I was using my computer to author a DVD the other night, so it was out of commission for an hour and half… what’s a boy to do but turn to that most antiquated of entertainments? Yes, television. I found that Rogers on Demand had the new season of 24 up. I’m not a fan, and watching episodes one and two of the new season made me remember why. Is there a single show on television that relies more on false tension than 24? Rather than real tension that comes out of great writing and acting [1], false tension is the use of hoary cliches to ramp up the drama. And it just doesn’t work.
Examples from the first two hours of this season:
1. Jack is brought into FBI headquarters to help with a case. He says he’s not interested. The FBI agent says it involves someone Jack knows. Cut to computer screen where we see a low-res image of a face slowly enhanced to reveal the person Jack knows. Bullshit. The FBI has had this file for awhile. They know who the person is. Why is their computer set to slowly render the image for Jack? Why not just show Jack the hi-res enhancement right off? False tension in action.
2. Terrorists plug a box the size of a Playstation into a computer and take over all the air traffic controls in the U.S. Okay, maybe that’s possible, suspension of disbelief and all that. So as a warning that they have this technology, they put two planes on a collision course. The planes, shown filled with businessmen and families, zoom towards each other. But, at the last second, the pilot in one plane is instructed by the terrorists to “pull up”, averting the collision. Now you could say this is a subversion of the audiences’ expectation that the planes will crash, or, you could call “Bullshit: false tension!” on this. It felt manipulative to me, so I choose the latter. At least the terrorists in Die Hard 2 made good on their threat by actually crashing a plane.
3. A sniper is trapped in a building surrounded by FBI agents. One of the agents goes into the basement where the sniper has managed to hide. A typical cat-and-mouse walk around supporting columns ensues, ending with the sniper and FBI agent face to face, pointing their guns at each other. “I’m here to get you out,” says the agent. Bullshit. No one with an ounce of sense would plan an extraction this way. So many things could go wrong… the sniper has no idea who the agent is and could have easily shot him before he had a chance to reveal himself as help. One of the hundred other agents could have found the sniper first. Oh, wait. It’s that damned false tension again. And so it goes…
24 is a substandard actioner if ever there was. Characters waiting anxiously for files to download isn’t drama. Text on computer screens that give away plot points (“deleting secret files”) isn’t drama. It’s just… yep, false tension (and bad writing). I won’t be watching hours 3-24. Though, if anyone is willing to take my bet, I’ll put a c-note on Jack saving the world.
Examples from the first two hours of this season:
1. Jack is brought into FBI headquarters to help with a case. He says he’s not interested. The FBI agent says it involves someone Jack knows. Cut to computer screen where we see a low-res image of a face slowly enhanced to reveal the person Jack knows. Bullshit. The FBI has had this file for awhile. They know who the person is. Why is their computer set to slowly render the image for Jack? Why not just show Jack the hi-res enhancement right off? False tension in action.
2. Terrorists plug a box the size of a Playstation into a computer and take over all the air traffic controls in the U.S. Okay, maybe that’s possible, suspension of disbelief and all that. So as a warning that they have this technology, they put two planes on a collision course. The planes, shown filled with businessmen and families, zoom towards each other. But, at the last second, the pilot in one plane is instructed by the terrorists to “pull up”, averting the collision. Now you could say this is a subversion of the audiences’ expectation that the planes will crash, or, you could call “Bullshit: false tension!” on this. It felt manipulative to me, so I choose the latter. At least the terrorists in Die Hard 2 made good on their threat by actually crashing a plane.
3. A sniper is trapped in a building surrounded by FBI agents. One of the agents goes into the basement where the sniper has managed to hide. A typical cat-and-mouse walk around supporting columns ensues, ending with the sniper and FBI agent face to face, pointing their guns at each other. “I’m here to get you out,” says the agent. Bullshit. No one with an ounce of sense would plan an extraction this way. So many things could go wrong… the sniper has no idea who the agent is and could have easily shot him before he had a chance to reveal himself as help. One of the hundred other agents could have found the sniper first. Oh, wait. It’s that damned false tension again. And so it goes…
24 is a substandard actioner if ever there was. Characters waiting anxiously for files to download isn’t drama. Text on computer screens that give away plot points (“deleting secret files”) isn’t drama. It’s just… yep, false tension (and bad writing). I won’t be watching hours 3-24. Though, if anyone is willing to take my bet, I’ll put a c-note on Jack saving the world.
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[1] See the first season of The Shield for a perfect example of this, the episode where closeted homosexual police officer Julian confronts an armed suspect while not wearing his standard-issue bullet-proof vest. The suggestion here is that he is so conflicted about being gay that part of him feels he deserves to die. Knowing Julian’s backstory, his taunting of the armed man is incredibly powerful stuff. And the whole season goes on like this, ratcheting up the tension through character moments until you think it can't possibly get any more tense, then ratcheting it up some more.
[1] See the first season of The Shield for a perfect example of this, the episode where closeted homosexual police officer Julian confronts an armed suspect while not wearing his standard-issue bullet-proof vest. The suggestion here is that he is so conflicted about being gay that part of him feels he deserves to die. Knowing Julian’s backstory, his taunting of the armed man is incredibly powerful stuff. And the whole season goes on like this, ratcheting up the tension through character moments until you think it can't possibly get any more tense, then ratcheting it up some more.
As a Brit might say, "brilliant!"
ReplyDeleteThe core truths about drama, and what makes drama, do not seem to be taught enough these days. Or some do not care... like the generally undiscriminating television audience.