shouting loudly

Much media violence research focuses on at-risk populations, such as the imitation of violent scenes among children. The U.S. Army has recognized its own cadets as another sort of at-risk population, it seems, requesting that Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer on TV’s 24) visit West Point to tell cadets that torture is not okay. Citing the New Yorker, Foreign Policy notes, “the motto of many of [retired West Point Professor Gary Solis' former] students was identical to Jack Bauer’s: ‘Whatever it takes.’” Foreign Policy also points out:

The failure to temper future soldiers’ enthusiasm for the Bauer approach—in addition to reports that interrogators in Iraq plagiarize tactics displayed on the show—had previously led West Point’s dean to make a bizarre, on-set appearance before begging 24′s producers to be gentler with the show’s almost exclusively Muslim torture victims.

From what I’ve read of research on interventions designed to increase media criticism abilities, this kind of thing would work better in the short term than in the long term, but most researchers can’t afford to have actual celebrities show up in person for their studies. Best case scenario would be if such efforts are indicative of a broader push to curb torture in the military, and not just a cheap PR move.