives. Watching the struggle between these tensions made you want to come back for more each episode. and made me think about how often people in the real world with deep insights but little power and influence chafed under such limitations?

The final thing I discovered is a lesson I have been learning through my own adventures in self-publishing: Criticizing the perceived writing flaws of others is really easy when you don’t have to make a living being a writer. Even those who were diehard fans of “24” admitted it went to the same well a bit too often. Aside from the plot or dialogue contrivances that inspired irreverent drinking games, one wonders how a real intelligence agency would survive for very long if it was as riddled with moles as CTU was. It is easy to point out these weaknesses, but hard to dispute that people kept returning week after week wanting to know what would happen next. Those who are armchair screenwriters may have a lot to say, but who can argue with a fan base so strong the show’s creators brought it back after a four-year hiatus?

I can’t dispute that kind of success. Besides, what would Jack Bauer do to me if I did?