At 8:45 on Monday night, GW’s campus is just as one would expect it to be. But, a mere 15 minutes later, it is desolate. Why are students boarding themselves up? It can all be attributed to one show, or rather, one man: Jack Bauer.
Since its inception five years ago, Fox’s experimental “real time” show, “24,” has gained both critical acclaim and a tremendous following consisting of members from a variety of demographics. The most loyal fans never miss a moment, in an almost religious showing of devotion. Students congregate around their televisions every week like clockwork to watch the nationalistic show in utter silence. Generally mild-mannered students become formidable forces during this single hour, keeping silence by any means necessary in order to not miss a single line. It has become a veritable phenomenon, right here on campus.
But why is a show – which has been criticized for glorifying violence, unjustly profiling people of Middle Eastern descent, portraying women (particularly black women) as unstable and being overly conservative – so popular among a diverse audience, especially at a school such as GW?
“It’s like a visual adrenaline rush. It’s predictable in its unpredictability,” freshman Travis Ryan Helwig III said. “You keep coming back because you know that, with two minutes left, something exciting is going to happen. You think to yourself, ‘Are they going to be able to surprise me more than they did last week?'”
He jokingly added, “Every Monday night between nine and 10, I’m proud to call myself a temporary USA Patriot Act supporter. A vote for George W. Bush is a vote for Jack Bauer.”
Much of its popularity among critics and viewers can be attributed to its uniqueness at each stage of development. To begin with, “24” is written in two stages. The first half of the season is written, and is subsequently completed based on audience reaction as the show is airing.
Howard Gordon, executive producer of the show, said in a recent news release from Fox, “You know, it used to scare the hell out of us . we don’t know what’s going to happen next episode.”
“Literally, the first eight episodes of any specific season have taught us how to do the next eight and then again the next eight,” said Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Bauer, in the release.
But it is not just the writing that makes the show unique.
“The multiplicity and intensity of images presented at any one time are more adventurous than run-of-the-mill television,” said Kirk Larsen, director of GW’s Project G Street student film experiment. Project G Street members live in a former fraternity house on G Street across from University Police headquarters.
There is something more than general production quality that makes “24” one of the nation’s most popular primetime shows: Jack Bauer. Protagonist Bauer has become a symbol of patriotism and masculinity. In a generation essentially devoid of “tough guys” such as John Wayne and Marlon Brando, the character played by Kiefer Sutherland has filled the testosterone void in America’s youth.
“I’m attached to the character. I love playing the character and it’s something I care an awful lot about,” Sutherland said.
Bauer has even joined the illustrious ranks of Vin Diesel and Chuck Norris with the creation of a random fact generator about him that can be visited at www.notrly.com/jackbauer. In fact, the new term, “Bauer-ed,” is being used to describe anything that was beaten or destroyed, in honor of the character who has killed 93 people over four days.
It is no real surprise that a campus with such a strong nationalistic and political affinity would be attracted to the show. For one hour, one night a week, liberals and conservatives can bury their ideological hatchets and watch as the modern superhero, agent Jack Bauer, defends democracy and keeps the entire world safe at night.
“24” airs on Fox Monday nights at 9 p.m.
Little Known “Facts” about Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully-loaded gun and won.
Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect Four in three moves.
Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.
Killing Jack Bauer doesn’t make him dead. It just makes him angry.
If Jack Bauer misspells a word, your dictionary is wrong.
When Jack Bauer does push-ups he doesn’t push himself up; he pushes the world down.
Finding Nemo would have been vastly more exciting had Jack Bauer been looking for him.
If everyone on “24” followed Jack Bauer’s instructions, it would be called “12.”
For Show-and-Tell in kindergarten, Jack Bauer killed a terrorist.
Source: www.notrly.com/jackbauer
