Torture on TV

One evening after attending a lecture where we watched a documentary criticizing the way television represents torture on popular shows like "24", I tuned in to "Lost", a show I never miss. Coincidentally, that night's episode would feature a torture scene. Expecting some sort of progress after the criticism, I expected the torture to be more realistic; as I had just learned a few hours earlier, torture rarely works instantly like it does on television.

These expectations quickly proved unrealistic. As I watched Sayid, an Iraqi character known for his own history as a torture artist in Saddam's army, get tortured himself, I couldn't believe that so little had changed. What I witnessed was the classic torture case: a threatening Arab is on the receiving end, and he quickly spills all the details. In this case, Sayid was tied to a tree and forced to ingest a drug that supposedly has psychotropic truth-inducing powers. He proceeds to reveal the frightening truth while laughing maniacally.

Even today, this is a familiar role for Arabs on screen in America. At least the audience is meant to sympathize with Sayid, which is a small way the representation has evolved. But that's no excuse for the stereotype-perpetuating torture scene, which echoes a history of discrimination.

The fact that I tune in every week for pure entertainment speaks to my own culpability, though. They wouldn't produce "Lost" if nobody watched. By garnering millions of viewers, the mainstream media profits from keeping people entertained. As a consumer of entertainment, I should choose to consume art that comes from a diversity of perspectives that meshes with my values a little more.

In that spirit, my next post will be a review of a foreign film that challenges the dominant paradigm that the mainstream media presents. I'll be watching "Paradise Now" (2005, directed by Hany Abu-Assad) this week, and letting you know what I think.

The episode of "Lost" referenced above aired on March 25th, 2009. You can watch it for free online here: http://abc.go.com/player/