 |
| Hey, I'm an actual human being, not a one-dimensional character. |
Hamri
Al-Assad is 24’s most interesting Muslim
character, and the only one played by someone from the region. Alexander Siddig,
from Sudan, gives Assad an intelligent authority and spontaneity missing from 24’s other Muslims.
After
Jack Bauer learns Fayed’s misinformation has sent the government to kill Assad,
Bauer tracks him down and tells him one of his men is a traitor. Assad finds
the traitor and condemns him: “You betrayed us.”
The
traitor responds, “No, you are the one who betrayed his people.”
24’s
Muslims often identify themselves as ‘us’ or ‘our people’, but have of yet to
state what makes them a unique group beyond their religion. 24’s American characters, however, never
proclaim group identity. They may say ‘our country’, but never ‘our people.’
Soon,
it is revealed that Assad came to America to stop Fayed and begin peace talks.
“I’ve gotten most of my people and the governments that support us to agree to
a cease fire with the West,” he says. Of course, the government has no idea.
So, Jack, Assad, and the traitor narrowly escape being killed by US troops.
After
breaking into an empty home, Jack and Assad interrogate the traitor, demanding
Fayed’s location. Jack is convinced the man knows nothing, but Assad continues
the torture and, in one of the season’s grisliest scenes, stabs him through his
kneecap. The man tells Assad where the next attack will occur. Assad, before
stabbing him to death, whispers, “I understand you thought you were doing the
right thing. I admire your conviction, but you’ve taken the wrong path. I’m
sorry.” Assad, who claims commitment to peace, is as violent as Ahmed Amar and
Salhib’s men. Jack and the government are violent out of necessity, while it
appears Muslims are naturally violent. To say the continuation of violence in
the Middle East comes from a society that has historically promoted violence is
a symbolic usage, not historical fact. Nevertheless, 24’s Muslims, as is their nature, habitually use violence as a
method to excel in conflict situations.
Hurrying to save Scott from Ahmed, Jack encourages Assad to
help CTU catch Fayed. Assad refuses. “I will not work with my enemies.”
Jack reminds him the government’s attack on his location
was Fayed’s ruse, and replies, “You’re working with one now. You might hate this country. You might hate its values, but if you were serious about
disarming…then you know you have to compromise. That is your political
reality.”
Unfairly hated by the Middle East, the West, apparently, is
innocent. Yet, as Said would point out, this hatred for the West is spurned by
the West itself and, as Bernard Lewis contends, Orientalist intrusion and
Western control of the Middle East gave its peoples the ability to question
Western power. “Once these subjects had mastered a Western European
language…they found a new world open to them, full of new and dangerous ideas
such as political freedom and national sovereignty” (129). Lewis also believes
that Middle East ‘Western scorn’ is not as vehement as the American media’s
portrayal. Since Western methods of government, economics, and policy have
failed in the region, “to many [Middle Easterners] the West again appears as
something alien, pagan, and noxious, still hostile, but no longer terrifying”
(216). Fred Halliday supports Lewis, stating “the resistance by Muslims to rule
by non-Muslims is…of the rise of the dominant Western secular ideology of
modern times, nationalism, with its core ideological claim that peoples are
entitled to sovereignty and independence” (166). 24 shuns this actuality by ignoring America’s history in the region.
America, as embodied by Bauer, remains an innocent superpower under siege from
a band of misguided, violent insurgents like Ahmed, Sahlib, Fayed, and
formerly, Assad.
 |
| "Alright, we'll kill terrorists together." |
Jack’s
partner, Curtis Manning, refuses to work with Assad and places him under
arrest. Assad protests. Jack calls President Palmer. Palmer offers Assad
immunity if he continues to track Fayed and facilitates the peace process.
Assad agrees and receives a full legal pardon. After Jack saves Scott from
Ahmed, he tells Curtis of Assad’s deal.
Curtis, gritting his teeth, eyes bulging, whispers, “In
other words, he walks.” Jack says that is the way it has to be. Curtis assures
him Assad will arrive safely at CTU.
A minute later, CTU informs Jack that in the first Gulf War
Assad’s men ambushed Curtis’ squad, killed five of his men, and left him badly
wounded. Assad took hostages and beheaded them the next day.
Jack sprints outside to find Curtis holding Assad at gunpoint.
Jack pleads with his partner to lower his weapon, but Curtis refuses. “I can’t
let this animal live!”
Jack shoots Curtis in the neck, killing him.
 |
| "Curtis, don't kill him. You've been around for three seasons already. Don't let that end here!" |
 |
| "I have to! Right now, while we're trying to stop a nuclear explosion! I have to take the time to have my revenge while millions of innocent lives hang in the balance! This is totally consistent with my character!" |
Afterward—it’s
no shock—Assad receives a cold reception at CTU. Director Bill Buchanan refuses
to shake his hand.
“I know you see me as your enemy, but today I assure you I
am not,” Assad tells him. “I came to the United States to stop Fayed. I knew he
intended to inflict damage, but not to kill millions.”
Still, no one believes him until he discovers Fayed is
working with a disgraced Soviet general, Dmitri Gredenko. CTU apologizes for
its behavior and puts Assad on a plane to the White House. Before he leaves,
Buchanan offers Assad his hand. Assad, with gratitude, respectfully shakes it,
saying, “I hope the worst is over here in Los Angeles.” And he means it.
Yet,
President Palmer treats Assad as another Muslim who needs to atone for his
‘nature’ by complying with American demands.
When the two meet, Palmer greets Assad with ‘understandable
skepticism,’ chastises him for his dealings with Fayed, and demands he appear
on television to “appeal to the members of the Islamic communities everywhere
to come forward with any information regarding Fayed.”
Assad shakes his head. “You flatter me if you think I hold
sway over all Islam.”
Curling his lip, Palmer replies, “No, sir, not all--just
the extremists who share your hatred of the West.”
Later in their conversation, Assad tells Palmer, “Many of
the people you wish me to sway have been swayed to believe that our cause is a
holy one. I’m not innocent of this manipulation.”
 |
| Palmer: "How do you get your hair so wavy?" Assad: "Now is not the time, Mr. President." |
An exploration of true political realities would not only
explain/comment upon terrorist motivations, but of American government’s
policies, such as those embodied by Tom Lennox, or more topically, George Bush.
Both sides, and both worlds (fictional and real) could be examined, but 24 only allows Islam that painful
admission. Through silence, America maintains innocence.
In Part 6,
I’ll discuss how these depictions only worsen in the show’s introduction and
usage of a Middle Eastern “Ambassador.”
Bibliography
“Day 4.” “Day 6.” 24.
Fox, 2005, 2007.
“24 Under Fire from Muslim Groups.” BBC News. BBC News, 19 January 2007.
Armstrong, Stephen. "Rough Justice." New
Statesman 136.4836 (2007): 36-38.
Bauder, David. “TV Torture Influencing Real
Life.” USA Today. 11 February
2007.
Dougherty, Michael Brendan. "What Would Jack Bauer
Do?" American Conservative 6.5
(2007): 8-10.
Flynn, Gillian. “24: TV Review.” Entertainment Weekly. 11 January 2007.
Halliday, Fred. 100
Myths About the Middle East. Los Angeles: University of California Press,
2005.
Irwin, Robert. Dangerous
Knowledge: Orientalism and its Discontents. New York: Overlook
Press, 2006.
Lewis, Bernard. From
Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004.
McCormick, Patrick. "The Torture Show." U.S.
Catholic 73.5 (2008): 17.
McDermont, Jim. “A Trojan Horse.” America 196.7 (2007): 23-24.
Rossi, Melissa. What
Every American Should Know About the Middle East. New York: Plume
Books, 2008.
Said, Edward. Orientalism.
New York: Vintage, 1978.
Yuan, Jada. “The White-Castle Ceiling.” New York Magazine. 4 March 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment