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<blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 3828326" data-attributes="member: 40961">Jack Bauer is impossible to judge because he doesn't exist in reality.&nbsp; He exists in a moral universe that looks like reality, but in which a magical narrative force conspires to make it morally necessary for him to torture people.Imagine a fantasy show in which the author walks on screen at the beginning of the series and explains, &quot;Orcs in this show are inherently evil.&nbsp; They are unredeemable in any possible way.&nbsp; Any orc will, if it can, commit murder and mayhem.&nbsp; The only possible way to defend yourself from an orc is to kill it.&nbsp; Nothing else will deter its villainy.&nbsp; I know this because I wrote the show and I say so.&quot;And then the show is half an hour of an allegedly heroic character stabbing little green babies.&nbsp; He goes through literally hundreds.&nbsp; Its just one long orc baby genocide.Is that character evil?That's Jack Bauer.&nbsp; The magic of narrative power puts him in repeated situations where disregarding the US Constitution, the rights and freedoms of American citizens, US law, Geneva, etc, etc, etc, is the only way to save millions from doom.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Cadfan, post: 3828326, member: 40961"] Jack Bauer is impossible to judge because he doesn't exist in reality. He exists in a moral universe that looks like reality, but in which a magical narrative force conspires to make it morally necessary for him to torture people. Imagine a fantasy show in which the author walks on screen at the beginning of the series and explains, "Orcs in this show are inherently evil. They are unredeemable in any possible way. Any orc will, if it can, commit murder and mayhem. The only possible way to defend yourself from an orc is to kill it. Nothing else will deter its villainy. I know this because I wrote the show and I say so." And then the show is half an hour of an allegedly heroic character stabbing little green babies. He goes through literally hundreds. Its just one long orc baby genocide. Is that character evil? That's Jack Bauer. The magic of narrative power puts him in repeated situations where disregarding the US Constitution, the rights and freedoms of American citizens, US law, Geneva, etc, etc, etc, is the only way to save millions from doom. [/QUOTE]

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