I agree with Klein that the cavalier use of torture on 24 is getting to be a bit disturbing. But I think Peter’s right that this isn’t nearly as new a trend as Ezra Klein is making it out to be. Frank Miller’s influence over comic books represented a major shift toward this kind of thing when I was still an avid collector in the 80s. NYPD Blue made a hero out of Dennis Franz/Sipowicz who routinely smacked around suspects to get them to talk. Torture shows up more than a few times in Buffy and Angel and, of course, in shows like the Shield. The Terminator was another watershed because we rooted for, literally a killing machine. Hannibal Lecter became a hero because he’s just so suave, despite being among the most horrific monsters ever conceived on film. Before all of that there were, of course, the Death Wish and Dirty Harry movies.

A far more disturbing trend is the use of cruelty and torture by “heroes” simply to achieve their own will-to-power. Mel Gibson’s “Payback” has the tagline “get ready to root for the bad guy.” Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill all contain far more grotesque depictions of cruelty than “24″ does without any underlying moral justification. A man who tortures to find a ticking nuclear bomb isn’t morally comparable to charming criminals and sociopaths simply seeking vengeance. And yet, it seems complaints on those fronts are more difficult to find from the folks most concerned about “24.”

Update: This sounds fair, from a reader:

I don’t know if I agree that it’s difficult to find complaints about Tarantino, but easy to find them about “24.” It seems like there’s a round of tut-tutting every time “Kill Bill” or one his movies comes out.
But if you’re right, couldn’t it be because “24″ takes place in a universe that, right now, seems recognizable in our own? We actually do fear terrorism, and we actually are arguing terrorism. We are not, to the best of my knowledge, experiencing any societal problems caused by hot blonde ninjas.
Just a thought.