A Rant About Fox’s 24 by Keith Zahn

I won’t bore you with the many reasons why I believe the Fox television series 24 has degenerated over the years from a compelling action drama based on an interesting premise into a cartoon-like, farcical melodrama that parodies itself. No show is perfect. The fact is, for all of its ridiculous faults, I’m still a fan of the show. Jack Bauer shall never be forsaken.

But there is one thing that’s been bothering me for quite a while. What the hell is up with all of the show’s oddly named Asian characters? I’m not even talking about South Asian actors like Kal Penn who get cast to play Arab terrorists with names like Ahmed Amar, although I do admit that subject is worth it’s very own “WTF” post. No. I’m talking about dudes from East Asia — guys who look like me — playing characters with the most generic, white bread, Caucasian-sounding names ever.

Here’s a breakdown of what I’ve seen so far.

• Tom Baker (CTU Agent)

  

  Seasons 2 and 3 have the Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim playing a CTU agent named Tom Baker. Tom Freaking Baker. What we have here is a bad-ass, federal counter-terrorist agent who is handy with a gun, invaluable during a rescue operation, and whose idea of a perfect meal is kimchi, bulgogi, and slices of baguettes and marzipan cakes. Seriously, 24 writers, how can you be this freaking lazy? Baker was a major minor player in the earlier seasons of 24. Daniel Dae Kim racked up a decent amount of face time during his stint on the show. Why would you disservice the guy by giving his character a name that very blatantly does not fit his profile?

  In all likelihood, the writers of 24 probably give all of their minor characters generic names, and then subsequently leave the rest up to casting directors. Once in a while, an Asian guy will audition for a part and land the role, and then he’ll get stuck with some goofy, All-American name like Tom Freaking Baker. Would it have killed somebody on the writing staff to adjust the character name to sound at least vaguely Asian once Daniel Dae Kim was cast for the role? I’m willing to suspend my disbelief when Jack Bauer kills off an entire squadron of rifle-toting goons with nothing more than a pistol, but I have a hard time taking a Korean guy seriously with a name like Tom Baker.

  
  

• Agent McCallan (CTU Agent)

  

  In Season 4, actor Vic Chao plays a minor supporting role as a CTU agent mysteriously named Agent McCallan. McCallan is your generic CTU field agent who chases terrorists as a member of a mobile tactical SWAT team. He will occasionally sound off on the team radio to give status updates to Assistant Field Director Curtis Manning, or to resident bad-ass Jack Bauer. I must confess, I’m not certain about Vic Chao’s ethnic origin, but he doesn’t look a damn bit Scottish to me. Is this 24‘s way of adding depth to an otherwise forgettable character? This is a man of Asian descent who bravely fights terrorism as an agent of the federal government — and, oh yeah: his Asian parents divorced when he was nine, and his mother later remarried a white guy named Arthur McCallan, who was kind enough to adopt our brave Agent McCallan when he was but a child. I mean, really … Agent McCallan? Why not name the guy Joe Everyman?

  
  

• Mark Dornan (FBI Agent)

  
  In Season 7, Vic Chao returns to the cast of 24 as FBI agent Mark Dornan. Mark Dornan is a stone faced Fed in a suit who sits in on tactical FBI meetings led by Larry Moss, and who will occasionally utter the obligatory, plot-advancing line of exposition. Frankly, this character amounts to nothing more than window dressing. There are tons of actors filling in as nameless office drones on the show, and the fans get along just fine without learning each of their names. I find it odd that Mark Dornan has a name at all. I find it doubly odd that Vic Chao has now played two characters on 24 with generic white guy names. Would it have been so hard to make a last minute script change to rename the character Mark Chao? Did Jack Bauer beat the yellow out of this guy or what?

  
  

• Ranger Thompson (Cannon Fodder)

  

  This final example from Season 7 had me swearing at the television set in disbelief. Between 7:00pm – 8:00pm in Season 7, we are briefly introduced to a law enforcement officer, played by Chase Kim, who is on camera for no longer than two minutes. He appears out of nowhere to come to the aid of distressed FBI agent Renee Walker, delivers a generic line to advance the plot, and then runs to his patrol car to send out a radio message. “This is Ranger Thompson,” he begins to say, before he is rudely interrupted by a wall of bullets sprayed across his chest. I guess the stakes are higher when characters with names start getting killed. I guess. Ranger Thompson is another one of those characters who could have easily been written out of the show. There was hardly a need to even give the guy a name. But if you’re a writer on 24, and if you’re going to such pains to personalize a doomed redshirt, couldn’t you at least try to give him an appropriate name? There’s a thin line between television production efficiency and a lazy disregard for the details.

In general, American television shows have an annoying tendency to name their Asian characters either Lee, Kim, or Wong. It’s as if those are the only three Asian surnames that Hollywood writers know about. What’s peculiar about 24 is that the writers can’t even be bothered to give their supporting Asian characters stereotypical names, and they cynically slap on any generic, All-American white guy names that suit their fancy. Yes, I’m very much aware that there have been Chinese characters featured on the show with such names as Lee Jong, Koo Yin, or Cheng Zhi. I’m not mad about them. In fact, they baffle me even further, because their existence demonstrates that the writers of 24 realize that not all Asian people out there have names like Chad Smith or Reginald Bernard Caucasianton III.

I’m just saying, you know? I still love you, Jack, but your Asian consorts have a bunch of wack names. Keith Zahn out.