The Epistemology of Torture

I absolutely do not believe that the show is, in any sense, torture porn. This is something we talk about a lot. Torture is of no interest to us as torture, and we're not anxious to show it, nor do we want to watch it." (Michael Loceff, writer for 24)In the U.S., torture has become a spectacle to be consumed: from media representations of the abuses of Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, and statements by Vice President Dick Cheney defending the rights of the U.S. to practice torture for intelligence-gathering, to high-profile representations of torture in American popular culture like Fox television's 24 and the recent box-office hit Hostel (2006). One critic remarked, "Maybe it's pure coincidence that Hostel became a hit after two years of headlines about Abu Ghraib and the rise of anti-Americanism in Europe." Then again, as the haunting coincidence suggests, maybe not. "Asked if he's got any theories about why sadism is in vogue, [horror film director Wes Craven] laughs and says, 'Because we're living in a horror show. The post-9/11 period, all politics aside, has been extremely difficult for the average American.' " Referring to the proliferation of horror shows featuring torture by that phenomenon's nickname, "torture porn," one critic writes: "As a horror maven who long ago made peace, for better and worse, with the genre's inherent sadism, I'm baffled by how far this new stuff goes-and by why America seems so nuts these days about torture

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