Remember the good old days of spy shows when our beloved hero was captured by the enemy and subjected to some sort of torture?I remember a scene from a James Bond flick in which Sean Connery had a laser beam running a surefire path to his wedding tackle. Of course, we were always astonished when the hero or heroine used some dental floss and belly button lint to create a device to escape and save the day.

The television shows and movies of today definitely aren’t looking to the past for their plots. Shows on the air now seem to be obsessed with heroes who torture villains, trying to obtain information to stop a horrible event from occurring, generally using more psychology than physical ability.The days of heroes using cunning to escape and quick wit to save the day are over.Welcome to the age of the ambiguous hero, who uses diabolical methods to extract information and punish his or her enemy.

The popular show 24 has come under fire for being one such show. 24 doesn’t seem to have any problem airing torture scenes; according to The Parents’ Television Council, the show aired 67 torture scenes during its first five seasons. Given that the bad guys are usually the ones handing out the more obscene punishments, the heroes are no strangers to illegal torture.

I remember a particular episode in which the President ordered his men to torture one of his own cabinet members who was a suspected “evil-doer,” my favorite President Bush term.

In a strangely convenient twist, an unexpected source is telling 24 they need to cut the torture scenes and change their plots for the good of the United States: our very own military in fact. West Point Dean Brigadier, General Patrick Finnegan, has met with producers of the show to tell them he believes these scenes could be having an effect on his students. Finnegan stated that “I’d like them to stop,” and that he wishes they would produce a show in which the torture used by the hero backfires.

Finnegan explained that it’s his duty to teach cadets to follow the laws and codes of the United States even if the enemy resorts to unsavory or illegal methods. Finnegan stated that his cadets are now becoming defiant about this point, citing shows such as 24 in their arguments for torture.

It’s so disappointing and concerning that our beloved TV and movie heroes have been transformed into torturers and bullies. I could tell you an already proven fact: Torture doesn’t work. If you were strung up to a torture machine, you would tell your captor anything in order to avoid being killed or beaten. Heroes are supposed to rise above the muck, just like the United States has supposedly been trying to do.

How can we call someone an “evil-doer” if, when given the opportunity, we are guilty of the very same actions?

The fact of the matter is that that West Point cadets are using fictional television shows to back up political and moral arguments. Who on Earth are they letting into this academy to lead our troops and represent our nation in conflicts? I’m not sure if the cadets are aware of it, but 24, although it is in real time, is not a documentary. Jack Bauer is not a real person and a terrorist attack did not just occur in the United States at the beginning of this television season. When Jack Bauer saves the day, it’s because a scriptwriter planned it that way.

If the cadets want to look at film footage and images to explain what our position on torture should be, perhaps they should look at those infamous images from Abu Ghraib. Not only was it disgusting to look at what was done to those men, but those disturbing pictures helped ruin our reputation all over the world. The images incited anger and put our troops at increased risk, as though Iraq isn’t dangerous enough for them as it is.

The United States is under fire from various countries for extraditing its citizens and having them tortured. Our own country made torture under any circumstance illegal back in 1994, when the senate ratified a U.N. document stating that “no exceptional circumstances, whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

What I see more and more often, unfortunately, is the celebrated archetype of a person who tortures enemies to extract information, bullies them into submission, and goes against his own morals to hurt another person. I don’t think that any of these qualities are those of a hero.

Give us back our heroes with cunning and a good heart. I’m sick of having to root for a guy with pliers, a blowtorch and little respect for human rights.

Reach Hunter Kincaid at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.