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May 31, 2010
24 + 1
I’ve been a fan of Fox TV’s hit series 24 for several years now. One question has been finally answered…lead character Jack Bauer does indeed urinate.
The show had it’s last episode last week after a very successful eight season run. For those of you worried that you’ll be jonesing (Microsoft Word is not recognizing “jonesing” as an actual word, damn) for some Jack Bauer antics, a movie version of the show is in the works. Since the name of the show derives from the fact that the show is shot in real time, 24 episodes at one hour each that make up events occurring over the course of one 24 hour day, they will have to come up with a new name for the film, I would think. If it’s 90 minute movie, the title “90” would seem logical.
Since the events on the show occur in real time, early on I couldn’t help but notice that neither Jack Bauer, nor anyone else on the show for that matter, goes through a 24-hour day and find the need to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom.
I realize that each season involves the characters trying to prevent some sort of horrific terrorist tragedy and thus they may need to put trivial things on the back burner for a while. That said, no matter the urgency of finding the terrorists before they can set the nuclear bomb to explode, one cannot completely ignore emptying a full bladder before it explodes.
24 star Keifer Sutherland as well as producers of the show have publicly stated that there is existing footage of Jack Bauer going to the bathroom. Well, not footage of him going to the bathroom but footage of him upon completion of an office raid, entering a men’s room and then the sound of a urinal flushing.
The show’s producers insist that the stated bathroom scene as well as a scene of Jack Bauer eating exist to answer this obvious illogical plot point, but that the network has always cut these scenes out. That’s not hard to believe, since one of the Fox Network’s top shows is right-wing loony Glenn Beck and if people will believe him, I guess they’ll believe just about anything.
This brings to mind another problem the show has…the right-wing confusing TV with real life. Political commentator Laura Ingraham, and other conservative pundits endorse torture or “tough tactics” because it works for Jack Bauer and “the average American out there, loves 24” and “that’s as close to a national referendum” on torture as there is, according to Ms. Ingraham (I figure the “Ms.” would add further insult to injury to her).
The only problem with this theory is that according to any reputable professional interrogator, torture doesn’t work as a questioning technique.
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), himself a victim of torture as a POW in Vietnam, stated publicly that torture victims will “tell you anything they think you want to know, if you inflict enough pain on the them,” adding “It’s not like 24.”
The show has presented problems for military officials, who feared that some of their personnel were using Jack Bauer’s method to extract information from detainees. They brought in producers of the show to show them the actual methods use to gather information. Of course, a “ticking time bomb” scenario makes for more riveting TV then episodes of interrogators gaining the confidence and trust of detainees over a longer period of time.
As for me, I have little or no problem with the violence on the show because I realized long ago that IT’S A TV SHOW.
Perhaps when I was five-years old, I thought that when actor George Reeves put on a cape and jumped out the window in The Adventures of Superman he was actually airborne but I’m pretty sure at this point in my life that he wasn’t really flying.
This is reminiscent of actors who have talked about people approaching them on the street and confusing them with some horrible character they played. Gale Gordon, Lucille Ball’s foil in The Lucy Show (and just about every other post-I Love Lucy series) once relayed story of being castigated on the street by a woman who insisted that he stop being so mean to Lucy.
Who knows? Maybe the guy who squeezed the Charmin really did do that in real life.
If you’ll excuse me now, I have to go. I do mean, “GO” because unlike Jack Bauer, I have pee.
Posted by dmargarita at 11:57 PM
May 27, 2010
Happy Non-Birth, Pill!
This year marks the 50th birthday of the birth control pill, known most commonly as “The Pill.” Well, perhaps the word “birthday” in relation to a pill preventing birth isn’t the appropriate word.
Another anniversary being marked this year is the 30th anniversary of the “Post-It” note, presumably by someone who wanted to be sure to reminded to take The Pill.
According to an article in The L.A. Times marking The Pill’s 50 birthday…uh, anniversary, “It is given to cut the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer in high-risk women; to alleviate abnormally heavy or painful periods; to fight anemia; to stabilize mood; even to clear up acne.” Had I known this, I would’ve taken the pill in junior high (for the acne, not the heavy periods).
The Times also notes that The Pill “was supposed to make every child a wanted child,” which was also the goal of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover.
Ironically, the anniversary of The Pill fell on Mother’s Day. Then again, that’s perhaps not as ironic as it may seem, since one of the driving forces behind was Women’s Suffragette legend Margaret Sanger, who early in the 20th century saw her mother die young after giving birth to 11 children, and believe it or not, her mom did not commit suicide after having 11 children.
The first pill put on the market was called Enovid. This was a far different pill than what is available today. The amount of estrogen in Enovid was 150 micrograms, compared with 25 to 30 micrograms in the modern pill, meaning that the first generation of women to use The Pill were the guinea pigs to make it safe for today’s generation of women to use The Pill safely. As a bachelor, I just want to say thank you, ladies.
Unfortunately, the result of this high level of estrogen “raised the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes” and that “women who smoked had an even higher risk of side effects,” says The Times.
So, I suppose the urge to “light up a cigarette” afterwards was replaced with an urge to call an ambulance.
The Pill was initially only available to married women who were trying to limit the size of their family. It wasn’t until 1972 that Massachusetts overturned a law banning The Pill being prescribed to single women, who were presumably trying to limit the size of their family to zero.
In a way, it’s too bad that Boston Red Sox slugger Carl Yastrzemsky, known most popularly, as “Yaz” was never given a chance to promote the birth control device Yaz in the prime of his career.
“Hello, I’m Yaz. Because my wife doesn’t want to have any more little Yaz’, she uses Yaz, so she won’t have to stay away from Yaz.”
While The Pill has made the notion of worry-free sex available for women (and couples), the advent of Viagra and other such medicines has hopefully made women more aware of birth control options. Viagra is sort of like baseball’s Designated Hitter rule…it allows sluggers to extend their careers a lot longer (seemed like an appropriate analogy after all of the Yaz talk).
The Pill was also the first birth control method whose use didn’t involved any action be taken in the heat of the moment, if you know what I mean.
The Times states “estimated 12 million American women take the pill today” and noting the previous non-birth related benefits, look for acne-free, happy, non-cramping women, and you’ll likely find a woman taking The Pill.
While The Pill is the most effective birth control method, it is not 100 percent successful. When The Pill is used “perfectly,” one in 100 women will still get pregnant. These are undoubtedly the unluckiest women on the planet.
As usual, The Pill puts the onus on the woman to control the birth control. There has yet to be a pill invented for men that will prevent pregnancy.
That’s a big relief to me in a way, as I would look terrible in maternity clothes.
A PERSONAL NOTE----Condolences to the family of Frankie “Skeeter” Muolo, whose passing was all too soon. Skeeter was a good guy with a good heart, who caught some bad breaks.
Posted by dmargarita at 5:00 PM