Representing the Other: 24 and Leatherstocking Tales
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This paper examines a popular television series 24 with emphasis on the contradictory moments with its prevailing messages on Muslim terrorists and on how the root causes of their grievances are portrayed, and then compares it with James Fenimore Cooper’s representation of Native Americans in Leatherstocking Tales, one of the first attempts by an American writer to squarely deal with a racial relationship in the United States. The distinction between evil Arab or Muslim terrorists and good American Arabs in 24 reminds me of good Indians and bad Indians in Cooper’s work. Natty Bumpo is in fact the archetype of Jack Bauer. What is intriguing about Cooper’s novel is that both villains and heroes understand what’s happening to them. Both Magua and Chingachook, the villain and noble savage, eloquently represent their destiny although they differ in how to deal with it. In contrast, in 24, terrorists are not made to take the trouble to present their case—their grievances and motives--as compellingly, legitimately as possible. And the good Arab Americans who are positively portrayed do not delve into the root causes of terrorist threats and attacks and take pains to cope with it. As a whole, the characters do not grow, do not develop. 24 may not be as negatively biased as some critics point out. More problematic than racial stereotyping in the show seems to be the lack of concern for the root causes of terrorists’ grievances, which helps to dehumanize them.
Abstract
This paper examines a popular television series 24 with emphasis on the contradictory moments with its prevailing messages on Muslim terrorists and on how the root causes of their grievances are portrayed, and then compares it with James Fenimore Cooper’s representation of Native Americans in Leatherstocking Tales, one of the first attempts by an American writer to squarely deal with a racial relationship in the United States. The distinction between evil Arab or Muslim terrorists and good American Arabs in 24 reminds me of good Indians and bad Indians in Cooper’s work. Natty Bumpo is in fact the archetype of Jack Bauer. What is intriguing about Cooper’s novel is that both villains and heroes understand what’s happening to them. Both Magua and Chingachook, the villain and noble savage, eloquently represent their destiny although they differ in how to deal with it. In contrast, in 24, terrorists are not made to take the trouble to present their case—their grievances and motives--as compellingly, legitimately as possible. And the good Arab Americans who are positively portrayed do not delve into the root causes of terrorist threats and attacks and take pains to cope with it. As a whole, the characters do not grow, do not develop. 24 may not be as negatively biased as some critics point out. More problematic than racial stereotyping in the show seems to be the lack of concern for the root causes of terrorists’ grievances, which helps to dehumanize them.