The Subject of Torture: Psychoanalysis & Biopolitics in Television & Film by Hilary Neroni (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Subject of Torture: Psychoanalysis & Biopolitics in Television & Film by Hilary Neroni Douglas MacLeod Jr. Neroni, Hilary. The Subject of Torture: Psychoanalysis & Biopolitics in Television & Film. Columbia University Press. 2015. 188 pages. $28.00. (Paperback) Coincidentally, several days before I began Hilary Neroni’s book The Subject of Torture: Psychoanalysis & Biopolitics in Television & Film in January of 2017, President Donald Trump spoke in an ABC interview with journalist David Muir about the controversial matter of waterboarding. Here is what was famously said: DAVID MUIR: Mr. President, you told me during one of the debates that you would bring back waterboarding and a hell of a lot worse. PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would do ... (OVERTALK) PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would do -- I wanna keep our country safe. I wanna keep our country safe. DAVID MUIR: What does that mean? PRESIDENT TRUMP: When they’re shooting -- when they’re chopping off the heads of our people and other people, when they’re chopping off the heads of people because they happen to be a Christian in the Middle East, when ISIS is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding? As far as I’m concerned we have to fight fire with fire. Now, with that being said I’m going with General Mattis. I’m going with my secretary because I think Pompeo’s gonna be phenomenal. I’m gonna go with what they say. But I have spoken as recently as 24 hours ago with people at the highest level of intelligence. And I asked them the question, “Does it work? Does torture [End Page 25] work?” And the answer was, “Yes, absolutely.” These remarks brought about a great deal of commentary from pundits, politicians, and civilians alike in reference to the overall effectiveness of torture and whether or not our nation should go back to executing these violent tactics on prisoners of war. Since I am writing a book review and not an op-ed piece, I will refrain from presenting my thoughts on Trump’s statements. What I will say isthat, although written before the Trump-Muir interview, Neroni’s text is a timely one and, ultimately, adds to the discourse on this topic by addressing the pleasure (sexual, biological, or otherwise) associated with viewing or being a participant in images of torture, whether they are fictional or non-fictional in nature. It is also clear that Neroni, although not explicitly stating as much in her work, is not comfortable with torture, not so much because of the action in and of itself, but because of the enjoyment that can arise from taking part in the act or in being a spectator. Prior to providing a thorough definition of torture, Neronispeaks extensively about the Abu Ghraib photos in which prisoners are seemingly being sexually degraded by their captors. She writes: Commentators suggested that torture was a useful, direct, and fast way to get information needed to win a war…They viewed torture as a necessary and reasonable response to an imminent danger, and they considered it only through this prism. The photographs, however, told another story. They depicted a range of enjoyment on the part of the guards that did not fit the description of torture as a clear and effective military tactic. (3) Neroni continues by pointing out the sexual nature of the photos; that component of the images, she writes, “reveals the shocking and counterintuitive aspect of enjoyment that resides in torture and throws into question its legitimacy as an effective military tool with which to procure information” (3). This discussion continues in an enlightening chapter entitled “The Nonsensical Smile of the Torturer in Post-9/11 Documentary Films,” where she focuses her attention on three documentaries: Errol Morris’s Standard Operating Procedure, Rory Kennedy’s Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, and Alex Gibney’s Taxi to the Dark Side. All three of these films, which were released between 2007 and 2008, in a way discourage torture and recognize the underlying issues that emerge when the act takes place. She writes that these films refute the “fantasy” that torture is only meant to extract information from terrorists or...