Table Of Content“Michael Flynn and Fabiola F. Salek establish the value of screening torture s
and challenge its social acceptability. They highlight vitally important and complex
c
elements of communication and their effects on victims, victimizers,
r
and the larger community target audience. In this sense, their book makes
an enormously important contribution to understanding the problem e
of torture in an age of mass communications.”
e
—Winston P. nagan, fellow and interim secretary general
n
of the World Academy of Art and Science
i
Before 9/11, films addressing torture outside of the horror/slasher genre n
depicted the practice in a variety of forms. In most cases, torture was cast as the act of
g
a desperate and depraved individual, and the viewer was more likely to identify with the
victim rather than the torturer. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, scenes
t
of brutality and torture in mainstream comedies, dramatic narratives, and action films
o
appear for little other reason than to titillate and delight. In these films, torture is devoid
of any redeeming qualities, represented as an exercise in brutal senselessness carried r
out by authoritarian regimes and institutions.
t
This volume follows the shift in the representation of torture over the past decade,
specifically in documentary, action, and political films. It traces and compares the devel- u
opment of this trend in films from the United States, Europe, China, Latin America, South
r
Africa, and the Middle East. Featuring essays by sociologists, psychologists, historians,
e
journalists, and specialists in film and cultural studies, the collection approaches the
representation of torture in film and television from multiple angles and disciplines,
connecting its aesthetics and practices to the dynamic of state terror and political
domination.
f
l
y
michael flynn is associate professor of psychology at York College, City University n
of New York, and associate director of the Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of n
Criminal Justice. He is the coeditor, with Charles B. Strozier, of Genocide, War, and Human a
n
Survival; Trauma and Self; and The Year 2000: Essays on the End; and, with David C. Broth- d
erton, of Globalizing the Streets: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Youth, Social Control, and s
a
Empowerment.
l
e
k
faBiola f. salek is the chair of the Department of Foreign Languages, ESL, and Human- ,
ities and coordinator of women’s studies at York College, City University of New York. e
d
She is also a research fellow at the Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of Criminal i
t
Justice. Her research focuses on film and contemporary culture and their relationship o
r
to human rights, immigration, gender, and the construction of identity and nationality. s
columbia university Press / new york edited By michael flynn
ISBN: 978-0-231-15359-1
cup.columbia.edu
Cover design: Catherine Casalino and faBiola f. salek
Printed in the U.S.A. 9 780231 153591 Columbia
screening torture
edited by
michael flynn and fabiola f. salek
screening torture
media representations of
state terror and political domination
columbia university press new york
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2012 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Screening torture : media representations of state terror and political domination /
edited by Michael Flynn and Fabiola F. Salek.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-15358-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-15359-1
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-52697-5 (e-book)
1. Torture in motion pictures. 2. Torture on television. I. Flynn, Michael, 1962–
II. Salek, Fabiola F.
PN1995.9.T67S37 2012
791.43'6352—dc23
2011049965
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: Catherine Casalino
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author
nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed
since the manuscript was prepared.
For my Mathiso and family with love
Fabiola F. Salek
Contents
S creening Torture: An Introduction 1
Michael Flynn and Fabiola F. Salek
part i Torture and the Implications of Masculinity 19
1. Countering the Jack Bauer Effect: An Examination of
How to Limit the Influence of TV’s Most Popular, and Most
Brutal, Hero 21
David Danzig
2. Mel Gibson’s Tortured Heroes: From the Symbolic Function
of Blood to Spectacles of Pain 35
Lee Quinby
3. It’s a Perfect World: Torture, Confession, and Sacrifice 53
Michael Flynn and Fabiola F. Salek
part ii Torture and the Sadomasochistic Impulse 69
4. Lust, Caution: Torture, Sex, and Passion in Chinese Cinema 71
Chris Berry
5. The Art of Photogenic Torture 93
Phil Carney
viii contents
6. Beyond Susan Sontag: The Seduction of Psychological Torture 109
Alfred W. McCoy
7. Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange as Art Against Torture 143
Carolyn Strange
part iii Confronting the Legacies of Torture and State Terror 165
8. “ Accorded a Place in the Design”: Torture in Postapartheid
Cinema 167
Elizabeth Swanson Goldberg
9. Confessing Without Regret: An Israeli Film Genre 191
Livia Alexander
part iv Torture and the Shortcomings of Film 217
10. Movies of Modern Torture as Convenient Truths 219
Darius Rejali
11. Torture at the Limit of Politics 239
Faisal Devji
12. Doing Torture in Film: Confronting Ambiguity and
Ambivalence 257
Marnia Lazreg
13. Documenting the Documentaries on Abu Ghraib: Facts
Versus Distortion 273
Stjepan G. Mestrovic
List of Contributors 293
Index 295
screening torture
