This fictional counterterrorism agent—a man never at a loss for something to do with an electrode—has his fingerprints all over U.S. interrogation policy. As Sands and Mayer tell it, the lawyers designing interrogation techniques cited Bauer more frequently than the Constitution.
-- Dahlia Lithwick, "The Bauer of Suggestion: Our torture policy has deeper roots in Fox television than the Constitution"
The fact that 24 influences societal understandings and even policy is understandable -- culture and influential works of fiction does that. And, these days, there are certain shows that are really "in" and influence how we think. This includes such shows like The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Law & Order, and others. The "Dirty Harry" movies were big in the '70s, film noir reflected and influenced thought post-WWII, etc. Ditto Westerns, etc.
This underlines the power and possible dangers of fiction in our society, including its representation of reality. This goes back some time, such as Shakespeare (with the Bible and some ancient philosophers, surely a top influence of the mind-set of the Founding Generation).
The "constitution" is not just bare words like "cruel" or "due process," but an overall understanding of our means of government, something that is influenced by many factors (and develops over time, partially because of this). This includes, of course, fiction, an important part of culture.
In fact, apropos to DL's book list, Inventing Human Rights: A History by Lynn Hunt suggests the growth of the novel went hand and hand with the development of a rights consciousness. The novel provided a character who the reader could empathise with, an "other" separate from yourself, and far away in fact, but also "close" and personal. The novel provided an intimate portrait, so much some feared "good" women might be harmed by them.
And, sentiment for a person, an individual, is core to recognizing personal/human rights. Harm to their person, especially torture, brings out a feeling of horror that is almost a personal attack. We can see this by fans of reading overall, who can get very into the characters, in effect they become like friends or at the very least alive. People like Danielle Steel can do well for themselves by taking advantage of this.
Anyway, the importance of fiction underlines why even what is deemed rather trivial can be troubling. Katherine Heigel, for instance, made some critical remarks about Knocked Up, which seems like a trivial film, but reflects a broader theme of the goofball guy as hero, the woman going along, even when the smart thing might not to do so. Likewise, some have spoke in favor of the Eva character in Wall-E (a good film), as a strong character, though others are upset (again) the film is seen thru a male p.o.v.
I myself didn't really like 24 when it first came out, the violence getting a bit repetitive, and that was only after a few hours! Many like it, to each their own, but a filmed version of someone being on speed all the time doesn't really do it for me. It turns out to be a sort of violent porn, good in short bursts (so to speak), but tiresome overall. Unfortunately, the mindset of those in control was different.